The Holocaust: reductio ad absurdum of death in battle
Richard A. Koenigsberg

Reductio ad absurdum

Reductio ad absurdum, Latin for "reduction to the absurd," traceable back to the Greek ἡ εις άτοπον απαγωγη. "reduction to the impossible," often used by Aristotle, also known as an apagogical argument, reductio ad impossible, or proof by contradiction.

It is a type of logical argument where one assumes a claim for the sake of argument, derives an absurd or ridiculous outcome, and then concludes that the original assumption must have been wrong, as it led to an absurd result.

 

Hitler took the idea of “dying for a country” to an extreme, bizarre conclusion, showing us how absurd the idea is.

The “glory” of warfare can exist only if we avoid looking at the body of the dead or wounded soldier; repress the fact that he is, in reality, an abject victim.

The Holocaust compels us to witness the ugliness of death at the hands of a nation-state, demonstrating that it is not sweet and beautiful to die for a country. The Holocaust was reductio ad absurdum: death at the hands of a nation-state stripped of honor and glory.

Hitler created the Holocaust as an enactment. Jews in death camps--in gas chambers--symbolized the horrible reality of what happens when a nation-state takes over the body of a human being.

The Nazi SS-man had vowed "obedience unto death" and often was slaughtered in battle. The Holocaust victim also was compelled to become "obedient unto death." But there was no heroism attached to his or her death. The Holocaust demonstrates: this is what can happen when the nation-state takes over the body of a human being. The Holocaust: reductio ad absurdum of death in battle.