These Historical Figures Toed the Line of Leadership

2. The 5^th Duke of Wellington was just one of many English aristocrats who felt the Nazis could save Europe – and their family fortunes – from the Communist threat.

The 1^st Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, was a true British hero, defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and then serving as Prime Minister. His descendant, the 5^th Duke of Wellington, was less distinguished. Born into immense wealth and privilege in 1876, he served in the military and then fought in the First World War. By the time he inherited the Dukedom in 1934, however, he was proudly pro-German and had aligned himself to a number of far-right causes. Above all, the 5^th Duke of Wellington was one of Britain’s most-outspoken anti-Semites. Unsurprisingly, he did more than merely flirt with Nazism.

Wellington took over as Chair of the elitist Right Club in 1939. He stated openly that the aim of the association was “to oppose and expose the activities of organized Jewry”. He believed Britain should align itself with Germany and against the Soviet Union and was aghast when the two countries went to war in 1939 – a war he would blame on “anti-appeasers and the f***ing Jews”. The disgraced 5^th Duke of Wellington died in 1941. Notably, his son and successor was to die just two years later, killed in action while taking part in a daring commando raid during the Allied invasion of Italy.

1. Martin Heidegger might have stopped going to Nazi Party meetings in 1934, but was the philosopher’s flirtation with Nazism really so fleeting?

German thinker is widely-regarded as one of the most important Western philosophers of the 20^th century. Above all, his debut book, 1927’s Being and Time continues to influence scholars to this day. Notably, several Jewish thinkers and academics have spoken out in favor of Heidegger, including Hannah Arendt. However, for some critics, Heidegger’s reputation will always be tainted due to his association with the Nazis. Moreover, the discovery of his private notebooks – ‘the Black Notebooks’ – in 2014 have called some scholars to question just how antisemitic Heidegger was – and the extent to which his thinking was shaped by his personal bigotry.

Heidegger joined the Nazi Party in 1933 and stayed a member right through the worst of its excesses. On the one hand, he resigned from his post as Rector of the University of Freiburg in 1934. Furthermore, he stopped attending Party meetings soon that. Such a lack of overt support for the regime have led some supporters to argue that his flirtation with Nazism was merely an “error” he regretted. On the other hand, even after the war, Heidegger never condemned the Nazis. He never even mentioned the Holocaust, lending weight to the argument that he was profoundly antisemitic and merely concerned with his own career and reputation.