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14
Fenomentotalitaryzmów
Inordertocreateanewloyaltyandtoawakenexcitementforthesystem,the
youngdictatorshipsusedsymbols,rituals,productions,parties,celebrations,memo-
rials,memorialandcelebratoryeventsaswellascentralbuildingsandmonuments,
whichimpliedstrength.TisistruefortheBolsheviks24aswellasfortheNational
Socialists25andtheFascists26.Tesearrangementsnotonlycarriedawaytheactors
themselves,butalsosympathizers,nominalmembersandsometimesevenoppo-
nents.Almostnoonewasabletoevadethefascinationofcreatinganewsocietyand
new,self-transcendentmen,beingallowedtodreamofaredeemedexistence,unless
onewasexcludedfromthesefinalaspirationsbecauseofone,sbloodline–astheJews
–andwashencenotallowedtotakepartintherevolutionoflife.Mostsymbolicfor
thedecisiontoleavetheoldbehindandstartanewrealitywastheannouncementof
anewcalendar.
Tepersonalitycultthatwasborrowedfromreligioustraditionandrevolved
aroundarevolutionarysuperhuman,whoonecouldthankfortheownexaltation,
wasatitshighestinLenin,scase,whosefollowerstriedtomakehim“immortal”by
mummifyinghim27.IncontrasttotheglorifiedLeninstands,thecaseofMussolini,
thetoppledandreviledleader,whosecorpsewaspresentedtothemobinthemarket-
placeinMilan,whatalsohasquasi-religiousmeaning.Hitlerwantedtopreventsuch
adownfallbyorderingthathiscorpseshouldbecremated.
Widelydisseminatedhagiographicaldepictionsofthemovementaswellasits
leaderandholybooks,whichweregivenawayatweddingsandotherspecialevents,
weredesignedtoprovidethequasi-religiousinstitutionsandthepeoplewithanaura
ofinfallibility28.Ontopofthebookproductionwastheholydoctrineitself,forwhich
onewaswillingtowithstandhunger,repression,violenceandterrorasaconcomi-
tanttothewonderful.Onecannotonlyseeanalogiesheretoreligioushistory,but
alsobetweendictatorships.“Eventhoughtheyarecontraryintheircontents,national
socialistandStalinistideologiesconvergedbyjustifyingeverysacrificeduringtheir
realizationandtheabilitytocommitindisregardofhumanity.Inthissense,theywere
connectedasfunctionalequivalents”29.Tereisanentirelistofcommonreligious
characteristics,suchasthecadre,s“needfordeliverance”
,theestablishmentofrituals
andcelebrations,thecreationofsymbols,thestagingofculturalworshipaswellasthe
justificationofdestitutionandcruelty.
Temainobjectionagainstthemodelof“secularreligion”isthatitdoesnotpro-
videanyspecificcharacterizationofthedictatorshipsofthe20thcentury.TeFrench
24K.-G.Riegel,DerMaxismus-Leninismusals„politischeReligion”,in:PolitischeReligionundReligionspolitik.
ZwischenTotalitarismusundBürgerfreiheit,G.Besier,H.Lübbe(eds.),Göttingen2005,pp.15–48.
25C.-E.Bärsch,DerNationalsozialismusals„politischeReligion”unddie„Volksgemeinschaf”,in:Politische
ReligionundReligionspolitik,G.Besier,H.Lübbe(eds.),pp.49–78.
26E.Gentile,DerLiktorenkult,in:FaschismusundFaschismenimVergleich,Ch.Dipper,R.Hudemann,
J.Petersen(eds.),Vierow1998,pp.247–262.
27N.Tumarkin,LeninLives!TeLeninCultinSovietRussia,Harvard1983,p.165.
28O.Plöckinger,GeschichteeinesBuches.AdolfHitlers„MeinKampf”1922–1945,München2006,p.405.
29M.Hildermeier,KommunismusundStalinismus:„SäkularisierteReligion”odertotalitäreIdeologie?,in:
ZwischenPolitikundReligion.StudienzurEntstehung,ExistenzundWirkungdesTotalitarismus,K.Hildebrand
(ed.),München2003,pp.91–111;here:p.109.
