The Mystery of the German Blood

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Khrietuonyü Noudi
 

If God had created all men as equals, why is it that some people assert the superiority of their race or blood? Throughout man’s history, bloody wars had been fought over this illusive notion of a so-believed and so-called superior race who had been allegedly destined to rule over other lesser beings or races. In the ancient times, the Greeks thought on the same line and later on it was the Romans who took on the mettle of the illusive notion of a superior race who was supposed to rule over other nations and influence and inspire others with their knowledge, wisdom, culture and way of life. Of course there is no denying the fact that both the Greeks and the Romans in their days of glory were far ahead of other civilizations in terms of their wisdom, knowledge, culture as well as infrastructural advancement. The remnants of these advancements and knowledge still remain to this day and continue to influence and inspire us in many ways. 


But if all men were created in the image of God and if all men are the descendants of Adam and Eve, why do we find such wide ranges of diversity in the human race and from where does the idea that some races are superior to others come from? We as human beings may never be able to come to a definite conclusion where such matters are concerned. But when someone starts to assert that his race or blood is superior to that of others, it definitely brings out a very ugly color of the human instinct. Such a belief or assertion demonstrates an attitude of pride and arrogance in oneself and a disdain and scorn for others and such an attitude can lead to catastrophic consequences.


The most classic modern example of this illusive notion leading to total annihilation of certain people and catastrophic consequences can be found in the history of Europe in general  and Germany in particular during the rise to power and reign of Adolf Hitler. From during his days of struggle as an aspiring artist in Vienna and his experience as a soldier during the First World War, Hitler started to develop this belief that the Germans were a superior race and he started to view other races as inferior and especially the Jews as a parasitical breed eating away the flesh of Europe. Hitler believed that true Germans were of pure Aryan breed and were characterized by certain prominent physical features like tall height, broad shoulders and being blond. Hitler wanted to maintain the purity of the German race and he legislated laws which made marriage between Aryans and Jews illegal. To maintain this so-called purity of the German race, Hitler even advocated that children born with physical or mental deformities should be killed so that parents and the government would not have to spend precious time and resources in rearing up these children whom he considered to be a burden on the state. And the people whom Hitler considered to be the greatest and most eminent threat to the purity of the German race were the Jews whom he saw and hated everywhere he went. From the time he was roaming the streets of Austria as a struggling artist he was appalled at the looks and numbers of the Jewish community and it became ingrained in him that he should do something about it. And by the time Hitler came to power, nothing and nobody could stop him from putting his ideas into action. 


Even when Germany was fully engaged in wars all over Europe during the Second World War, Hitler did not deviate even an inch from his mission of exterminating the Jews. He considered it his greatest life’s mission and an absolute necessity both for Europe in general and Germany in particular. And that was why, even in the midst of war, Hitler spent enormous resources in devising ways and building concentrations camps where he could exterminate these people. As a result millions perished in the evil designs of this mad man whose whole idea and actions were solely based on an elusive notion of the superiority of the German race. 


But today, the greatest proof we have to show that Hitler was wrong is modern Germany itself. Today modern Germany does not believe in anything that Hitler had propounded and advocated. Today modern Germany is tolerant, multi-cultural and is not against intermingling of races either in marriage or in the field of politics, society or culture. In other words, today’s modern Germany is everything that Hitler would have hated it to be.

     
So today, when even the German people themselves do not believe in the superiority of their race anymore, we can safely conclude that the idea was either a myth or at best an unfounded notion. But there had been many instances in history when many (Germans or not) would have been tempted to believe that there must be something special and unique about the German blood or race.  

              
The first instance can be found with the founder of Germany, Bismarck. Bismarck is credited with being the founder of modern Germany because he brought the German people under one government and he himself was the first chancellor of Germany. And it is said that the one person from whom the world first got the idea of the ‘welfare state’ is none other than Otto von Bismarck, a man of pure German blood. Thus, even though Germany is considered to be directly responsible for both the two world wars, if the pioneering founder  of Germany is the one who conceptualized and contributed the idea and practice of the ‘welfare state’ to the modern world, then the world needs to acknowledge this tremendous contribution. This is so because today we live in the age of democracy and the whole idea and practice of democracy is concentrated upon the idea of the ‘welfare state’.

 
The second instance can be had from the arena of sports. Geographically and in terms of population also, Germany is nowhere near the big nations of the world. But when it comes to sports at the biggest stage, it is Germany who always gives the big nations a run for their money. Yes, be it in Olympics or other world events like the FIFA world cup, Germany, though small in size, is always a top contender for the top spot. In the Olympics records, one can find that Germany is always among the top medal winners. Similarly in the FIFA tournaments also, Germany lacks behind nobody either in winning the trophy or reaching the finals. All these may tempt one to believe that the German blood is indeed superior.

    
To cite another example from the sports arena, we may take the example of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Hitler came to power in January 1933 and three years later the Olympics was held in Berlin, the German capital. And Hitler saw the event as a wonderful platform to show the world the superiority of the German race. And ironically enough, everything went Hitler’s way. If we look at the records of Olympics, we see that Germany is usually at around the 5th to 7th position in the medals’ tally. But something really astonishing happened at the Berlin Olympics when Germany topped the medals’ tally beating even big nations like the United States and China. And this must have made Hiller feel vindicated and emboldened and encouraged him in many ways. All along Hitler had been propagating about the superiority of the Germans and the Berlin Olympics in a way vindicated him and showed that the German blood may indeed be special. 


It is said that the most brilliant mind of the 20th century is Albert Einstein who revolutionized modern science with his ground breaking theories in physics and became a so-called science superstar in his own right. Einstein was unique in many ways as he thought far ahead of his contemporary fellow scientists. When other scientists were conducting experiments in their laboratories or studying the skies using the then latest and most sophisticated telescopes, Einstein could put forth the most revolutionary and ground breaking theories from his study room by using only his mind, a pencil and a sheet of paper. And this great scientist also had a German connection – he was a German Jew. And so, if even the greatest mind of our times had German blood in him, then indeed the German blood might have been superior. 


With the start of the 1970s, a cultural revolution exploded from Hong Kong and finally spread to the whole world. This cultural extravaganza started with a man named Bruce Lee who after years of struggle and toil in the west finally returned to his hometown and started making martial arts movies. At first nobody (including Bruce Lee himself) though that what started as a simple venture to introduce and show Chinese martial arts and culture would lead to such a world phenomenon. Bruce spent years toning his skills and pursuing his passion. He was dubbed by admirers and critics as the world’s best fighter and as the healthiest and fittest man on the planet. And what he did in a span of a few years through some few films became a worldwide sensation and cultural phenomenon leading to Bruce Lee being named as one of the most influential men of the 20th century by Times Magazine. Bruce Lee is accepted and hailed as a Chinese hero. But what many may not know is that even Bruce Lee had a German connection. It is said that Bruce Lee is not pure Chinese as one of his grandmothers from his mother’s side was a German. And so indeed there may be something about the German blood when even the fastest, healthiest and best fighter in the world had German blood in him. 


So now, how do I conclude this write-up? Let’s begin with the historical events or natural phenomena that somehow seem to indicate that some races or blood may be superior to others. I believe there can be only three explanations for this. The first one is just mere coincidence. Yes, when some historical events seem to indicate that the German or any other race is superior, it is most probably just a mere coincidence where certain events came together in such an unbelievable manner for all to see in the unceasing flow of history. The second explanation is that someone or some people had been placed in such decisive powerful points in the flow of history to either lead humanity to glory or lead them down the path of catastrophe and annihilation. But instead of taking the right course for the sake of humanity and the future, they let pride, arrogance and self-glorification take over and do just the opposite. The third explanation has to do with misreading events or phenomena. It is said that one needs to read between the lines instead of reading something literally. We may believe that we are right but the possibility of us being wrong is always there. As the saying goes, ‘all that glitters is not gold” and so, in the same way, our views and opinions about someone or something may also not always be right or correct and we need to make allowance for such eventualities.

                                                
And lastly, I don’t believe that the German blood or any other blood is superior or inferior as long as it is human blood. And it is said that “blood is thicker than water” and so I believe that both the idea as well as the reality of blood are extremely precious and significant. And that is why when we believe that even the Almighty shed His blood for humanity, we are left speechless as it means that He gave His everything for us.  Blood is extremely significant, meaningful and precious for human beings as well as for our creator and therefore it is an insult and an affront to fellow-beings as well as our Creator when we start classifying one another on the basis of our blood. Such an idea is absurd, obsolete and illogical if we believe that every man is created in the image of God...