Abstract

The ‚Denazification‘ of Nietzsche by Georges Bataille and Thomas Mann: Remarks on „Reparations to Nietzsche“ and „Nietzsche’s Philosophy in the Light of Contemporary Events“. With Nietzsche-quotations taken out of their context, the National Socialists presented the philosopher as an important mastermind of their ideology. But nowadays, Nietzsche’s key concepts, such as the „barbarian,“ „race,“ or the „overman“ („Übermensch“) have been freed from their association with National Socialism. Two major writers’ contributions to this ‚denazification‘ shall be discussed in the following pages. Towards the end of the 1930s, French authors were the first to attempt to defend Nietzsche against his appropriation by the National Socialists; of particular relevance is Georges Bataille’s 1937 essay „Reparations to Nietzsche.“ Another case in point is Thomas Mann,whose defense of Nietzsche reflects a different perspective, because it dates from the period immediately following the Nazi era. In „Nietzsche in the Light of Contemporary Events,“ an essay written in 1947, Mann contrasts the image of the furious ‚overman‘ with that of Nietzsche as a tragic figure: he portrays the philosopher as a sensitive and fragile loner, who cannot be blamed for his claim by the Third Reich.