And Jews are an inferior race and should not teach Germans? Complete unto Himself. Good. These are some of the ideas examined in The Spinoza Problem. la més recent d'Irvin D. Yalom. You can see the report on the web, if you like—it's in the official Nuremberg documents. In der Öffentlichkeit war damals die Rede davon, dass kein Tropfen deutschen Blutes in seinen Adern fließe und sich unter seinen … Spinoza points at the dusty window through which the half-empty shelves are visible. First, the prostitute in a gloriously yellow jacket. '. Perhaps the only one. Spinoza has long intrigued me, and for years I've wanted to write about this valiant seventeenth-century thinker, so alone in the world—without a family, without a community—who authored books that truly changed the world. ", "No, here. That was where my personal expertise might help in telling Spinoza's story. He walks outside and commences his daily duel with the rusted padlock on the shop door. This is the man I seek. Separated in history by years, the lives of philosopher Baruch Spinoza and Nazi propagandist Alfred Rosenberg intertwine in fascinating and unexpected ways. "'Exploration of the Nazis' Spinoza problem'? Maybe a story about sheer elusiveness, I wondered. This is my cousin, Franco Benitez, whom I've just brought from Portugal. He anticipated secularization, the liberal democratic political state, and the rise of natural science, and he paved the way for the Enlightenment. Alfred Rosenberg en Spinoza: de nazi en de vrijdenker Michiel Wielema In Irving D. Yaloms nieuwste roman Het raadsel Spinoza wordt verhaald hoe de ideoloog van het naziregime Alfred Rosenberg (1893-1946) zijn leven lang gefascineerd was door de problematische genialiteit van Spinoza. Herr Schäfer's instruction has not been entirely lost on you. As the final rays of light glance off the water of the Zwanenburgwal, Amsterdam closes down. One is tall, with a massive, burly head that hangs forward as though it were too heavy to be held erect. Meet me here at the shop. Even more popular were the names of noble castles. I am only a merchant who operates a small business. I stepped back into the library. . Video Memberships for personal viewing. The solution came to him when he discovered that the entire private library of Spinoza was stolen by the Nazis in under orders of Alfred Rosenberg, in many ways the ideological leader of national socialism. But then my host said, "You may not know this, but that's not really Spinoza's likeness. fictional foray into philosophy connects Baruch Spinoza and an agent of the Holocaust.The Nazi is Alfred Rosenberg, historical figure, war criminal sent to Nuremberg’s gallows, and philosopher-manqué and self-styled intellectual catalyst of German fascism. Open?" ", "I'm not so sure. But just before entering, he hesitates, turns back to Alfred, and in a not unkind voice whispers, "Rosenberg, you disappointed me, all of us, with your poor judgment in your speech last night. In eight years he will travel from Reval to Munich and become a prolific anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic journalist. About a fourth of Spinoza's major work, Ethics, is devoted to "overcoming the bondage of the passions." In 1909, sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster's office for making anti-Semitic remarks. "You mean that books had to be purchased again and the library reassembled a second time? "Sir . Inhaling the dusty air, Bento Spinoza identifies, with resignation, the fetid rat droppings accompanying the odor of dried figs, raisins, candied ginger, almonds, and chickpeas and the fumes of acrid Spanish wine. What have your scholarly investigations shown you? I am but a merchant—", "He claims that if you had not been forced into business because of the death of your older brother and your father, you would have been the next great rabbi of Amsterdam. In thirty years his troops will storm into a small Dutch museum in Rijnsburg and confiscate Spinoza's personal library of one hundred and fifty-one volumes. I asked. "I did not say that. Excellent—each could easily stroll off the canvas and begin a conversation. Jeudi 21 Juin 2012. During World War II, Ro… ", "So then these books are twice removed from Spinoza?" Its author, Dr. Irvin Yalom, a psychiatrist, examines the minds and behaviors of two people: Baruch Spinoza, a 17 th century Jewish philosopher, and Alfred Rosenberg, a 20 th century Nazi anti-Semitic ideologue. "Irvin Yalom's The Spinoza Problem is an amazing novel that combines fact and fiction in a spell-binding manner. . Jacob interjects. Upon the bench fidgets the sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg, who is uncertain why he has been summoned to the headmaster's office. You spoke in a general way? Bestselling novelist and psychiatrist Irvin Yalom explores the mindsets of Jewish philosopher Spinoza and Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg. But how to write about a man who lived such a contemplative life marked by so few striking external events? . And, I gather, certainly not be elevated to headmaster?". When sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster's office for anti-Semitic remarks he made during a school speech, he is forced, as punishment, to memorize passages about Spinoza from the autobiography of the German poet Goethe. ", "My younger brother, Gabriel, represents the Spinoza family at the synagogue. Do you blame me for asking that?" It was an election speech, and I spoke that way because that is what they wanted to hear." Psychotherapy.net is pleased to publish this exclusive excerpt, as well as offer signed copies of this book. Isn't that one of the major lessons of the Enlightenment? ." ", "We've been told that you're the one to render help. The other aspect of it lies in his discovery that the Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg had, during the German occupation of Holland, confiscated, but not destroyed, Spinoza’s library, and it survived the war almost intact. His clothes are of good quality but soiled and wrinkled. He doesn't sleep. Little is known about the psyche of either Baruch Spinoza or Alfred Rosenberg, yet using his extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of his patients, Dr. Yalom has produced a rare gem in existing literature. Yet I was stumped for years because I could not find the story that a novel requires—until a visit to Holland five years ago changed everything. The secretary of the Dutch Spinoza Association and a leading Spinoza philosopher agreed to spend a day with me visiting all the important Spinoza sites—his dwellings, his burial place, and, the main attraction, the Spinoza Museum in Rijnsburg. And my wife, too, is Jewish, is she? I scanned the simple room quickly and began to descend, when my eye caught sight of a thin, two-by-two-foot crease in a corner of the ceiling. That we must preserve our race and our culture.". ", Glancing at Herr Schäfer and with a prayer in his voice, Alfred answers meekly, "Eighteenth century and . This poor judgment is not erased by having being elected class representative. He must have had a strong emotional response to being excommunicated, at the age of twenty-four, by the Jewish community in Amsterdam—an irreversible edict that ordered every Jew, including his own family, to shun him forever. I had none of the material that ordinarily lends itself to narrative—no family dramas, no love affairs, jealousies, curious anecdotes, feuds, spats, or reunions. Alfred Rosenberg (January 12, 1893–October 16, 1946) was one of the most influential Nazi intellectuals. Baruch Spinoza contre Alfred Rosenberg Jeudi 21 Juin 2012 Dans un ouvrage osé et palpitant, Irvin Yalom fait se rencontrer le prince des philosophes et l’un des inspirateurs du mouvement nazi. "What? And the group of men surrounding her. He was in charge of looting for the Third Reich, and under Rosenberg's orders, the ERR plundered all of Europe—first, just the Jewish things and then, later in the war, anything of value. The old caretaker climbed up a few stairs to look and told me it was a trap door that led to a tiny attic space where two Jews, an elderly mother and her daughter, were hidden from the Nazis for the entire duration of the war. No Jew would ever again speak to him, have commerce with him, read his words, or come within fifteen feet of his physical presence. This is a book that will appeal more to the rational and analytical reader. Little is known about the psyche of either Baruch Spinoza or Alfred Rosenberg, yet using his extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of his patients, Dr. Yalom has produced a rare gem in existing literature. Some Jews paid lesser sums for traditional Jewish names like Levy or Cohen. I don't understand. Pirates intercepted his last shipment from Bahia, and there is no coffee, sugar, or cocoa. Rosenberg is stunned to discover that Goethe, his idol, was a great admirer of the Jewish seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Spinoza’s curiosity took him beyond his cultural and customs, and even his community when he was ex-communicated. Why does He permit such things? The books were sold and scattered far and wide, but fortunately, the notary made a complete list of those books prior to the auction, and over two hundred years later a Jewish philanthropist reassembled most of the same titles, the same editions from the same years and cities of publication. "We must see you. Four out of five Dutch Jews murdered by the Nazis! In his official report, Rosenberg's officer, the Nazi who did the hands-on looting of the library, added a significant sentence: 'They contain valuable early works of great importance for the exploration of the Spinoza problem.' and it was the age . Wie in den beiden Vorgängern des Romans kann auch dieser als Einführung in das Leben und die Philosophie der titelgebenden Figur gesehen werden. So I resolved to write a novel about his inner life. ", "I must go. ", "And where was the library kept during the war? Perhaps it will loosen your tongue if I tell you that my lineage and that of my wife are pure German, and our ancestors came to the Baltics in the fourteenth century. Bestselling novelist and psychiatrist Irvin Yalom explores the mindsets of Jewish philosopher Spinoza and Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg. uh, sir, I spoke too hastily. ", Franco's eyes widen. Let me give you some facts about names. I wandered amid the construction debris through the modest kitchen and living room and then climbed the narrow, steep stairway to the small, unremarkable bedroom. ", Place: A bench in the main corridor outside Headmaster Epstein's office in the Petri-Realschule. Alfred looks dumbfounded. Where is the God that created this kind of world? I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. Neben der biographischen Entwicklung Rosenbergs zeigt der andere Handlungsstrang des Romans das Leben Spinozas von seinem Cherem-Ausschluss aus der jüdischen Gemeinde in Amsterdam 1656 bis kurz vor der Veröffentlichung seines ersten Werkes „Der Theologisch-Politische Traktat“. But the last family member had recently died, and the Spinoza Society had promptly purchased the property and was just now beginning reconstruction to incorporate it into the museum. These are some of the ideas examined in The Spinoza Problem. The headmaster wastes no time getting to the point. When Einstein spoke of God, he spoke of Spinoza's God—a God entirely equivalent to nature, a God that includes all substance, and a God "that doesn't play dice with the universe"—by which he means that everything that happens, without exception, follows the orderly laws of nature. No, not much external drama in his life: most scholars regard Spinoza as a placid and gentle soul—some compare his life to that of Christian saints, some even to Jesus. The only remotely personal items were the 151 volumes of Spinoza's own library, and I turned immediately to them. Usant tot el seu bagatge professional, ha confegit una ficció empeltada d'assaig filosòfic, d'especulació històrica i d'estudi mèdic. Herr Schäfer merely frowns and shakes his head slowly as he passes and opens the headmaster's door. All this gives Irvin Yalom plenty room. The ERR had some mysterious interest in Spinoza. the age of reason and science?". Separated in history by 300 years, the lives of philosopher Baruch Spinoza and Nazi propagandist Alfred Rosenberg intertwine in fascinating and unexpected ways. The yellow gleams like polished sunlight. Little is known about the psyche of either Baruch Spinoza or Alfred Rosenberg, yet using his extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of his patients, Dr. Yalom has produced a … When sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster's office for anti-Semitic remarks he made during a school speech, he is forced, as punishment, to memorize passages about Spinoza from the autobiography of the German poet Goethe. Psychotherapy.net is pleased to publish this exclusive excerpt, as well as offer, Confronting Death and Other Existential Issues in Psychotherapy, Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy in Action, Irvin Yalom: Foundations of My Life and Work, Asperger's Syndrome / Autism Spectrum Disorder. My father's brother, Jacob's father, was murdered soon after. Back in Amsterdam at Breestraat No. ", "Then surely you would agree that, by definition, a perfect and complete being has no needs, no insufficiencies, no wants, no wishes. But my reverie was soon interrupted by my host: "Of course, Dr. Yalom, his possessions—bed, clothes, shoes, pens and books—were auctioned off after his death to pay funeral expenses. September 2020. And of course no one lives without an inner life of fantasies, dreams, passions, and a yearning for love. Das Interesse an dieser Frage entstand erstmals im Monat der Veröffentlichung seiner antisemitischen Schrift Der Mythus des 20. What's more, we are devout Lutherans.". Alfred hits the side of his head with his palm. Darüber hinaus verliert die liebevolle Hommage auf Spinoza durch die Überbetonung des Alfred Rosenberg an Wirkung. There's a story here, I thought. "Sorry. The structure of the story consists of alternating chapters describing the lives of Benedict Spinoza and Alfred Rosenberg. Don't be a fool now.". Das Opus Magnum des großen amerikanischen Psychoanalytikers und Bestsellerautors Irvin D. Yalom Der jüdische Philosoph Spinoza und der nationalsozialistische Politiker Alfred Rosenberg – nicht nur Jahrhunderte liegen zwischen ihnen, auch ihre Weltanschauungen könnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein. I pressed on. He doubts everything. Only his eyes move, darting like frightened tadpoles. In his official report, Rosenberg's officer, the Nazi who did the hands-on looting of the library, added a significant sentence: 'They contain valuable early works of great importance for the exploration of the Spinoza problem.'