The Holocaust in the Making: A theoretical Treatise of the Nazi Pogrom and its Relation with Rationality, Modernity and Bureaucracy

ABSTRACT

The paper is basically a review of the relation between the Nazi pogrom during the Second World War and the foundational elements of modernity, namely rationality and bureaucracy through three scholars. The materialisation of the anxieties that Weber had reserved in his Iron cage formulation could be observed in the unfolding of events that led to the genocide. In Bauman what we see is a kind of objectification of one’s own actions which is made possible through the invention of modern technology and bureaucracy. Hilberg, on the other hand, stresses on exploring the historical precedents of modernity simultaneously contributing to the making of the holocaust in the mid 20^th century. The paper argues that a consolidated approach becomes necessary while evolving measurements to prevent such mistakes from repeating.

Keywords: Nazi Holocaust, Modern rationality, Bureaucracy, Max Weber, Hilberg, Zigmunt Bauman