Forgotten Fatherland: The True Story of Nietzsche's Sister and Her Lost Aryan Colony

BOOK REVIEW – FIVE STARS

Forgotten Fatherland: The True Story of Nietzsche's Sister and Her Lost Aryan Colony by Ben Macintyre

Nietzches’s sister had a zealot mentality and was driven by self-motivated and focused determination. She hitched her wagon to political fanaticism. Nietzsche’s sister Elizabeth was a natural born promoter who unabashedly strove to steal all the thunder of the xenophobic Fascist movements and became deeply loved by the leasers she exploited.

A great read!

Excerpts:

Elisabeth was finally someone to be reckoned with in her own right, the wife of a brave pioneer, mistress of a large mansion, mother of an Aryan colony and Queen of a potential new Germany. The descriptions are all her own.

Mussolini certainly read Nietzsche, to say that I think he misunderstood him perhaps falsely implies that I do. My point is simply that Nietzsche would have despised Mussolini, although he might initially have applauded his bravado.

For Elisabeth, Mussolini represented the triumph of her interpretation of Nietzsche’s thought. She called him “the genius who rediscovered the values of Nietzsche’s spirit,” and wrote long letters stating how “my brother loved Italy more than any other country. How happy he would be now that this country has been so closely connected with his thoughts and ideas by your Excellency’s wonderful influence.” If Mussolini came to think of himself as some sort of Superman, it was partly at Elisabeth’s urging.

“The National Socialist Party is strong in the colony,” she wrote. “One day they will all become National Socialists. Our wonderful Chancellor Adolf Hitler is such a splendid gift from heaven that Germany cannot be grateful enough.”