Dr. Jennifer Lynn teaches history at MSU Billings, including a course on Germany in World War II. Lynn explains that fascism was actually a creation of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who allied with the Nazis in Germany to form a portion of the World War II Axis powers, the enemies of the US and its allies. The movement gained populist power quickly as Europe struggled with economic distress, and it demonstrated certain recognizable authoritarian traits.
“Both an acceptance and a celebration of violence. This is inherent historically in fascist regimes and ideology. Fascism posits that there is one authoritarian leader who sort of embodies the national will, so that this leader is the only one who can only truly understand the destiny of the nation, and loyalty to this leader and these principles are sort of part of the practice of fascism. I would also add that fascist ideologies often have a radicalized component with them.”
In World War II, the Nazis persecuted and murdered millions in racial profiling, including over six million European Jews.
The MSU Billings history department will host Montanan Andrew Laszlo, Jr. next week in a Tuesday evening presentation. The lecture will take place at the MSU Billings Library at 6:30, and will include recollections and lessons learned from Andrew Laszlo Sr., and his book Footnote to History: From Hungary to America, The Memoir of a Holocaust Survivor. Andrew Laszlo, Sr. survived the Nazi camps and eventually became a renowned Hollywood cinematographer.
