LEADER 03217cam a2200433Ia 4500001    146769
005    20240621183506.0
008    090310s1998    xx      rb    000 0 eng d
028 52 9832615 |bUMI
035    (OCoLC)ocn313824054
035    146769
049    LHMA
040    LHM |beng |erda |cLHM
090    DK4410 |b.I65 1998
100 1  Inkelas, Daniel.
245 10 Visions of harmony and violence : |bRKF landscape planning and population policy in annexed Poland, 1939-1944 / |cby Daniel Inkelas.
264  1 [Place of publication not identified] : |b[publisher not identified], |c1998.
300    vi, 238 pages
336    text |btxt |2rdacontent
337    unmediated |bn |2rdamedia
338    volume |bnc |2rdacarrier
502    Thesis (Ph.D.)--Northwestern University, 1998.
504    Includes bibliographical references (pages 226-238).
520     In October 1939, SS chief Heinrich Himmler assembled a planning office under the direction of University of Berlin professor Konrad Meyer to design the settlement program of Himmler's Reich Commissariat for the Strengthening of Germandom (RKF). This dissertation examines the ideas, proposals, and policies drafted by the RKF planning staff, which intended to achieve harmony between German peasants and the Polish landscape by the construction of new towns and villages, the reshaping of the physical environment, and the restructuring of agrarian economic practices. At the same time, this dissertation shows how RKF planning schemes dictated the expropriation, expulsion, and ultimately the extermination of millions of non-Germans who stood in the way of their utopian vision. This striking contrast between harmony and violence was rooted in the belief that Germans enjoyed a special relationship with nature, while other "races" could only exploit and pollute the natural environment. The RKF planners' attempt to unite people and nature by means of a process involving mass murder serves to remind us that ideas about culture, biology, and politics are intertwined. Furthermore, it demonstrates the power of arrogantly idealist intentions, linked with technocratic planning and central authority, to distract individuals from the terrible implications of their deeds.
530    Electronic version(s)  |bavailable internally at USHMM.
533    Photocopy. |bAnn Arbor, Mich. : |cUMI Dissertation Services. |e22 cm.
590     Dissertations and Theses
591    Record updated by Marcive processing 21 June 2024
651  0 Poland |xHistory |yOccupation, 1939-1945.
651  0 Germany |xEthnic relations |xPolitical aspects.
650  0 Regional planning |zPoland |xHistory |y20th century.
650  0 Population transfers |xGermans |xHistory |y20th century.
650  0 Population transfers |xPolish people |xHistory |y20th century.
650  0 Forced migration |zPoland |xHistory |y20th century.
856 41  |uhttp://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=737993181&sid=75&Fmt=6&clientId=54617&RQT=309&VName=PQD |zElectronic version from ProQuest
956 41  |u http://dc.ushmm.org/library/bib146769/9832615.pdf  |z Hosted by USHMM.
852 0   |bstacks |hDK4410 |i.I65 1998
852     |bwww
852     |bebook