Yes, nationalists ended Nazism

Re: In Canada, ‘nationalism’ doesn’t seem to have a bad rap. Why not? — Dec. 10

A better question is: Why would nationalism have a bad rap anywhere? The demonization of nationalism came about because of the atrocities committed by Nazis in the Second World War. The overly negative view of nationalism is dubious and based almost entirely on fallacy. ‘Ideological damage control’ is also partly to blame.

At the time of the Second World War, one would be incapable of finding a country whose political parties were not inherently nationalistic. So, if nationalists ended Nazism, which we did, how is it that nationalism has been made to bear the intellectual burden for the very real sins of the Nazis?

The National Socialist German Workers’ Party weren’t just nationalists — they were also socialists. They took nationalism on as part of their name to differentiate themselves from their other enemies — the global socialists, commonly known as Communists.

It’s illegitimate to blame nationalism for Nazi atrocities without sharing the blame with socialism. That this well-documented association is not common knowledge speaks to the willingness of a particular group of ideologues to bend history to suit their own purposes while purporting to be ‘educating’ people.

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. I’ll never forget — and that’s not just a platitude for me.

Stewart Sulpher,

Kitchener