‘Schools of Hatred’. The Essence of Totalitarianism in Jerzy W. Borejsza’s Approach

Abstract

Jerzy W. Borejsza regarded the term ‘totalitarianism’ as a helpful tool in describing the political systems in Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and the Bolshevik/communist Soviet Union, but opted for restricted use of the term. Apart from the classical determinants of a totalitarian system, he believed that the mobilisation of hatred against the predefined ethnic/national, racial, or class enemy was essential to any totalitarianism. Rather than adding a new distinguishing feature of the totalitarian system, the Polish historian carried out a series of multi-aspect comparative analyses of its earlier-defined traits and characteristics. He has drawn a precise distinction between a totalitarian and authoritarian system. Not satisfied with apparent similarities, he tried to explore the issue more deeply, identifying different intensities of the phenomena specific to totalitarian systems. He stressed a gradation of totalitarianism in the different totalitarian systems, at the different stages of their functioning. To his credit goes the introduction in the historiography of the concept of ‘anti-Slavism’ and, as part of it, anti-Polonism, as essential traits of the National Socialist ideology. He opposed the simplifications tending to appear in broadly used terms, the attempts to ‘ideologise’ and ‘politicise’ the history, particularly in describing the communist totalitarianism. According to Borejsza, fascism, Nazism, and communism had once frequented the same school of totalitarian hatred and took there the same classes – but they were differently evaluated when it came to the finals.