Question about the Nazis

[NWO Sentryman]

Why the hell did they take the name "Aryan", even though the Persians were never in Germany proper, and the fact that Cyrus the Great wasn't a racist ******* unlike Hitler?

 

[fuelair]

This might help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Why the hell did they take the name "Aryan", even though the Persians were never in Germany proper, and the fact that Cyrus the Great wasn't a racist ******* unlike Hitler?

Lots of scholars in the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

 

[Craig B]

Lots of scholars in the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

"Aryan" is the designation of a language, and more generally of a group of related languages. There was a fashion in the late nineteenth century to name ethnic groups, or "races" as understood at the time, after languages associated with them. This gave a sciency-sounding tone to racist self designations. "Jew-hater" doesn't sound too good, but "anti-Semite" had (at that time) a more respectable sound, so that a professor or a politician might proudly apply it to himself.

The closest language to original "Aryan", now extant in Europe, is Romani.

any of several languages of the Romani people belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_language

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"Aryan" is the designation of a language, and more generally of a group of related languages. There was a fashion in the late nineteenth century to name ethnic groups, or "races" as understood at the time, after languages associated with them. This gave a sciency-sounding tone to racist self designations. "Jew-hater" doesn't sound too good, but "anti-Semite" had (at that time) a more respectable sound, so that a professor or a politician might proudly apply it to himself.

The closest language to original "Aryan", now extant in Europe, is Romani. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_language

That's not what I read in the Völkischer Beobachter!

 

[NWO Sentryman]

That's not what I read in the Völkischer Beobachter!

And their Crossword is oddly shaped for some reason.

 

[marplots]

Nazis are evil bastards. That's all you can know about them and all you ever need to know. Heed the mighty wisdom of the Internet.

 

[Mike!]

Nazis are evil bastards. That's all you can know about them and all you ever need to know. Heed the mighty wisdom of the Internet.

Especially the ones from Grammar.

 

[psionl0]

Wow. A Godwinned thread title!

 

[Wolrab]

They're bad, mmm'kay.