n tradition was the institution of high holy days,which broke the daily routine. These included: 30 January (Day of the Seizureof Power), 24 February (commemorating the Nazi Party's foundation), theNational Day of Mourning in March, Hitler's birthday on 20 April, May Day(rechristened the National Day of Labor), Mothering Sunday, the Day of theSummer solstice, the annual Reich Party Rally at Nuremberg, HarvestThanksgiving Day, 9 November (Anniversary of the 1923 Munich Putsch, and theDay of the Winter Solstice.13Bruno Bettelheim, wrote in The Informed Heart in 1961 that: "theobligation incumbent upon all citizens to use the 'Heil Hitler!' greeting on everyoccasion was one of the most potent forms of totalitarian conditioningconceivable." E. Hofflich had perhaps the best description: "If people belong tothe same social group, it is customary to raise the right arm at an angle so thatthe palm of the hand becomes visible. The appropriate phrase that goes with itis 'Heil Hitler' or at least 'Heil.' If one espies an acquaintance in the distance, itsuffices merely to raise the right hand in the manner described. If oneencounters a person socially--or through any other circumstance--inferior tooneself, then the right arm is to be fully stretched out, raised to eye-level; at thesame time, one is to say 'Heil Hitler.'"14Hitler's quest for recognition as a god was successful. His quest for worldconquest, excepting a few vital mistakes nearly come to pass. The myth of hisgod-like character was completely pervasive. "The eventual news of Hitler'sdeath was accompanied by a wave of suicides, and less sacrificially inclineddevotees of the Fuhrer exhibited two characteristic reactions: a refusal to acceptthe evidence of Hitler's misdeeds and a denial of the finality of his death."15Moving from Europe to the Middle East, we see Iraq's Saddam Hussein. He attempted to gain god-like recognition through public monuments whichglorified his estee...
