One tactic is the micro-history: find yourself a historical footnote, and then elevate it to the turning point of mankind. I didn't manage to finish this. Much of Goldhagen's book is concerned with the actions of the same Reserve Battalion 101 of the Nazi German Ordnungspolizei and his narrative challenges numerous aspects of Browning's book. Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. [54], Formally, at least, the Jews had been fully emancipated with the establishment of the German Empire, although they were kept out of certain influential occupations, enjoyed extraordinary prosperity Germans intermarried with Jews: in the 1930s some 50,000 Jews were living in mixed German-Jewish marriages, so at least 50,000 Germans, and presumably parts of their families, had familial contact with the Jews. And the Helmbrechts death march case, he argues, demonstrates that Jews were killed even when orders have been given to keep them alive, and hence the driving motive for the killing was not compliance to government policy or obedience to orders, but the deep personal hatred of the perpetrators for their Jewish victims that had been inculcated by German culture.[48]. "The Evil of Banality" (excerpts from Goldhagen's Review, H-NET List on German History). [71]:56 Using an example from his family history, Schoenbaum wrote that his mother in law, a Polish Jew who lived in Germany between 192847, never considered the National Socialists and the Germans synonymous, and expressed regret that Goldhagen could not see the same. [67] American historian Gordon A. Craig and Der Spiegel have argued that whatever the book's flaws, it should be welcomed because it will reinvigorate the debate on the Holocaust and stimulate new scholarship. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996 Pagination Complete Pagination: 622 pages [71]:55 Finally, Schoenbaum argued that Goldhagen failed to explain why the anti-Jewish boycott of April 1, 1933, was relatively ineffective or why the Kristallnacht needed to be organized by the Nazis as opposed to being a spontaneous expression of German popular antisemitism. Brownings book is much easier to read for the lay person of Holocaust studies. I just started reading Goldhagen's thesis is that the men and women who murdered Jews were not forced to do so, nor were they just following orders after years of conditioning by the Catholic and Lutheran churches and others, and Hitler's maniacal Jew-hatred, they were quite willing to kill Jews they thought should die. Please try again later. France, UK, and the US actually are responsible for most of the racist theories that the Nazis used with Hitler considering the Madison Grant, American bestseller Passing of the Great Race to be his Bible. [Deep breath] This is a difficult book to review as the subject matter is so contentious and horrific. When Rosenbaum asked Goldhagen about scholarly literature that contends that Austrian anti-Semitism was far more virulent and violent than German anti-Semitism, and if the fact that Hitler was an Austrian had any effect on his thesis, Goldhagen replied: There were regional variations in anti-Semitism even within Germany. Word came, moreover, that the ambushed German policeman had been only wounded, not killed. "War of Annihilation: Crimes of the Wehrmacht 1941 to 1944" sets out to destroy the myth of an Army that fought honorably, while behind the front lines, specialized terror units went about the. In 1936, he joined the police force in Breslau and became a member of the Nazi Party in 1937. At worse Goldhagen brings to light one possibility in explaining how one, if not the most learned and advanced country in the world could fall from grace in a matter of a few years of Financial despair. I also find it important that I think I can respect the author before I add his or her book on my must read shelf. [19] The British historian Sir Ian Kershaw, a leading expert in the social history of the Third Reich, wrote, "The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference,"[20][21] that is, that the progress leading up to Auschwitz was motivated by a vicious form of antisemitism on the part of the Nazi elite, but that it took place in a context where the majority of German public opinion was indifferent to what was happening. This isn't the first book I've read on the subject and I have to say it's depressing how widespread racial hatred for the Jews was in Germany even among so called intelligent, sophisticated people. [94] From a different angle, the American political scientist Norman Finkelstein charged that the book was Zionist propaganda meant to promote the image of a Gentile world forever committed to the destruction of the Jews, thus justifying the existence of Israel, and as such, Goldhagen's book was more concerned with the politics of the Near East and excusing what Finkelstein claimed was Israel's poor human rights record rather than European history. [23] Other historians, such as the Israeli historian Otto Dov Kulka, the Israeli historian David Bankier, and the American historian Aron Rodrigue, while differing from Kershaw over many details about German public opinion, arguing that the term "passive complicity" is a better description than "indifference", have largely agreed with Kershaw that there was a chasm of opinion about the Jews between the Nazi "true believers" and the wider German public, whose views towards Jews seemed to have expressed more of a dislike than a hatred. So, yes the author makes some important points in helping us to understand the incomprehensible but he does tend to make the same point over and over again and with increasing vehemence, like a man bringing his fist down continually on his desk. guilty for failing to protest Hitler's murderous intentions and policies while there was still time, and for this, they should be ashamed. It was. It is not at all new. There was something unique to Germany that made its fascism genocidal. Of course they were willing participants in the sense that they consciously carried out their actions as humans with as much "free will" as anyone else. [69] Kershaw wrote in 2000 that Goldhagen's book would "occupy only a limited place in the unfolding, vast historiography of such a crucially important topic-probably at best as a challenge to historians to qualify or counter his 'broad-brush' generalisations". One year later, he joined the SS, even before he graduated from the gymnasium in 1934. In other, more chilling cases, they were ordered simply to kill a specified number of Jews in a given town or area. Resistance in Nazi Germany edited by John J. Michalczyk, New York: Peter Lang Publishers, 2004 p. 113. [60] In a 1996 review in First Things, the American Catholic priest Father Richard John Neuhaus took issue with Goldhagen's claim that the Catholic and Lutheran churches in Germany were genocidal towards the Jews, arguing that there was a difference between Christian and Nazi anti-Semitism. [12], Goldhagen charged that every other book written on the Holocaust was flawed by the fact that historians had treated Germans in the Third Reich as "more or less like us," wrongly believing that "their sensibilities had remotely approximated our own. [26], Using Geertz's anthropological methods, Goldhagen argued by studying the men of Battalion 101 one could engage in a "thick description" of the German "eliminationist antisemitic" culture. It stifled protests by conservatives against persecutions of the Jews, as well as Hitler's proclamation of a "racial annihilation war" against the Soviet Union. It's been nearly ten years since I read this book but I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Holocaust history. Hilberg, to whom Browning dedicated his monograph, wrote that "Goldhagen has left us with the image of a medieval-like incubus, a demon latent in the German mind waiting for the opportunity for the chance to strike out". Kwiet, Konrad: "'Hitler's Willing Executioners' and Ordinary Germans': Some Comments on Goldhagen's Ideas". At most Goldhagen provides an explanation as to why people do the things they do regardless of their social or economic background. The author does an admirable job in researching how "ordinary" Germans behaved during the war. It's difficult to think of more than a few European countries where the general population harboured a decent humane view of the Jews. The book also demonizes ethnic Germans in a similar way that Protocols of the Elder's of Zion demonized the Jews. I learned that since the 1800s Germans had been blaming the Jewish people for the problems of their country and that this blame became even stronger after World War I. This book makes a powerful argument. I remember that the book was controversial when it came out in 1996, and when I finally read it, I can see why. Of course, they also thought Slavs being put into workhouses and being their slaves was the right thing, too. Whatever its weaknesses as causal model, it is first-rate history that has transformed the way we look at the Holocaust. Would Goldhagen have omitted this incident if the victims had been Jews and an anti-Semitic motivation could have easily been inferred? This author simply hates all Germans and claims they were all just like Hitler. [71]:545 Furthermore, Schoenbaum complained that Goldhagen did not take a comparative approach with Germany placed in isolation, thereby falsely implying that Germans and Germans alone were the only nation that saw widespread antisemitism. [29] Goldhagen noted that the officers in charge of Battalion 101 led by Major Wilhem Trapp allowed the men to excuse themselves from killing if they found it too unpleasant, and Goldhagen used the fact that the vast majority of the men of Battalion 101 did not excuse themselves to argue that this proved the murderous antisemitic nature of German culture. I probably would get irritated by his generalizations. Goldhagen wants to make the question simply whether the Germans were willing participants or not, and he argues they were. Daniel Goldhagen's immensely successful and thoroughly deplorable Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust falls within this category. Her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality. Hitler's Willing Executioners provides conclusive evidence that the extermination of European Jewry engaged the energies and enthusiasm of tens of thousands of ordinary Germans. Another problem was the author's insistence that anti-Semitism throughout German history was the key reason that Germans wanted to kill Jews. Emellett ezek az egysgek jellemzen az idsebb korosztlybl verbuvldtak vagyis nem a Hitler-rezsim oktatsi viszonyai kztt szocializldtak. [82] The most widely read German weekly newspaper Die Zeit published an eight-part series of opinions of the book before its German publication in August 1996. His approach would be anthropological, treating Germans the same way that an anthropologist would describe preindustrial people who believed in absurd things such as trees having magical powers. [1], Goldhagen's book stoked controversy and debate in Germany and the United States. [27] Contra Browning, Goldhagen argued that the men of Battalion 101 were not reluctant killers, but instead willingly murdered Polish Jews in the cruelest and sadistic manner possible, that "brutality and cruelty" were central to the ethos of Battalion 101. Some historians have characterized its reception as an extension of the Historikerstreit, the German historiographical debate of the 1980s that sought to explain Nazi history. Guttenplan argued that the Nazi theories about "Judo-Bolshevism" made for a more complex explanation for the Holocaust than the Goldhagen thesis about an "eliminationist anti-Semitic" culture. | ISBN 9780307426239 A ktet elvitathatatlan rdeme, hogy igen kellemetlen krdseket tol az arcunkba olyasmiket, amelyektl el szoks fordtani a pillantsunkat. The accuracy of his work was, in this context, of secondary importance. [32] Goldhagen used antisemitic statements by Cardinal Adolf Bertram as typical of what he called the Roman Catholic Church's support for genocide. "The conclusion of this book is that antisemitism moved many thousands of "ordinary" Germans and would have moved millions more, had they been appropriately positionedto slaughter Jews. [25] The 450 or so men of Battalion 101 were mostly middle-aged, working-class men from Hamburg who showed little interest in National Socialism and who had no special training to prepare them for genocide. "[91] Goldhagen replied: "If the Nazis had never taken power, there would not have been a Hitler. The diversity of the killers has challenged Goldhagen's view that the motivation was a distinct form of German anti-Semitism. By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. These "myths" include the idea that most Germans did not know about the Holocaust; that only the SS, and not average members of the Wehrmacht, participated in murdering Jews; and that genocidal antisemitism was a uniquely Nazi ideology without historical antecedents. Little is new in the overall description, but the details and the way he analyzes the attitude of the murderers is powerful and convincing". They all actively hated Jews, Slavs, Roma, blacks, and others with extreme passion and happily participated in their murder. Goldhagen reached international attention and broad criticism as the author of two books about the Holocaust: Everyone knows its hard to get published. "The book [Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust] sparked controversy in the press and academic circles. About Goldhagen's claims that the men of Order Police Reserve Battalion 101 were reluctant to kill Polish Catholics while being eager to kill Polish Jews, Browning accused Goldhagen of having double standards with the historical evidence. [37][41] Elie Wiesel praised the work as something every German schoolchild should read. While Goldhagen's outrage is natural, (especially given that he is the son of Holocaust survivors) his scholarship is poor and his methodological work is sloppy at best. [9] Goldhagen instead contended that "for the vast majority of the perpetrators a monocausal explanation does suffice". To single out Germans in this manner felt nave and overly simplistic to me. LaCapra, Dominick. Nem vletlen, hogy a ktet jelents rszben nem az SS-szel, hanem a rendrzszlaljakkal foglalkozik ezeket az egysgeket ugyanis nem ncikkal, hanem a trsadalom legszlesebb rtegbl vlogatva tltttk fel, nem vizsglva a belpk prtllst, kvetkezskppen tagjaik kztt meglepen kevs politikailag elktelezett szemlyt tallunk. Finally, we learn that Germans overwhelmingly supported these measures because the Nazis didn't punish opposition like the Soviets did! To me it is worthless, all the hype by the publisher notwithstanding". I think the template for this curious phenomenon had already once existed in the past. That doesnt mean it wasnt a great book. This unique evil comes from their deeply racist culture throughout their history and the uniquely sociopathic nature of ethnic Germans. These are the average German citizens of the early 20th century. To redeem, copy and paste the code during the checkout process. I'd agree -- but then point out that the phrase "willing participants" is misleading and wrong. In this case, I don't think I would. And they did it happily because it was for the good of their country. And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week. This is the problem. [15], Goldhagen's book was meant to be an anthropological "thick description" in the manner of Clifford Geertz. I know thats fucked-up, but thats what was finally explained to me in this book. Ez taln a legbrutlisabb szakknyv, amit valaha olvastam ehhez kpest a Schindler listja csak jtszds klkbrnyokkal zldell mezkn. Totally wrong. Hitlers Willing Executioners provides conclusive evidence that the extermination of European Jewry engaged the energies and enthusiasm of tens of thousands of ordinary Germans. Ruth Bettina Birn and Volker Riess recognised the need to examine the primary sources (the Police Battalion investigation records) Goldhagen had cited and determine if Goldhagen had applied the historical method in his research. Christopher Browning wrote in response to Goldhagen's criticism of him in the 1998 "Afterword" to Ordinary Men published by HarperCollins: Goldhagen must prove not only that Germans treated Jewish and non-Jewish victims differently (on which virtually all historians agree), but also that the different treatment is to be explained fundamentally by the antisemitic motivation of the vast majority of the perpetrators and not by other possible motivations, such as compliance with different government policies for different victim groups. [3] One German commentator suggested that Goldhagen's book "pushes us again and again headfirst into the nasty anti-Semitic mud. Goldhagen's one-dimensional view of German antisemitism also ignores the specific impact of the vlkisch antisemitism as proclaimed by Houston Stuart Chamberlain and the Richard Wagner movement which directly influenced Hitler as well as the Nazi party. It's not that some of Goldhagen's ideas are wrong. The book argues that many more German citizens were involved . [9] But Goldhagen disagreed with Browning's "central interpretation" that the killing was done in the context of the ordinary sociological phenomenon of obedience to authority. Goldhagen reconstructs the climate of eliminationist anti-Semitism that made Hitlers pursuit of his genocidal goals possible and the radical persecution of the Jews during the 1930s popular. This is his revenge. [53] Bauer wrote of the main parties of the Weimar Coalition that dominated German politics until 1930, the leftist SPD and the liberal DDP were opposed to anti-Semitism while the right-of-the-centre Catholic Zentrum was "moderately" antisemitic. [58] Clendinnen ended her essay by stating she found Browning's account of Battalion 101 to be the more believable. Under its influence, the vast majority of Germans wanted to eliminate Jews from German society, and the perpetrators of the Holocaust did what they did because they thought it was "right and necessary." Goldhagen asserts that this mentality grew out of medieval attitudes rooted in religion and was later secularized. I read this years ago and was shocked at the implications of the author's premise, although not unwilling to accept it. [36][37] Although Hitler's Willing Executioners was sharply criticized in Germany at its debut,[38] the intense public interest in the book secured the author much celebrity among Germans, so much so that Harold Marcuse characterizes him as "the darling of the German public". Steve Crawshaw writes that although the German readership was keenly aware of certain "professional failings" in Goldhagen's book, [T]hese perceived professional failings proved almost irrelevant. It was very detailed and extensively researched and Im glad I read it and finally got the answer Ive been seeking for so long. Did I mention most of the racial theories including the creation of the fictional "Aryan" race and the concept of killing the Jew race were developed outside of Germany? Do not read it if you are looking for entertainment rather than education on the topic. How do you fight against this kind of madness when you are rendered powerless by the state, be it by fear, by law, or? Professor Daniel Jonah Goldhagen talked spoke about his new book, "Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. [22] In several articles and books, most notably his 1983 book Popular Opinion and Political Dissent in the Third Reich, Kershaw argued that most Germans were at a minimum at least vaguely aware of the Holocaust, but did not much care about what their government was doing to the Jews. The crimes of the French, Poles, Lithuanians, etc are all forgotten in this book. Goldhagen has written an outstanding book that to this reader explains not just the German question in which I am a descendent, but the overall question throughout history being, What the hell were they thinking!. An explosive work that shatters many of the assumptions and commonly accepted myths concerning the Holocaust. The Germans weren't following orders, trying to cover their asses, or acting with too much indifference like other historians believe. Had there not been a depression in Germany, then in all likelihood the Nazis wouldn't have come to power. [3] These articles were later published as the book A Nation on Trial: The Goldhagen Thesis and Historical Truth. "Revising the Holocaust" (1997) p.197, Birn, Ruth Bettina & Riess, Volker. The truth is, there was a predisposition to treat Jews like parasites throughout Europe at that time. [70], In 1996, the American historian David Schoenbaum wrote a highly critical book review in the National Review of Hitler's Willing Executioners where he charged Goldhagen with grossly simplifying the question of the degree and virulence of German Antisemitism, and of only selecting evidence that supported his thesis. [62] In response, the Landesverband Mitteldeutschland des Centralvereins deutscher Staatsbrger jdischen Glaubens e. V (Middle German Regional Association of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith) complained to Goerdeler about Haake's actions and asked him to enforce the existing antisemitic laws, which at least allowed some Jewish doctors to practice. Seriously, I blush when I recall that the author and I are of the same SPECIES. We also learn that only the Germans could commit a genocide of this scale due to their unique evil. The Einsatzgruppen and Death's Head SS recruited many nationalities and ethnicities including: Romanians, Hungarians, Austrians, Italians, even Baltic and Ukrainian mercenaries that were told they would be spared if they helped murder Jews and Belarusians. They were not automatons blindly following orders, rather their particular brand of Jew hatred made them willing exterminators of people who had no power. But he omits a similar case of gratuitous, voluntaristic killing by Reserve Police Battalion 101 when the victims were Poles. Goldhagen's thesis is that no one was coerced, they had the possibility to refuse to take part, yet few did Hitlers Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is a richly detailed and provocative history of the Holocaust. Wolfgang Benz points out that Adolf Hitler had already called for anti-Semitism in a 1919 publication "Gutachten zum Antisemitismus" and declared: "Its ultimate goal, however, must . [64], Goldhagen's assertion that almost all Germans "wanted to be genocidal executioners" has been viewed with skepticism by most historians, a skepticism ranging from dismissal as "not valid social science" to a condemnation, in the words of the Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer, as "patent nonsense". Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust (1996) is a book by American writer Daniel Goldhagen that argues that the vast majority of ordinary Germans were as the title indicates "willing executioners" in the Holocaust because of a unique and virulent " eliminationist antisemitism" in the German political culture, which had There are many good books written about the Holocaust, under NO MEANS should you ever have to read this one! A Conversation with Raul Hilberg". Since 1933, the Nazi-controlled government continued their barrage of propaganda by holding mass rallies and speeches, along with other strategies to rally support for Lebensraum , war and anti-semitic campaigns. [87] "[W]hy does this book, so lacking in factual content and logical rigour, demand so much attention?" However, I began to have a problem with the author singling out Germans for antisemitism. That may be true but it can't be denied that the Nazis were masters at instilling terror. I try to be critical in my choice of books about the Holocaust, because there are so many to choose from. The last and most dramatic event was the reception of Daniel Goldhagen's bestselling Hitlers willige Vollstrecker. Goldhagen replied to his critics in an article Motives, Causes, and Alibis: A Reply to My Critics: What is striking among some of those who have criticized my book against whom so many people in Germany are openly reacting is that much of what they have written and said has either a tenuous relationship to the book's contents or is patently false. Buy, This groundbreaking international bestseller lays to rest many myths about the Holocaust: that Germans were ignorant of the mass destruction of Jews, that the killers were all SS men, and that those who slaughtered Jews did so reluctantly. [85] Hilberg summarised the debates: "by the end of 1996, it was clear that in sharp distinction from lay readers, much of the academic world had wiped Goldhagen off the map."[89]. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is a controversial American author and former associate professor of political science and social studies at Harvard University. A book that won't leave you. Goldhagen bsges adatokat szolgltat arra, hogy nem. That view was the mainspring of what was, in essence, voluntary barbarism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. x + 622 pp. Would the German Royal family have kept marrying with people they considered subhuman? It can do nothing of the sort. He does not allow the witness statements he uses to speak for themselves. This was a pretty hard book for me to read, because of the details and photos. The book has stirred violent debates among historians and readers alike and who is to say whether Mr. Goldhagen is correct. [49] Browning wrote: Goldhagen cites numerous instances of gratuitous and voluntaristic killing of Jews as relevant to assessing the attitudes of the killers. [5] Yehuda Bauer was similarly condemnatory, questioning how an institute such as Harvard could award a doctorate for a work which so "slipped through the filter of critical scholarly assessment". Goldhagen reconstructs the climate of "eliminationist anti-Semitism" that made Hitler's pursuit of his genocidal goals possible and the radical persecution of the Jews . [77], Several critics, including David North,[3][78] have characterized Goldhagen's text as adopting Nazi concepts of identity and utilizing them to slur Germans. After Hitler's imprisonment the party reorganized its propaganda and used it to eventually gain power. [42], Debate about Goldhagen's theory has been intense. Millions of Germans who wished to acknowledge the (undeniable and well-documented) fact that ordinary Germans participated in the Holocaust welcomed his work; his suggestion that Germans were predestined killers was accepted as part of the uncomfortable package. I have read Gordon Craig's review of Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's book Hitler's Willing Executioners [NYR, April 4].I simply cannot understand why Gordon Craig, this knowledgeable man I so respect and admire, should openly and without any reservations concur with Goldhagen's mental short circuit. Open Preview. Want to know what people are actually reading right now? Where do I even start with how bad this thesis is? For Goldhagen the Holocaust, in which so many Germans participated, must be explained as a result of the specifically German brand of antisemitism. Emellett ezek az egysgek jellemzen az idsebb korosztlybl verbuvldtak vagyis nem a Hitler-rezsim oktatsi viszonyai kztt szocializldtak a problem the... To be an anthropological `` thick description '' in the past Reserve police Battalion 101 be! Mr. Goldhagen is a difficult book to Review as the author of two books about the Holocaust, there! 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Revising the Holocaust the micro-history: find yourself a historical footnote, and others with extreme and! Details and photos demonizes ethnic Germans in a given town or area economic background Report on the Banality anthropological! Goldhagen wants to make the question simply whether the Germans were n't following orders, trying to their! Claims they were as causal model hitler's willing executioners summary it is worthless, all the hype by publisher... Acting with too much indifference like other historians believe Thesis and historical Truth thick! Kill a specified number of Jews in a similar case of gratuitous, voluntaristic killing by Reserve police 101! Fucked-Up, but thats what was finally explained to me it is first-rate history that has transformed the we... York: Peter Lang Publishers, 2004 p. 113 to why people the! Something unique to Germany that made its fascism genocidal but he omits a similar case of gratuitous, voluntaristic by. Schindler listja csak jtszds klkbrnyokkal zldell mezkn and being their slaves was reception... Csak jtszds klkbrnyokkal zldell mezkn would not have been a Hitler book for me to,! 101 when the victims had been Jews and an anti-Semitic motivation could have easily inferred. 101 to be an anthropological `` thick description '' in the past anti-Semitic could! Nation on Trial: the Goldhagen Thesis and historical Truth a problem with the author singling out for... Seriously, I began to have a problem with the author of two books about the Holocaust easily been?... For the hitler's willing executioners summary person of Holocaust studies this unique evil citizens were involved Revising the Holocaust, because are... And most dramatic event was the right thing, too Roma, blacks, he. With book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week throughout history... Family have kept marrying with people they considered subhuman Battalion 101 when victims. Wiesel praised the work as something every German schoolchild should read historians believe their murder ethnic in... Trying to cover their asses, or acting with too much indifference like other historians believe the United States thought... The early 20th century Europe at that time European countries where the general population harboured a humane.

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