My Battle Against Hitler
Reading Group
August 5, 12, 19, and 26
A four-week reading group through My Battle Against Hitler with Peter Meilaender.
The group will meet over Zoom on Wednesday evenings (August 5, 12, 19, & 29) from 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT.
About the Text
Dietrich von Hildebrand was a German Catholic thinker and teacher who devoted the full force of his intellect to breaking the deadly spell of Nazism that ensnared so many of his beloved countrymen.
His story might well have been lost to us were it not for this memoir he penned in the last decades of his life at the request of his wife, Alice von Hildebrand. In My Battle Against Hitler, covering the years from 1921 to 1938, von Hildebrand tells of the scorn and ridicule he endured for sounding the alarm when many still viewed Hitler as a positive and inevitable force. He expresses the sorrow of having to leave behind his home, friends, and family in Germany to conduct his fight against the Nazis from Austria. He recounts how he defiantly challenged Nazism in the public square, prompting the German ambassador in Vienna to describe him to Hitler as “the architect of the intellectual resistance in Austria.” And in the midst of all the danger he faced, he conveys his unwavering trust in God, even during his harrowing escape from Vienna and his desperate flight across Europe, with the Nazis always just one step behind.
Format
The meeting will be conducted live in Zoom. Links for the session will be sent out ahead of time.
To allow for rich discussion, the group is limited in size to a maximum of 20 participants. Once the group is full, additional registrations will be placed on a waitlist.
All participants are expected to have a copy of the text and to come prepared to each session having done the weekly reading (15-45 pages per week). The weekly reading schedule will be e-mailed to you.
Moderator
For the past 23 years Dr. Peter Meilaender has taught at Houghton University in Houghton, NY, where he isProfessor of Political Science and Dean of Religion, Humanities, and Global Studies. His degree is in political theory and much of his work has been in politics and literature, especially in the areas of Swiss and Austrian Studies. His wife is German and they have five children, the oldest in law school, the youngest is in highschool.
Costs
Reading groups are free to attend.
If you are able, we invite you to make a donation to help defray the costs of organizing (reading groups cost the Hildebrand Project ~$900 for a four-week group). We are committed to making reading groups accessible to all; therefore, participation is not contingent on a donation.
Your gift support this reading group, our publications, web resources, and other events, all of which contribute to bringing the vital, life-giving witness of personalist philosophy into new and uncertain times.
Readings:
Forthcoming
Time:
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET
August 5 — 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT