Johann Albrecht von Reiswitz: From “Uneasy Scholar” to Ahnenerbe Collaborator. Notes about a Book

Abstract

The paper critically examines some of the conclusions of the historian Andreas Roth concerning the activities of Johann Albrecht von Reiswitz in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the occupied Serbia. It is stressed that biographies or studies aiming at biographical representation require a clear theoretical-methodological framework, situating the actors into relevant social structures. Instead of picturesque details, abounding in traditional biographies, it is essential to analyse the protagonist through various social orderings in which he acted and to which he adapted. Following this principle, the inconsistencies and contradictions apparent in Roth’s book are pointed out. Contrary to his opinion, in this paper it is argued that the work of Reiswitz cannot be ideologically and practically separated from the activities of the Military-Administrative Headquarters, or the organization Ahnenerbe. None of Reiswitz’s actions took place outside of the general ideology of Nazism, where personal professional advancement was linked to the cumulative radicalisation of the regime. Here it is demonstrated that he not only was ambivalent towards the crimes taking place around him, but was also actively involved, through his collaboration with SS Ahnenerbe, to justify the newly established order in the occupied Serbia. Roth leans upon the authority of some private testimonies, but instead of de-mystifying them, he contradicts his own previous conclusions.