Víctor Ernesto Farías Soto (born 4 May 1940) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an historian. Farías is best known for his controversial book ''

Heidegger and Nazism Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

'' (1987).

Education

Farías was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

in 1940. He graduated from the

Catholic University of Chile The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1961 and continued his studies in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he obtained a doctorate in Philosophy. During his stay in Germany, Farías studied under such German thinkers as

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

, Rainer Marten, and

Eugen Fink Eugen Fink (11 December 1905 – 25 July 1975) was a German philosopher. Biography Fink was born in 1905 as the son of a government official in Germany. He spent his first school years with an uncle who was a Catholic priest. Fink attended a gra ...

. Farías returned to Chile in 1971 but fled back to Germany after the 1973 coup which deposed President Allende. Farías became an investigator and professor in the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

, where he worked until 2006.

''Heidegger and Nazism''

A one-time student of Heidegger, Farías is best known for his controversial book ''Heidegger and Nazism'' (1987), which concluded that Heidegger's philosophy is inherently

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

. His writings are informed by his philosophical education in Germany and a political commitment to the Chilean left. Farías viewpoint in his work is also conscious of Chile's involvement as a place of sanctuary and refuge to

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

during and after the war. Upon its publication, ''Heidegger and Nazism'' obtained international attention and was published in 14 countries.

Salvador Allende

Farías has also garnered considerable controversy because of his allegations against

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

and the

Socialist Party of Chile The Socialist Party of Chile ( es, Partido Socialista de Chile, or PS) is a centre-left political party founded in 1933. Its historic leader was President of Chile Salvador Allende, who was deposed in a CIA-backed coup d'état by General Augusto ...

in general. During this period Farías also published studies on

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

and

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

. Farías's publication of ''Salvador Allende: Antisemitism and Euthanasia'' (Salvador Allende: Antisemitismo y Eutanasia) made claims that Allende's graduation thesis expressed

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

views and supported

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's plans of sterilization of the mentally unfit. The book, published in Chile, Spain, France, and Brazil, was heavily criticized by Allende's supporters, who published another book claiming to refute Farías' claims and accusations. In 2006, Farías responded with ''Salvador Allende: The End of the Myth'' (Salvador Allende: El fin del mito), which affronted some of his critics, and published new documents claiming Nazi connections to the Chilean Socialist Party in the 1930s. Farías also asserted that, based on documents from the East German archives he uncovered, there were many dealings and associations, political and otherwise, between the Soviet Union and Allende's Chile.

Bibliography

''Books in Spanish'' *''Los manuscritos de Melquíades'' (1981) *''La estética de la agresión'' (1984) *''Heidegger y el Nazismo'' (1987) *''La izquierda chilena (1969–1973)'' (2001) *''Los Nazis en Chile'' (2003, two volumes) *''Salvador Allende: Antisemitismo y eutanasia'' (2005) *''Salvador Allende: El fin de un mito'' (2006) *''La muerte del camaleón. La Democracia Cristiana Chilena y su Descomposición'' (2008) *''Los documentos secretos de Salvador Allende. La caja de fondos en La Moneda'' (2010) *''Heidegger y su herencia. Los neonazis, el neofascismo y el fundamentalismo islámico'' (2010) *''Ricardo Lagos y el Chile Nuevo'' (2013) *''Los Nazis en Chile (recast and updated version)'' (2015)

References

* *

External links

A defence of Heidegger
by

Pierre Joris Pierre Joris (born July 14, 1946) is a Luxembourg-American poet, essayist, translator, and anthologist. He has moved between Europe, North Africa & the US for 55 years, publishing over 80 books of poetry, essays, translations & anthologies — mo ...

*Salvador Allende: **
Higiene mental y delincuencia. Universidad de Chile, tesis, 1933
*Julio Silva Solar: **

' **

' from the Chilean publication ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Farias, Victor 1940 births Living people Chilean historians of philosophy 20th-century Chilean historians 20th-century Chilean male writers 21st-century Chilean historians 21st-century Chilean male writers Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Heidegger scholars Chilean expatriates in Germany