Allende and Nazism

ud, theft and usury. This is pure Nazi theory, that he says it was genetic.”

Mr Farias said the dissertation also attacked revolutionaries, saying that although they might appear normal, they were actually sociopaths.

As for Chileans, Mr Farias said the dissertation quoted a theory that the Spaniards’ 300-year fight to colonise Chile had weeded out the weak from both Spanish and native Indian populations, leaving the proud Chileans with the best from both races.

The Allende family, which includes the late president’s niece, the novelist Isabel Allende, has attacked Mr Farias for “dishonest work” and said the disclosures have no “historical relevance”.

Victor Farias, it should be said, is a reputable historian. His book Heidegger and Nazism, published in 1987, was instrumental in establishing that the philosopher had not just gone along with the rise of Nazism out of expedience, as he and his followers liked to claim, but was in fact a willing and enthusiastic supporter. So this is something of an embarrassing skeleton in the closet for such an iconic figure of the left.