怪獸故事
有時候一時找不到好書可讀，就會把多年前讀過的好書再讀一遍。例如管理學大師彼得·德魯克（Peter F Drucker)的回憶錄《旁觀者》，我讀了至少三遍，其中有些篇章還讀過四五遍，每次讀都有新心得。
德魯克被譽為現代管理學之父。他出生於奧地利。在法蘭克福大學獲經濟學博士後，到當地一報紙作編輯。不久。納粹黨上台。德魯克看透這一政權的邪惡本貭，趕緊逃亡倫敦，之後去美國，開啟了現代管理學研究。他的名言是：
「在一個多元組織構成的社會中，讓各種組織機構負責任地、獨立自治地、高績效地運作，是自由和尊嚴的唯一保障。是對抗和替代極權專制的唯一選擇。」
不，也許其中有一章<怪獸和綿羊>是個例外，文章記敘的雖然也算名人，卻是兩名納粹分子。
這裡且說說那位綽號「怪獸」的殺人狂魔、希特勒黨衛軍頭目萊因哈德·漢斯。此人曾是德魯克在法蘭克福報社工作時的同事，出身草根，能力平平。但政治上十分活躍，同時參加了共產黨和納粹黨。德魯克得知報社已被納粹接管，收拾行李打算第二天一早出逃，誰知當晚，身着一身黨衛軍制服的漢斯敲開了他的家門。
德魯克這一驚非同小可，因為接管報社的納粹主管正是漢斯。不料漢斯并不是來抓他的，相反，他要把自己的未婚妻付托給他。因為他從納粹的內部會議得知，他們馬上要向猶太人和異見人士開刀了，於是趕緊回家跟他那思想傾向自由的未婚妻分手，叫她快逃。
德魯克說：「那你自己為甚麼不走呢？」
漢斯道：「我沒有家世背景，又不象你才力出眾懂多門外語，我出去肯定沒前途。但我也想出人頭地呀。這就是我四五年前加入納粹的原因。眼下我有一張黨員證，從上面的號碼可看出我的黨齡。我終於有希望作大人物了。那些聰明、家世不錯的人太過吹毛求疵，不知變通，不願作某些工作，這卻正是我的機會。你看着吧，從現在起我就要揚名立萬了。」
他果然如願以償，因為效忠黨國一路高㫒，後來給派去管理集中營，官拜中將。滅猶和屠殺其他納粹之敵兇殘無比，成了名震德國佔領區的大劊子手。1945年在即將成為美軍俘虜時自殺身亡。
德魯克在這一章作結說，他在跟漢斯有那一席談的當晚，頭腦中產生出他第一本重要著作《經濟人的未日》的構思。
那名殺人狂魔的自供狀是如何引發這位大師的傳世之作的，我無法闡釋；我只想說，怪獸故事再次證明了之前我對所有極權政府鷹犬走狗的認識：別信他們口頭上那套冠冕堂皇的漂亮話，欲望的膨脹才是他們死心踏地為主子賣命的真正動機。
Monster Story
Sometimes, when I can’t find a good book to read for a while, I’ll revisit a great book I read years ago. For example, I’ve read *Adventures of a Bystander*, the memoir of management guru Peter F. Drucker, at least three times, with some chapters even four or five times. Each reading brings fresh insights.
Drucker is hailed as the father of modern management. He was born in Austria. After earning a doctorate in economics from the University of Frankfurt, he worked as an editor at a local newspaper. Soon after, the Nazi Party rose to power. Seeing through the evil nature of this regime, Drucker fled to London and later moved to the United States, where he pioneered modern management studies. One of his famous sayings is:
“In a society composed of diverse organizations, ensuring that these institutions operate responsibly, autonomously, and with high performance is the only safeguard of freedom and dignity. It is the sole alternative to, and defense against, totalitarian tyranny.”
I know next to nothing about modern management, but that’s fine. Drucker was a polymath with a vivid and concise writing style, and his wide circle of acquaintances made *Adventures of a Bystander* a fascinating record of his interactions with elite figures from all walks of life. It’s both entertaining and enlightening to read.
Well, perhaps there’s one exception: the chapter titled “The Monster and the Lamb.” Though it also features notable figures, they are two Nazis.
Here, let me tell you about the man nicknamed “The Monster”—Reinhard Heydrich, a murderous lunatic and head of Hitler’s SS. He was once Drucker’s colleague at the Frankfurt newspaper. Heydrich came from humble origins and was of average ability, but he was politically active, simultaneously joining both the Communist Party and the Nazi Party. When Drucker learned that the newspaper had been taken over by the Nazis, he packed his bags, planning to flee the next morning. That very night, however, Heydrich, dressed in an SS uniform, knocked on his door.
Drucker was utterly shocked, as the Nazi official who had taken over the newspaper was none other than Heydrich. To his surprise, Heydrich hadn’t come to arrest him. Instead, he wanted to entrust his fiancée to Drucker’s care. He had learned from an internal Nazi meeting that they were about to target Jews and dissidents, so he rushed home, broke up with his freedom-loving fiancée, and urged her to escape.
Drucker asked, “Then why don’t you leave too?”
Heydrich replied, “I have no family background, and I’m not like you—brilliant, multilingual, and full of talent. If I leave, I’ll have no future. But I want to make something of myself. That’s why I joined the Nazis four or five years ago. Now I have a party membership card, and its number shows how long I’ve been with them. I finally have a shot at becoming someone important. Those clever people with good family backgrounds are too picky, too inflexible, unwilling to do certain jobs—and that’s my chance. Just watch, from now on, I’m going to make a name for myself.”
And he did. His loyalty to the Nazi regime propelled him upward. He was later assigned to manage concentration camps, rising to the rank of lieutenant general. Ruthlessly exterminating Jews and other enemies of the Nazis, he became a notorious executioner across German-occupied territories. In 1945, as he was about to be captured by American forces, he took his own life.
Drucker concludes this chapter by noting that his conversation with Heydrich that night sparked the idea for his first major work, *The End of Economic Man*.
How the confession of that murderous madman inspired the master’s seminal work is beyond my ability to explain. All I can say is that this “monster story” once again confirms what I’ve long understood about the lackeys of totalitarian regimes: don’t believe the lofty, righteous words they spout. The true driving force behind their unwavering devotion to their masters is the expand of their own desires.
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