Elite intellectuals were drawn to totalitarian movements, not only mob elements.

Evidence

WHAT IS MORE disturbing to our peace of mind than the unconditional loyalty of members of totalitarian movements, and the popular support of totalitarian regimes, is the unquestionable attraction these movements exert on the elite, and not only on the mob elements in society. It would be rash indeed to discount, because of artistic vagaries or scholarly naïveté, the terrifying roster of distinguished men whom totalitarianism can count among its sympathizers, fellow-travelers, and inscribed party members. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 775

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s Islamophobia field toolkit — the attraction of European intellectuals to fascism prefigures how totalitarian logics recruit across class lines.