Anti-semitism had existed long before Hitler ever came to power, so we mustn’t be under the illusion that he invented it from thin air and proceeded to annihilate an entire people. It had existed from the 4th Century when the Jews were blamed for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and this shows that it had been a longstanding problem. The pogroms in Russia were an example of anti-semitism in the East, where Jews would be lined up and beheaded, showing that it was a widespread prejudice. However, even though anti-semitism wasn’t a new concept, it cannot be denied that Hitler and the Nazis took it to a whole new level. A possible reason for this deeper hatred could be that the Jews were seen as a good scapegoat. Hitler blamed the defeat in WW1 on the Jews diluting the Aryan race and weakening the fighting spirit. He claimed that they were a parasite, behind Germany’s economic problems and a communist plot.
When Hitler came to power he proceeded to institutionalize anti-semitism from 1933. In March there was much apparently sporadic and unplanned violence against Jews erupting around Germany, generally organized by SA members. Jews were forced to wear a star of David at all times, so as other German people could recognize them immediately. On 1 April, Jewish shops and businesses were boycotted by all citizens as ordered by Hitler. In the following weeks and months the Jews were driven out of every other profession including civil service, journalism, law and teaching. On the 10th May books by Jewish authors were burned in Berlin during sessions organized by Nazis. In September 1935 the Nuremburg laws were passed which meant that Jews were no longer considered German citizens and made marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Germans illegal. This was to reinforce the message that Jews were inferior and to preserve the purity of the Aryan race. The Nuremburg laws were very significant as they institutionalized anti-semitism and drove nearly half a million Jews from Germany. This was solid proof that official government policy was to take away their basic rights. The anti-semitism was spread and enhanced through propaganda. Goebbels’ propaganda forced anti-Jewish messages upon German families. They were often refused jobs and humiliated publicly as a result of this. In schools even the children were segregated and eventually expelled. Nazi cartoons and posters portrayed the Jew as a corrupt, greedy monster, and teachers were forced to teach children that the Jew was a danger to the nation.
Another important event when considering this is Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass). This was a nationwide, organized attack on the Jews following the murder of a Nazi official (Ernst von Rath) in Paris in November 1938. This was an act of revenge as the murderer was Jewish. During this night ninety one Jews were killed, one hundred and ninety one synagogues destroyed and seven thousand businesses trashed and demolished. Two thousand more Jews were killed at concentration camps. To add insult to injury, as well as having to pay for the repair of their damaged property and cope with their losses, the Jews were fined one billion marks for von Rath’s murder.
In 1939, war broke out. Even more extreme treatment of the Jews was applied because the world had more important things on its mind. The war also increased the number of Jews under German control and also meant that Jews couldn’t emigrate (which ruled out moving them all to Madagascar as originally intended). They were then dealt with brutally, being shot or herded into appalling ghettos where they lived in awful conditions of overcrowding and shortage of food - many died as a result of ‘natural reduction’.
It became obvious that the current solution to the Jewish Question wasn’t effective enough. During the war Germany had gained control over many more Jews, and after Operation Barbarossa there was more pressure to get rid of the Jews quickly, which brought to mind the idea of mass murder. However, many of the killers were becoming psychologically ravaged by having to shoot so many people and ammunition was expensive. So, the Wannsee conference was called. Hitler, Heydrich and Himmler sat down to discuss how to kill more Jews for less money and then dispose of the remains. There it was decided that gas chambers and crematoriums would be the most efficient method. Many still died from natural causes. The journey to the concentration camp and the living conditions inside the ghetto still remained sub human. Many would die en route to one of the camps (Auswitchz, Treblinka) because of the overcrowded conditions and weather extremes along with food and water shortages.
In conclusion, the Holocaust was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany. Whether or not this was pre-meditated or simply a reaction to a chain of events following the outbreak of WWII is debatable, but regardless of this, the Nazis still committed genocide on a massive scale. Anti-Semitism had existed long before the Holocaust in many different parts of the world, but the Nazis took it to a new level. Hitler institutionalized racism in order to get rid of the Jews, and that is what led to such an immense massacre and set the Nazis apart.
