Adolf Hitler couldn’t accept Germany had lost in WW1. He was enraged at the conditions that Germany had accepted in the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler greatly disliked the views the Treaty stood for. He wrote these views down in his book ‘Mein Kampf’ (My Struggle). The reparations that amounted to almost 7 billion pounds shattered Germany, losing land and being disarmed. Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party that initially was a party that was against the Treaty of Versailles.
In ‘Mein Kampf’, he wrote the ideals of the Nazi party. He alleged that the Aryan Race (of whom the Germans were the purest example) were the most superior race and that the Jews were the most inferior. He also states many other things including his hatred of the Treaty of Versailles. At this point in time, public opinion forced the Nazi party to play this theme down.
After Germany’s defeat in WW1, life was very hard for the German people. Inflation rendered the money useless. There were frequent riots for food, money and justice. The people needed a scapegoat, so they chose the same scapegoat which had been chosen for the past 1900 years, the Jews. It wasn’t enough to blame the Jews, the people had to establish factually why the Jews were burdened with this great burden. Anti-semitism could no longer be blamed on emotions, but on facts. Darwin’s theory played a big role in the search for factual answers of the Jewish blame. The German people interpreted the theory in a different light enabling them to put about ideas that Jews were inferior to the Aryan race. People in high places, including Hitler promoted these ideas. “By defending myself against the Jews, I am fighting for the work of our lord” (Mein Kampf). Once Hitler came to power, first punishment was dealt through smaller things such as stripping the rights of the Jews. Very ludicrous laws such as ‘Aryan and non-Aryan children are forbidden to play together.’ (1933) were passed.
Then came the pogroms, Kristallnacht (Night of broken glass), destruction of 267 synagogues, arrest of 30,000 Jews and lastly the Final Solution.
As modern anti-semitism became more widespread, the Nazi party continued to become more popular since these were the ideas they stood for. During the world depression, the Nazis promised jobs for the people, they gained 37.3% of votes in the following election which made them the largest party in the Reichstag. In 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor by President Hindenburg which gave him the perfect opportunity to seize power. That same year the Reichstag burnt down which Hitler used an excuse to destroy as many of his enemies as he could. From January 1933, he set up concentration camps to tyrannise all opponents of the Nazi policy.
The use of propaganda contributed greatly to the brainwashing of the German people, the Nazis had control of all the radio stations, newspapers and posters. They portrayed the Jew as an evil villain, this was especially effective to brain wash the children. Even in schools, they were teaching anti-semetic values.
He also began to ‘racially cleanse’ Germany. He sterilised all mentally or physically disabled people by methods such as x-rays. By 1939, he had sterilised around 1% of the entire of the German population. Hitler also increased Jewish persecution in phases. The anti-Semitic actions of the Nazis culminated in the Kristallnacht (“night of broken glass”) pogrom, which occurred all over Germany and Austria on the night of November 9, 1938. During that night, Nazi mobs murdered more than 90 Jews, beat hundreds more, demolished 76 synagogues and set fire to 191 more, and destroyed and looted thousands of shops and businesses owned by Jews. What made it even worse was that the Jews had to pay for the damage that was caused. These sorts of events were supervised by the SS and its leader, Heinrich Himmler.
When Hitler established dictatorship, he made it clear what he wanted. This was revenge on the Jews (including non-german Jews) for losing WW1. From 1935, he openly rearmed Germany, all the while increasing oppression of Jews and other ethnic minorities.
The Nazis could never have achieved the murder of 8 million Jews and other ethnic minorities on their own, so from the beginning they acquired the trust of the German people because they knew they had need of it later. The first sign of civilian collaboration with the Nazis was when they followed and took part in Kristallnacht. There was also a constant undercurrent of anti-semetic rioting from the public.
When Hitler had invaded Czechoslovakia, the people accepted him as leader and handed over the Jews in their country, some civilian groups went round doing the SS’s job and murdering Jews of their own accord. A lot of countries the Germans had taken control of also handed their Jews over. In 1944 it was obvious that Germany were losing the war but they wouldn’t at any cost give up the goal of racial perfection.
The final solution was the most the most extreme stage of Hitler’s plan. It meant the total extermination of the Jews. First came the Euthanasia campaign, the cold-blooded murder of 70,00 mentally and physically disabled people took place in gas chambers over Germany and Austria. Then came operation Barbarossa. Many Jews had to dig their own grave before they were shot dead. This way of killing proved to be inefficient so Himmler used Zyklon B gas. Hitler ordered the construction of the camps such as Auschwitz and Belsen these were the most notorious death camps, mass murder was committed on a huge scale. One by one, about 8 million Jews were murdered ruthlessly. It was largely due to one man, Adolf Hitler.
Was it just because of Adolf Hitler, if not the Nazis, and then maybe some other party led by someone led by some other man would have been there to take Hitler’s role. I think that the Hitler was a very good brainwasher of the German peoples since that was the core of the support to racially cleanse Germany. Without the support of the German people, Hitler would not have been able to kill such a vast sum of Jews. The fact that the allies didn’t do anything major to prevent the holocaust when they knew about it played a crucial role in the number of dead Jews. If they thought they might have killed some Jews if they bombed the camps, isn’t it better to sacrifice a few who would’ve died anyway to save a vast majority?
