Why did the Nazis treatment of the Jews change between 1939-1945?

In 1933 Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany, what followed in the following years was an enormous hate campaign against the Jews, to rid the Jews in Germany. Because of the sheer number of Jews in Germany, the Nazis needed a new answer to the Jewish question.

By 1939 a large part of the Jews were emigrating abroad due to Hitler’s anti-semantic views and the mass of propaganda that turned the German people against them. The majority of Jews immigrated to fellow European countries such as France, Holland, and Britain. Palestine, then under British control was promised to become the new Jewish homeland. However the Arab population was angry that foreigners could take their land. Britain had vital supplies of oil there which was vital to the war they limited the number of Jews allowed in. One of the famous stories was of St. Louis. St. Louis was a ship full of Jewish emigrants from Germany; they were destined to go to Cuba but where denied entry. They continued on to several countries where they were all rejected, they eventually returned back to Germany. Most passengers on the St. Louis did not survive.

In 1939 Germany had invaded Poland capturing more than 3 million Jews. The Nazis needed a new solution as the sheer number of Jews could not be controlled easily, there they thought of the Ghetto. Ghettos were small parts of cities where Jewish people were rounded up too. All Jews were destined to live in the Ghettoes, because of the sheer number of Jews in one small area would make it easier to control the Jewish people, but with this came horrendous living conditions where several families lived in one room. Rations were little, with only a mere 184 calories a day. The Jewish suffered health problems because of poor hygiene. Diseases spread quickly, and dead were offered left on the streets because of lack of space inside. Seeing how many Jews they had under control the Nazis decided to use this for an advantage for the war. Able Jews were made to help the Economy, by building several products.

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1941, Germany invades USSR. Germany was rapidly expanding its domination in Europe with more and more Jews being captured every day. When the Germans invaded USSR they took control of Jews, Gypsies and captured Communists. At this time they did not need any more help with the Economy. More and more Jews were sent to Ghettos and various work camps however the Nazis were finding it hard to cope with the massive number of Jews. In the end the SS decided to exterminate the Jewish race. 1st mass shooting were used to kill various groups. The SS would bring the Jews in a secluded area where they were often forced to dig their own grave, after they were simply shot, and covered over to hide evidence. However the Einsatzgruppen troops who performed these shooting sometimes complained of stress and physiological effects. The SS did not want to upset the troop’s morale so they had to figure out a new idea, Gas. The man in charge of the SS Himmler decided to use gas to kill off the Jewish. The 1st program the T-4, knew that Carbon Monoxide could kill in a massive number. They 1st used the gases in Gas Vans where the Jews were simply locked in and Gassed. However this took too much time, Himmler wanted a method that could wipe out a large number. They decided to Gas Chambers. The 1st death camp was in Chelmno. The Jewish people were transported there and told to strip and enter a massive warehouse where they would be cleaned. The Jewish people followed, not knowing that Carbon Monoxide would enter. After the event, the bodies were carried out and burnt to hide evidence; their personal possessions were seized and solved for a profit for the SS.

In 1942 the Wansee was held, the Nazis decided the final solutions was to eradicate the Jewish race. By now Gassing was being used more often with thousands of Jews dying ever day. They used the healthy and talented for work, the rest of the Jews who were unable to work, the old, the young and the disabled, were gassed and killed. Every Jew under Nazi control was now in danger as the Nazis set to finally end the problem of the Jewish race.

1945, USA enters the War. USA, the most powerful country entered the war in 1943. The Nazis knew that the Americans were formidable opponents, and this war which so far been trouble-free could abruptly end. The extermination of Jews was stalled with the Nazis needing every solider. Production demands were increased, and with more German soldiers dying they were finally starting to struggle. The Invasion of UUSR was too much, they were rapidly losing men and ground, and with the rest of Europe and USA to battle, they were losing confidence. The SS was swiftly losing there profits as Jewish deaths became slower.

1945, the tide of the battle was turning against Germany for the worst. They were losing ground in Europe as the Allied forces battled on, and UUSR advancing into Poland. This now was Total War. Goebbels was appointed Reich Trustee for Total War. Every German citizen geared for the war effort. Germany was experiencing vicious Air Raids by the Allies forces. Refugees were poring in from the borders and Germany had finally lost control. In a final bid, they ordered that all Jews were to be marched back to Berlin. To some this involved over 600 miles of walking. Many died as Rations were rarely given out and people died of diseases. They needed to hide the Jewish genocide from the rest of the world, the plan was to bring the Jews back and simply kill them all. More and more camps and bodies were being found. Soldiers starting to lose faith in the war and abandon their posts, everything thing was being falling apart compared to earlier when they seemed unbeatable.

There’s no doubt that the Nazis wanted the Jews exterminated. Earlier in the war when they were simply cruising to victory the extermination of Jews was their top priority. As the war raged on they introduced Gas Chambers which could wipe out hundreds, if this continued the Jews wouldn’t have been here today. As more and more Jews were found, the Nazis discovered that drastic measures needed to be taken for the massive number of Jews found. However when there domination was being threatened they had to concentrate saving their own people, they wanted to remain secret to the outside world as they knew if they would find out, it would be a unspeakable crime against the world and disgrace the German people forever.

By Peter Lam