At the end of the First World War, the German Empire was in dire straits, with a poor economy and little political control in Europe, both mainly caused by the restrictions laid out by the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans felt disgraced and left without a sense of national pride or identity. Reparations demands and weakened infrastructure led to incredible inflation and mass unemployment. On January 30, 1933, after the failure of the Weimar Republic’s weak democracy, and resurgence in nationwide wariness of communism, Adolf Hitler was proclaimed the Chancellor of Germany, leaving him in charge of not only his heavily right-wing Nazi Party, but the much of what little of the German Empire was left. Once in power, Hitler moved quickly in an attempt to put an end to German democracy. His cabinet invoked emergency clauses of the Constitution which permitted the suspension of individual freedoms of the press, speech, and assembly. The Gestapo, the original Storm Troopers (or S.A.), and the later employed Security Police (or S.S.) arrested and sometimes murdered leaders of opposing political parties including the communists, socialists, and liberals. Finally, the Enabling Act of March 23, 1933, almost forced due to the Reichstag already being purged of many political opponents, gave full dictatorial powers to Hitler.
Hitler, seemingly obsessed with hatred and blame in relation to the Jewish population, was quick to utilize the general German population’s deep rooted anti-Semitist thoughts for his own terrible plan. However, here one encounters a problem in the allocation of blame for the success of the implementation of the Nazi Holocaust. For it is almost impossible to pin point any actual time when Adolf Hitler actually made the order for the mass destruction of Jews throughout Europe, and there was never any real opposition from the German citizens, who did, however little, believe in the exemption of the Jewish population from their own, ‘pure’ society. Anti-Semitism had existed, with some surprisingly paralleled beliefs with those of the Nazis, for hundreds of years before the actual enforcement of the Nazi dictatorship. Through clever propaganda, and renewed workable methods of returning Germany to its former greatness, it did not take much convincing for the German public to follow the plans for Jewish evacuation, and eventually, upper and lower classes alike joined in with the anti-Semitic policies that the Nazis publicized. A reason for this seemingly unproblematic unification between the Nazi government and the German public is highlighted by Sarah Gordon, when she talks about the considerations the Nazis had to make when promoting their political ideals to the citizens under the regime:
“Those Germans who voted for Hitler obviously knew that some measures would be taken against Jews, and in that sense they acquiesced to the possibility of future persecution…Hitler toned down his anti-Semitism to win votes after 1928…it was not anti-Semitism which gained Hitler votes; but anti-Semitism made possible the other features of the Nazi program.” (Gordon 1984:70/1)
Although, as can be seen by the quote, that there was obviously some degree of political manipulation in the Nazi Party’s rise to power, and suspicious events in regard to the opposition in the candidacy, there is still a degree of public willingness to pursue in the wishes of the state government. Although the anti-Semitist ideology was subtle at the beginning, the policies became increasingly more prominent as long as the party remained in its position. The only recorded revolts were rare, and usually concerned mild anti-Semites who did not agree with the brutality of the Jewish culling, and for many of the German citizens concerned, the mass murder that was to follow the initial implications of Jewish extermination, what they could not see would not hurt them. There are theories concerning the German peoples’ indifference to the Final Solution, and one of them is based around the effect of Nazi propaganda coordinated by Adolf Hitler and one of his right-hand party members, Joseph Goebbels.
For the ordinary German, the Nazi dictatorship brought a wealth of positive elements to the country and the way in which it was run. As already mentioned, the Nazi regime saved the country from grave economical chaos, bringing affluence and stability not seen since the end of the First World War. Hitler and his party also brought unemployment rates to absolute zero, by restructuring the way in which Germany conducted its business, and through the exile of the Jewish families from their trade (known as the ‘Jew Trade’) and homes, the Germans quickly reaped the benefits of a wealth of job opportunities and upgrades in their general existence. In this way, whilst being taught through propaganda in cartoons, adverts and rallies to believe that the Jews were part of the sub-human peoples that Nazis wished to eradicate, and with the oncoming availability of a much better life, the ritual extermination of the Jews, however horrific, equaled an attractive prospect for the German population. In every area of class, wealth and community, the Nazis excelled in delivering what the public wanted, and in return, the German public gave them back what they wanted.
With the trauma caused by the Treaty of Versailles, they found it easy to scapegoat the Jewish community and blame them for the hardship the Germans had endured. From as far back as the 16th Century, the Christian nation had tried to convert Jews to their religion, but to no avail. Political anti-Semitism was born from the fact that through the years, Jews had become involved in many liberalist, socialist or radical movements, because they were not anti-Semitic on the left wing, and this only strengthened the anti-Semitist beliefs on the right wing. From 1815 onwards, ‘das Volk’ became common tongue, as Ronnie Landau states, “the term Volk was seen as the national community held together by secret ties of blood” (Landau 1992:83), and this excluded Jews from the ‘pure’ Germans to an all time higher level. All of these factors combined meant that the two communities were separated by futile hostilities by the time the Nazis came into power, making the integration of the ideologies much easier to accomplish.
As a direct result of the Jews being heavily familiar with all the years of unconcealed anti-Semitist behaviour, the capture, confinement and eventual extermination of the ‘sub-humans’ was also surprisingly unproblematic. Due to their historical acceptance of persecution, the Jews were originally not too wary of the intentions of the Nazi Party. To them the threats appeared to be idle and even the expulsion from their jobs and homes came as relatively little surprise. Possibly what they did not prepare for was the brutality and the efficiency of the hostile acts, which ultimately led many of them to their deaths. As Gordon states, “…many Jews in Germany also refused to believe rumors of what might happen to them…one might assume that the Nazis were successful in concealing their true aims” (Gordon 1984:183). What this statement makes clear is that through good Nazi planning, the Jewish population of Germany, and later on many other surrounding European countries, recognized that the Nazis meant to do them harm but anticipated “normal” anti-Semitist discrimination – perhaps a short period of hardship followed by Hitler’s fall – but nothing vaguely similar to the unprecedented slaughter that occurred.
Of course, the majority of the so-called ‘perpetrators’ involved in the Final Solution were soldiers of the Third Reich, and specifically, the SS. There is a large debate surrounding the question over whether the SS men can be dubbed as victims or perpetrators in the war. The problem with the argument for the former is that, for the majority of SS soldiers, their involvement in the ‘Einsatzgruppen’ was entirely optional, in that they could join the killing squads voluntarily, without any forcing or provocation. Not only this, but even when actually in the squads, the soldiers were once again not forced to kill any civilians at all – in fact, they were given the option of doing it or standing out of the proceedings. However, one cannot completely understand the intentions of all of the SS men there are also many elements that could make the soldiers feel obliged to be involved in the mass murder. Drawing on Freudian psychology, Elie Cohen states:
“If we regard the SS as a group with a leader, much of the behaviour of the SS men can be explained. The super-ego of the SS men knew no other value than Hitler’s words; hence every SS man lacked independence and only carried out Hitler’s orders…for them Hitler was the ‘great man.” Freud states “that the great man influences his contemporaries in two ways: through his personality and through the idea for which he stands.” (Cohen 1954:273)
From this extract, a clear indication can be seen of how it was possible for the SS men to feel a duty to Hitler as the ‘great man,’ after all he had done for them and the country as a whole. With his great success in elevating Germany to a country once again graced with triumph, Hitler had become a father figure to the people, and so it could be argued that subconsciously, the SS men did as they were expected to do in order to prove themselves to the ‘Fuhrer’ and feel part of the new ‘pure’, socially, politically and economically wealthy Germanic race. It could also be argued that a certain element of peer pressure was placed upon the heads of the SS men by their generals and fellow soldiers however, but there is little evidence to support this theory. Other explanations include the soldiers’ segmentation and routine, working on the principal that if you do something enough, then you will become resilient to its effects; the potential for career in policing or in something higher up in the Nazi organization; or enforced racism through propaganda and Nazi education. However, the fact remains that the SS did play a large role in the extermination of the Jewish population in the Final Solution, and however much one blames Hitler for giving the soldiers the incentive to commit the terrible acts, it was still the soldiers who actually obliged and ended up enacting the killings themselves, in sometimes in incredibly deplorable ways.
However, it was not only the soldiers who were involved in the ultimate destruction of the European Jews. The involvement of large corporate industries in the funding and equipping of the Holocaust is also well documented. A large amount of factual evidence suggests that without the help of German industry giants such as Siemens or Volkswagen, Hitler and his plans would never have had the economic capital to succeed, and the Final Solution may never have happened to such an extent. The trade between the Nazis and the industrialists did not end there, as in the case of certain motorcar manufacturers, who provided the vans for the preliminary stages of the use of gas in the extermination of the Jews in full knowledge of their employment. Such shameful stories have only recently come to light, as can be seen from this report from The New York Wall Street Journal on April 11, 2001, from the Editorial Page:
“The Anti-Defamation League issued its own statement announcing ‘shocking documentation’ that IBM ‘was instrumental in facilitating the implementation of Hitler's extermination of European Jewry.’” (Wall Street Journal 2001:1)
Although the IBM court battle still goes on, what this extract from the newspaper highlights is that large businesses, some of whom still operate very successfully today, and are well known across the world, were, in some way or another, involved in the implementation of the Jewish Holocaust. Without the help of such companies as these, Hitler may have never been able to nearly succeed in achieving his Final Solution. However, once again the blame cannot simply be placed on the companies, as they were probably simply in it for financial gain in the long run, horrific implications aside.
Also high on the list of perpetrators in the Nazi Holocaust, are the group of people commonly termed as, ‘Hitler’s Henchmen,’ or Hitler’s right hand men in the Nazi Party to be more specific. Amongst those men close to Hitler, are the likes of Joseph Goebbels, the man behind the Nazi propaganda, and Heinrich Himmler, the Fuhrer’s head of Gestapo, as well as ‘Reichsfuhrer’ of the SS. When understanding the actual involvement of Hitler in the organization and implementation of the Final Solution, one must first comprehend the involvement of Himmler. It is commonly argued that it was not Hitler, but rather Himmler who actually led the course of events towards the terrible Final Solution. To understand why, one must look at his childhood and the turn of events that led to his enrolment in the Nazi Party. A combination of Himmler’s insecurities, prejudices, and mental trauma which might have led to his decisions in the Holocaust can be seen in this extract:
“Described (Himmler) as ‘a man of quiet unemotional gestures, a man without nerves,’ he suffered from psychosomatic illness, severe headaches and intestinal spasms, and almost fainted at the sight of one hundred eastern Jews (including women) being executed for his benefit on the Russian front. Subsequent to this experience, he ordered as a ‘more humane means’ of execution, the use of poison gas.” (Jewish Virtual Library 2002:2)
The description of Himmler in this extract is not dissimilar to many other views of the man from a variety of other sources. On the exterior, Himmler was an emotionless, powerful man, whereas on the contrary, he was a man with many mental and physical problems. If this extract can be taken to be true, then Himmler was the man, not Hitler, who ordered the dissolution of mass shootings and demanded the implementation of new techniques that would eventually become the instruments of the Final Solution. The involvement of Hitler is also debatable to an extent – Hitler obviously gave the majority of orders concerning the extermination of the Jews – the incredible infrastructure of the Nazis would have meant that it would have been difficult for Hitler to get anything done unless he had given an order. Still the question remains to be discovered as to whether there is any documented evidence suggesting that Hitler did give the order for the Final Solution – and even if he did give the order, was he talking for him, or for the numerous henchmen surrounding him on a daily basis?
From the time of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, to the German surrender in May 1945, the Jewish people were the helpless victims of a campaign of relentless humiliation, starvation, torture, persecution and slaughter. The majority of Jews were either killed in mass shootings or in the specially designed gas chambers and crematoria death camps in Poland. Hundreds of thousands of Jews also perished through overwork, malnourishment and disease. Even after liberation, many Jews suffered the long-term effects of their physical wounds and mental traumas. According to estimates, the Nazi’s Final Solution was committed to killing 11,000,000 (Gilbert 1978:18) European Jews. In total, more than 5,950,000 (Gilbert 1978:52) Jews were ritually murdered, and in some places, thousands of years of Jewish population became almost nothing in a matter of years. Many Jews had no home or family to return to, and many ancient Jewish communities had disappeared forever. However, with these kind of results, was the Final Solution successful?
In my belief, although Hitler did obviously reach some success with the implementation of the Final Solution before the end of Nazi power in 1945, he was not entirely successful, in that there were Jews left at the end of the war. The Final Solution was created to exterminate every Jew and Jewish community in Europe. With the remainder of at least some Jewish communities, families and individuals, there is now the opportunity for a resurgence in Jewish populations around the world. One could also argue that with the mere existence of the Holocaust, and the mass worldwide teachings against the disaster since its end, there is the chance for people to put it firmly behind them, and now be able to see where that kind of hatred and discrimination can lead. However, the Nazis did succeed in showing humankind what it is actually capable of. If one man can make a nation of individuals all strive after the same terrible goal, then we are all, as humans, susceptible to the same kind of thing happening in the future. How, when and where it could happen nobody can predict, and one can still see anti-Semitism deployed in many countries to this day – even Germany.
One might say that the answer to any of these questions is still the same; that it is impossible to know, now or perhaps ever. One thing does remain clear, in that the Final Solution did not occur because of one event, one person, or even one particular organization. The Final Solution came into materialization and near success because of a multitude of factors. The reasons for the Final Solution cover every aspect of German life at that time, from the dictator to the civilian. Where the Nazis were at fault for their terrible experiment in mass genocide, the German citizens were at fault for their ignorance to the actions of the country. Where both Hitler and German industry may possibly have been innocent of giving the order for the Final Solution to commence, both of them worked in unison to fund and create a horrifying dictatorship which committed the worst act of mass murder and destruction the world has ever seen. The Final Solution was a large scale operation, with many jobs that had to be performed by many different people. As a result, many people are at fault for the near-total destruction of the European Jews, and whether they were highly involved in the mechanics of the operation themselves or not, every individual must accept a degree of responsibility for the acts of their country. It is difficult to answer the question of how and why the Final Solution occurred without understanding the minds of those people and institutions involved. However, the single thing that one can comprehend is that everything that happened before, during and after the Holocaust was implemented by humans, as remarked by Gordon when she says, “therein lies a tragedy of the human, and not only the German, condition” (Gordon 1984:316). If we can’t fully understand how or why the devastating events happened, then at least we can learn from them and not allow something of such an appalling magnitude to happen again.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cohen, Elie A (1954) Human Behaviour in the Concentration Camp – Jonathan Cape, London
Gilbert, Martin (1978) The Holocaust: A Jewish Tragedy – Harper Collins, London
Gordon, Sarah (1984) Hitler, Germans and the “Jewish Question” – Princeton University Press, Oxford
Landau, Ronnie S. (1992) The Nazi Holocaust - I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, London & New York
Schoenfeld, Gabriel (16/11/2002) “The New Holocaust Profiteers” – The Wall Street Journal -
Unknown Author (11/11/2002) “Heinrich Himmler” – Jewish Virtual Library –