Today when analyzing the Holocaust, many people grossly overlook some of the primary factors that generated this tragedy. The most prominent belief that causes this is simply writing off members and off the Nazi party and the citizens of Germany as incarnations of evil. Many believe that a desire to solve the “Jewish Question” through genocide was the primary reason that people joined the Nazi party. This idea fails to consider the climate of desperation and anxiety following the German defeat in World War I that provided the backdrop for the National Socialist’s ascent to power. Motivated by the outrage and insecurity produced by the unjust terms negotiated by the Allies, a significant portion of the German population sided with Hitler’s radical
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Instead a system of gradually restricting the rights of Jews was improvised. Analysis of these key facts reveals the fallacy of viewing the adherents of Nazism as simple caricatures of evil. The misinterpretation that the people of Germany initially sided with Hitler solely to fulfill their homicidal desires overlooks the condition of the country following World War I. After their defeat, the quality of life for many slowly deteriorated. A republican government, the Weimar Republic, was installed by the allies and the country was faced with unjust financial reparations that served as a catalyst for a depression. The desperation of the economic situation combined with general dissatisfaction with the Weimar Republic, many viewing it as a puppet government of the allies, caused a large number of people to feel insecure about …show more content…
Throughout his campaign Hitler exploited the shame brought to the German people by their defeat in World War I by alleging that the Jews had betrayed the country during the war and promised to exact revenge. However, as opposed to modern misconceptions, the mass killing of Jews wasn’t the main goal of the party during their rise and first few years in power. Instead the Nazis began instituting a gradual system of restricting the rights of Jews that was a form of improvisation, with higher up members of the party debating how to ultimately purge German territory of “undesirables”. For the initial part of the “Jewish Question” the priority was concentrating Jews into certain areas to be able to monitor and control them better. This is illustrated in “Instructions by Heydrich on Policy and Operations Concerning Jews in the Occupied Territories”, “For the time being, the first prerequisite for the final aim is the concentration of the Jews from the countryside into larger cities” (Arad). The systematic killing of Jews that is popularly portrayed today didn’t become a primary principle of the party until the Invasion of the Soviet Union in
Instead a system of gradually restricting the rights of Jews was improvised. Analysis of these key facts reveals the fallacy of viewing the adherents of Nazism as simple caricatures of evil. The misinterpretation that the people of Germany initially sided with Hitler solely to fulfill their homicidal desires overlooks the condition of the country following World War I. After their defeat, the quality of life for many slowly deteriorated. A republican government, the Weimar Republic, was installed by the allies and the country was faced with unjust financial reparations that served as a catalyst for a depression. The desperation of the economic situation combined with general dissatisfaction with the Weimar Republic, many viewing it as a puppet government of the allies, caused a large number of people to feel insecure about …show more content…
Throughout his campaign Hitler exploited the shame brought to the German people by their defeat in World War I by alleging that the Jews had betrayed the country during the war and promised to exact revenge. However, as opposed to modern misconceptions, the mass killing of Jews wasn’t the main goal of the party during their rise and first few years in power. Instead the Nazis began instituting a gradual system of restricting the rights of Jews that was a form of improvisation, with higher up members of the party debating how to ultimately purge German territory of “undesirables”. For the initial part of the “Jewish Question” the priority was concentrating Jews into certain areas to be able to monitor and control them better. This is illustrated in “Instructions by Heydrich on Policy and Operations Concerning Jews in the Occupied Territories”, “For the time being, the first prerequisite for the final aim is the concentration of the Jews from the countryside into larger cities” (Arad). The systematic killing of Jews that is popularly portrayed today didn’t become a primary principle of the party until the Invasion of the Soviet Union in