Faith and Reason within the Holocaust
One of the greatest horrors of the 20th Century was the extermination of over 6 million Jews and 5 million others during the Holocaust. In the face of this atrocity many have wondered how such a tragedy transcended in a supposed "civilized" European society. What role did religious institutions play in the prevention or lack of prevention of the horrors inflicted by the Nazis? How did the German government create, within a reasoning public, acceptance and even support for the extermination of a people who previously were considered equals? The inhumanity of the Holocaust was procured with effective use of propaganda on the German people who were willing to support anyone who could return
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Historically, the hostility against Jews was present in the ancient, medieval, and modern world following World War I. From the crusades to the Age of Enlightenment, hatred for the Jews was common amongst the diversity of European culture. The only action that was unprecedented was the death camps. Adolf Hitler is often seen as responsible for the Holocaust. Many believe that without Hitler, there would not have been a Holocaust. Adolf Hitler was primarily motivated by the lust for power and domination. To acquire this power, he needed to find a way to unite the disparaged people of Germany. He used the historical dislike and mistrust of Jews and blamed the problems of Germany on them. He accused the Jews of wanting to overrun German society and destroy the German state: "The Jew, whether consciously or unconsciously, whether he wishes it or not, undermines the platform on which alone a nation can stand."[2] With this preface, the only way for Germany to survive and thrive was to get rid of the Jews.
The actual execution of the genocidal plan of Nazi Germany relied on efficiency. In this regard, Heinrich Himmler is identified as the architect of the Holocaust. In his life
Throughout the course of human history, crimes against humanity have continuously shaped perceptions of civilisation and society. The 20th century was undeniably a pivotal epoch in the development of such atrocities, with the first prosecution for a crime against humanity being the Holocaust. One of the most defining historical atrocities, the Holocaust was the systematic genocide of six million Jews and five million other minority groups enacted by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. The responsibility for the conception of the ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question’ is an elusive notion which has been extensively studied and theorised by two schools of thought; the Intentionalists and Functionalists, which both focus on the notion
Mass genocides have haunted the world in history; millions of innocent lives have been taken due to selfish acts of tyrant governments. During the mid-twentieth century Europe faced a massive genocide that preyed on certain demographics. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, was the sole mastermind that created the environment of racism, sexism, and the fear of certain religions and lifestyles, which was the underlined reason for the genocide we now know as the Holocaust.
Finally, many purely hated Jews because they were not Aryan. Germany was one of these countries. Hitler, the leader of Germany, has carried hate for the Jews since early childhood. Primarily, he blamed them for his mother’s death along with him not getting into his dream school, Vienna Art College. Also, they were blamed by Germany for defeat in WWI and as the cause for unemployment. However, mainly Jews were persecuted because of the way they looked. At the time, Hitler wanted a racially pure Germany. He believed that by adapting the Darwin theory of survival of the fittest, he would be able to create a stronger generation and kill those that are impure or disabled.
Hitler, in 1934-1945, believing in the works of Charles Darwin, made concentration camps for the jews. He discriminated against the Jews, and declared The Aryan race to be superior. The killing of the Jews was both out of fear and pride for Hitler. He feared the fact that the Jews might spoil the pureness of the Aryans. He took pride in the fact that his race was superior, and so wanted to maintain his race’s superiority to keep his pride intact.
Adolf Hitler (the founder and creator of The Holocaust) was the type person who didn’t care about anybody else but himself, and he was so desperate to be leader that he created the group called “The Nazis”, the Nazis were a group that Adolf Hitler had formed to make the Jews terrified of him. The Jews were the main target in the Holocaust because Adolf Hitler himself was a jew so in that sense he went against
Hitler had shown unwillingness to tolerate the Jews and once he was appointed Chancellor, he started to take elimination measures like deportation, forced emigration, and isolation to enforce his belief. He took advantage of Germany’s weakness in World War One, then used it as an opportunity to blame the Jews for Germany’s defeat. Hitler’s political party was the largest political party in Germany thus allowing them to draw very large crowds to gatherings. He had very good oratory speeches with hand gestures that easily manipulated people to adhere to his views. Hitler constantly targeted the Jews because he knew people believed in these speeches. People in Germany were already anti-semitic but Hitler made it worse by constantly consuming them in his speeches. From the way he spoke about the Jews, we could clearly see the possibility of genocide. Hitler wanted Germany to be free of any humans that anyone other than his ideal master race so he personally selected bodyguards to be part of a group called the SS. Hitler was responsible for ordering the SS to carry out the extermination of anyone who did not fit this ideal. The SS handled oppositions using force and as a result of which people were forced to give into the idea of violence. Sometimes people purposely went along with this Holocaust ideal due to the fear of getting killed. These terrors allowed the holocaust occur
By blaming the Jews for the economic crisis that Germany was suffering through as well as their defeat in WW1, Hitler targeted the Jews as the country’s main enemy. According to him, the Jewish were directly responsible for Germany’s problems. Hitler hated the Jews leading up to the Holocaust because he believed that the Jewish financiers were responsible for sending the world into its first World War, causing the deaths over 100,000 Germans. According to the Nazis the “Aryan race” was the best and strongest race. Jews were of another inferior race. In fact so inferior that they were not considered to be “people” by the
Horror struck on January 30, 1933, when Germany assigned Adolf Hitler as their chancellor. Once Hitler had finally reached power he set out to complete one goal, create a Greater Germany free from the Jews (“The reasons for the Holocaust,” 2009). This tragedy is known today as, “The Holocaust,” that explains the terrors of our histories past. The face of the Holocaust, master of death, and leader of Germany; Adolf Hitler the most deceitful, powerful, well spoken, and intelligent person that acted as the key to this mass murder. According to a research study at the University of South Florida, nearly eleven million people were targeted and killed. This disaster is a genocide that was meant to ethnically cleanse Germany of the Jews. Although Jewish people were the main target they were not the only ones targeted; gypsies, African Americans, homosexuals, socialists, political enemies, communists, and the mentally disabled were killed (Simpson, 2012, p. 113). The word to describe this hatred for Jewish people is known as antisemitism. It was brought about when German philosophers denounced that “Jewish spirit is alien to Germandom” (“Antisemitism”) which states that a Jew is non-German. Many people notice the horrible things the Germans did, but most don’t truly understand why the Holocaust occurred. To truly understand the Holocaust, you must first know the Nazis motivations. Their motivations fell into two categories including cultural explanations that focused on ideology and
At the end of WWI in 1918, Germany’s economy was in ruins. There were very few jobs, and bitterness began to take over the country. According to the text, “Hitler, a rising politician, offered Germany a scapegoat: Jewish people. Hitler said that Jewish people were to blame for Germany’s problems. He believed that Jews did not deserve to live.” (7) This was the birth of Antisemitism--prejudice against Jewish people. Europe’s Jewish people have always been persecuted due to their “different customs and beliefs that many viewed with suspicion.”(7) Hitler simply reignited the flames, and a violent hatred was born.
Most of us have heard of the Nazi party’s horrific, genocidal regime on destroying the Jewish race, but what events led up to their dire judgement? In this study I aim to uncover the events, reasons and changes which led to the Holocaust and the further changes in the treatment of the Jewish race by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.
The Holocaust was a time where millions of Jews were killed, and for what reason: their religion. Over time, the Holocaust has been taught throughout the world as a learning experience about the horrendous incident that occurred .The word "Holocaust" is from Greek, which means "sacrifice by fire”. The people who were responsible for such a horrendous event in history had to have the power and the ability to do something so appalling. The two most responsible for the Holocaust were Adolf Hitler who was the mastermind that guided the Holocaust, and the Top SS who were equally responsible because they fulfilled Hitler’s ghastly mission and goals for the Holocaust. In this essay i will prove that the two most responsible for the horrible event
The holocaust had a major effect on Judaism as a whole. This conflict between tragedy and faith is not new. Jewish history shows us that the jewish people have undergone the most terrible persecutions and genocide at the hands of many oppressors. Whether it be about the pogroms, crusades, destruction of the Temples, the jewish people have been at the brunt of the most terrible atrocities, and yet this does not shake their faith,Anti-Semitism was nothing new. This became even more evident with the unmasking of the holocaust.The philosophical question of “Shall the Judge of the earth not do justice?” applies just as much to the seemingly useless suffering of an individual as to that of six million individuals. If it could be dealt with on an individual basis before the Holocaust, why couldn 't it be dealt with in the same way afterwards? The difference is one of quantity, but the quality of the question remains the same.
Adolf Hitler came to power over Germany in January of 1933. He hated Jews and blamed them for everything bad that had ever happened to Germany. Hitler’s goal in life was to eliminate the Jewish population. With his rise to power in Germany, he would put into action his plan of elimination. This is not only why German Jews were the main target of the Holocaust, but why they were a large part of the years before, during, and after the Holocaust. Hitler’s “final solution” almost eliminated the Jewish population in Europe during World War II. At the end of the war and along with his suicide, the Jewish population would survive the horror known as the Holocaust and the Jews would eventually find their way back to their homeland of Israel
Many religious conflicts are built from bigotry; however, only few will forever have an imprint on the world’s history. While some may leave a smear on the world’s past, some – like the homicide of Semitic people – may leave a scar. The Holocaust, closely tied to World War II, was a devastating and systematic persecution of millions of Jews by the Nazi regime and allies. Hitler, an anti-Semitic leader of the Nazis, believed that the Jewish race made the Aryan race impure. The Nazis did all in their power to annihilate the followers of Judaism, while the Jews attempted to rebel, rioted against the government, and united as one. Furthermore, the genocide had many social science factors that caused the opposition between the Jews and Nazis.
The holocaust was a bleak and unrecoverable part of the history of the twentieth century that will always be remembered. Millions died for no reason except for one man’s madness. Although many people know why this war happened many don’t know when and what events lead up to this: the way Hitler came into power, or when the first concentration camp was established, and what city it was in, why Jews were hated so much by Hitler, and why the rest of the country also hated them as well as, and what the chronology of the Holocaust. These are some of the things I will explain in my paper.