Plan of Investigation: The motive of this investigation is to analyze the extent of which the Volksgemeinschaft policy affected the rising of German anti-Semitism. The policy arose from the yearning of a society in which there would be less to no differences in class and more unification within the people. The Volkgemeinschaft itself can be defined as a “people’s community.” One of the aspects to consider when analyzing the importance of the Volksgemeinschaft is the terrific and grand impact it had on millions of people. Many people in recent years, as well as in previous years have had numerous unanswered questions about this policy, and this researcher intends to answer a major and essential question; the effect of the policy on German anti-Semitism. Some of the ways in which this investigator plans to analyze and answer this inquiry include collecting information from various reputable internet sites, as well as books such as Michael Wildt’s “Hitler 's Volksgemeinschaft and the Dynamics of Racial Exclusion,” and newspaper articles regarding the policy. The parameter to this investigation will be within the time frame of 1919 and 1939 during which we can see the various changes in German society taking place. Youth Groups: The root and future of your society is the youth. To have them follow you is to have definite power in the future. Hitler seems to have been aware of this when molding his perfect community, therefore he did many things to have his ideology accepted by
“Was German ‘Eliminationist Anti-Semitism” Responsible for the Holocaust?” is a fascinating and somewhat discouraging debate that explores the question of whether German anti-Semitism, instilled within citizens outside of the Nazi Party, played a vast role in the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust . Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of “The Paradigm Challenged,” believes that it did; and argues quite convincingly that ordinary German citizens were duplicitous either by their actions or inactions due to the deep-seeded nature of anti-Semitic sentiment in the country. On the other hand, Christopher R. Browning, who has extensively researched the Holocaust, argues that the arguments of Goldhagen leaves out significant dynamics which were prevalent throughout most of Western and Eastern Europe during this period of history.
Many people would willingly assist someone in danger, yet many German citizens sat idle as innocent people were slaughtered by the thousands. By the mid 1920s, Germany was plunged into a state of economic depression and people were desperately looking for someone to follow. Many people simply conformed to the ideals of others, despite their own thoughts and beliefs. Herd mentality is the subconscious adoption of the attitudes and behaviors of one’s peers. As a result of this ingrained disposition, people are more likely to “bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one” (Taleb 192). Through the use of propaganda, Hitler effectively targeted people’s innate need to conform to prevent the rapid decline in his following
The Nazi Party considered the youth of Germany as an important component for the future. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazi Party) wrote in his autobiography Mein Kamp (My Struggle), “whoever has the youth has the future” . Hitler considered the Germany’s youth and the treatment of the youth to be an imperative aspect to guarantee a secure future for Germany and Nazi party and he aimed to create a nation dedicated to the Nationalist Socialist view. In order to achieve this, Hitler exploited the education system and took control of the Youth movement. The Reich Ministry of Education took power of the schooling system permeated it with propaganda to indoctrinate the youth. The majority of the young people in Germany participated in youth groups such as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls which trained them for military service and motherhood.
World War II is recognized universally as a time of extreme anti-Semitism and hatred in Europe. However, while this was happening, the United States also harbored anti-Semitism: while the Third Reich was assembling Jews into concentration camps, the U.S. was denying Europeans Jewish refugees entry and asylum from the horrors of the Nazi regime. Despite the fact that this was almost 80 years ago, it may appear as though nothing has changed in the United States; although Americans in the 21st century may accept Jews more than they did during World War II, they still express prejudice against Jews through stereotypes, microaggressions,
This investigation evaluates why common Germans took part in the Holocaust. In order to assess why common Germans took part in the Holocaust the investigation focuses on the participation and complacency of the German people during the Holocaust, specifically the extermination of the Jewish people, and the reasoning behind it. Different explanations for the German actions developed by a range of historians will be presented. The conventional reasons, like psychological and cultural, and the nonconventional reasons will be studied. There will be an in-depth look at the effect of Nazism and propaganda, human behavior, and anti-Semitism on the common Germans and the extent to which they led to the participation in the Holocaust. The scope will allow for analysis and conclusion to the most valid reason why common Germans took part in the Holocaust.
Children were not only drawn into Nazi ideology through education reforms, but the creation of Nazi Youth Organizations also attracted a majority of German youth to the Nazi belief system. The single greatest tool used by Hitler to convince the youth to work towards the Volksgemeinschaft was the Hitler Youth. The goal of this party-run youth organization was to brainwash children to think and act German, and to wipe out class distinction and individualism. Like the education system, the Hitler Youth also emphasized physical fitness, as a key part of Aryan superiority. It also provided a plethora of group activities, the goal of these activities was to build trust for your
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.
Anti-Semitism is the hatred and discrimination of those with a Jewish heritage. It is generally connected to the Holocaust, but the book by Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale shows the rise of anti-Semitism from a grassroots effect. Smith uses newspapers, court orders, and written accounts to write the history and growth of anti-Semitism in a small German town. The book focuses on how anti-Semitism was spread by fear mongering, the conflict between classes, and also the role of the government.
From 1933, the Nazis Party have aimed to create the policy of Volksgemeinschaft, this is a component focused on the heart of the people’s community based on traditional values of the German people. The German society underwent radical changes under the Nazi regime as Hitler introduced various policies that have had a substantial effect on 6 prominent groups: German women, youth, schools and universities and churches, working class and the Jews. The implementation of Hitler’s new policies in the period 1933-1939 can be assessed to have significantly effected and transformed Germany society socially and culturally.
This essay is going to discuss the ways in which the Nazi’s persecuted the Jews between the years of 1933 to 1938. Through the rise of Nazism, Nazi beliefs and propaganda, Nuremberg laws and the Kristallnacht in which will be explained in detail, I will provide a knowledge based analysis of pre-war life and the initial lead up to the war.
In order to successfully address this question, one must first consider the definition of the very nebulous term Volksgemeinschaft. It was an expression used to depict the harmonious, classless national community ideal made up of the Herrenvolk, or master race. As a term used polemically by the Nazis to engender a form of "identity politics" and therefore oppose any notion of politics based on universal and objective class interests that it aimed to transcend, it helped them gain collective support from an already economically, psychologically and politically distraught post-war nation. The Volksgemeinschaft ideal was one of the key elements of Nazi ideology and was used to legitimate much of the regime's social policy whilst also
German Attitudes Toward the Jews and the Final Solution There are those that claim that Hitler’s conscious personal hatred of the Jews, his unique and central role in the rise of Nazi Germany were fundamental in the development of the anti-Jewish policies that emerged leading to the final solution. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that the anti- Jewish feeling in Germany reflected a much stronger, widespread support amongst its people and this essay will examine the role and attitudes of the German people towards the Final Solution. On the 1st of April, 1933, the boycott of Jewish businesses reflected evidence of widespread anti Jewish feelings amongst the lower bureaucracy of the
Before the nineteenth century anti-Semitism was largely religious, based on the belief that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. It was expressed later in the Middle Ages by persecutions and expulsions, economic restrictions and personal restrictions. After Jewish emancipation during the enlightenment, or later, religious anti-Semitism was slowly replaced in the nineteenth century by racial prejudice, stemming from the idea of Jews as a distinct race. In Germany theories of Aryan racial superiority and charges of Jewish domination in the economy and politics in addition with other anti-Jewish propaganda led to the rise of anti-Semitism. This growth in anti-Semitic belief led to Adolf Hitler's rise to power and eventual
From the time Adolf Hitler came into office in 1933, up to the time when Germany surrendered to the Allied forces and Hitler committed suicide in 1945; the future for Germany became strongly invested in the hands of the younger generations. The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization formed in 1926. It gave kids excitement, adventure and new heroes to idolize. Hitler admired young kids drive, energy and strong love for Germany. He recognized these qualities and made it part of his plan to control the future world but the real question is why did Adolf Hitler pick children for his future? The education and the lack of schooling in independent thinking that instilled the ideology that brainwashed the Hitler- Jugend and eventually led
It was these grave conditions that set up the Nazis’ rise to power. Feeding on the emotions of the German populace, especially the disenchanted youth of Germany, the National Socialist movement swept through the country. Preaching a doctrine of ultra-nationalism and Germanic racial superiority, the supreme leader of the National Socialist movement, Adolf Hitler, appealed to the age-old attitudes and beliefs of the German people. Continuing the Prussian militaristic tradition, Hitler called for a full mobilization of German society with the ultimate purpose of territorial expansion. He wanted to eliminate all opposition within Germany and unite all German peoples towards the same goal, German world supremacy. He envisioned a fully mobilized Germany, void of internal conflict and inefficiency, which would create employment for all Germans, who would work for a greater German society. As