In recent years the study of the Holocaust has been one of the most interesting topics for historians to debate and analyze. There are so many different topics to consider and to discuss them all would exceed the scope of this paper. In particular, many historians like to understand what events and actions ultimately led to the Holocaust. Many scholars have debated and interpreted the process that led to such a tragic time in history. Despite many scholarly opinions, it is evident that scholars tend to focus on Hitler’s rooted ideologies in the Nazi Regime, as well as the idea that the Holocaust was a result of failures within the Nazi system. These two major views and themes will be discussed throughout the paper.
This paper will compare and contrast how Gotz Aly, Gerhard Weinberg, and Ian Kershaw interpret the process that led to the Holocaust and ultimately the “Final Solution”. A brief background on the Final Solution may be helpful when considering the views of these authors. The Final Solution took place during World War Two in 1942. It is often referred to as the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question/Race”. The main goal was to remove the Jewish race from Europe and ultimately the world through a terrible and horrific genocide. In January of 1942 at the “Wannsee Conference”, this program and policy was constructed and implemented. As a result, about sixty-six percent of all Jews in Europe were killed.
In Gotz Aly’s “Final Solution” it is important to consider his
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
Studies of the Holocaust have provoked passionate debates. Increasingly, they have become a central topic of concern for historians particularly since the early 1970s, as the Holocaust studies were generally limited. However, one of the most intense debates surrounding the role played by Hitler in the ’Final Solution’. That is, whether and when Hitler took a decision to initiate the extermination process. Of course, this issue has caused incredible controversy and naturally such a contentious topic of debate has radically produced large amounts of new data and literature. Conflicting, an interpretation has caused further disparities between historians over Hitler’s role in the Holocaust. For this
One major, controversial event that occurred during the WWII was the Holocaust. There has been much debate about the causes of the Holocaust, as many factors have been discussed. Therefore, this investigation will assess to what extent was Hitler the cause of the Holocaust. The four factors that will be assessed will be the widespread anti-Semitism, the role of Hitler himself, the demonizing of Jews made by the state churches and the Treaty of Versailles.
In spite of the fact that it is a commonly known historical piece of the Holocaust, it’s authenticity has been questioned. Some conspiracies deny that it even happened at all. Through the analyzation of Hitler’s own violent anti-Semitism, powerful position, and ability to convey Nazi propaganda into action, one can see how he is the sole cause of the Holocaust.
Summary: This article was an introduction to the Holocaust. The German Nazi’s thought that the Jews were a community. Not only the Jews were targeted, anyone with a racial inferiority was targeted. For example, although the Jews were the main threat the gypsies, Jehovah’s witnesses, and homosexuals and the disabled were also targeted. The Holocaust was a way to decrease the Jewish population; the final solution was to murder the Jews of Europe or anyone that was a threat to their German culture. Many died of incarceration and maltreatment. During the war they created ghettos, forced-labor camps between 1941 and 1944 the Nazi German Authorities would deport the Jews to extermination camps where they were murdered in gassing facilities. May 7, 1945 the German armed forces surrendered to the allies.
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.
Through the course of history, the Jewish people have been mistreated, condemned, robbed, even put to death because of their religion. In the Middle Ages, they were forced to wear symbols on their clothing, identifying them as Jews. The dates 1933 to 1945 marked the period of the deadly Holocaust in which many atrocities were committed against the Jewish people and minority groups not of Aryan descent. Six million innocent Jews were exterminated because of Hitler’s “Final Solution.” This paper will exhibit how Adolf Hitler used the three anti-Jewish policies written in history, conversion, expulsion, and annihilation to his advantage.
I chose this topic because it is the most interesting topic I have ever learned in school. Some people do not know the whole story of the Holocaust, they only know of bits and pieces. Most people know that Hitler rose to command and had a strong dislike of specific groups of people, which consequently began the Holocaust. The Holocaust changed the whole world’s perspective. Our fellow human were tortured, starved, and burned alive for being different from society. I wrote this essay to show that there is always another side to a story. Now I give you “The Holocaust Revealed”.
In The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation, Ian Kershaw provides an illustration of the interpretations of the Holocaust that place Hitler as the driving force behind the elimination of the Hebrew population in Germany. Kershaw describes how the term ‘the Holocaust’ was initially adopted by Jewish writers in preference of the generic descriptive term ‘genocide’. By ostensibly stating that, “without Hitler's fanatical will to destroy Jewry, which crystallized only by 1941 in tools realizable aims to exterminate physically the Jews of Europe, the Holocaust would almost certainly not have come about,” Kershaw embodies the interpretations that place Hitler as the ultimate cause for the planned annihilation of the Hebrew population in Europe.
The Holocaust is widely considered to be one of the darkest times in history- an abominable genocide with casualties measured in millions. With infamy comes inquiry, leading many to question and examine the exact motives behind the Nazi regime that killed masses. There are various factors to be considered when pinpointing the root causes of the Holocaust, among these being the historical and cultural hatred of Jews, the growing German unrest following WWI, and the Nazi Party’s ability to effectively utilize propaganda as to spread their doctrine. Despite this, anti-semitic ideas and propaganda spread before and during WWII were decidedly some of the most influential causes of the Holocaust.
In addition to its being a fresh approach to the subject including new primary sources, Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews solves several scholarly problems related to how to conceptualize and hypothesize about the holocaust. In the Introduction, Longerich explains that previous scholarship on the specific subject of how the Final Solution came to be implemented has been divisive. Scholars have disagreed primarily over whether the Final Solution was implemented because of the centralized intentions of Hitler and the inner circle of the Nazi party; or because of the bureaucratic structure that allowed for "cumulative radicalization" of the party and the populace (Longerich, 2010, p. 1). Longerich
The Holocaust of 1933-1945, was the systematic killing of millions of European Jews by the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazis) (Webster, 430). This project showed the treacherous treatment towards all Jews of that era. Though many fought against this horrific genocide, the officials had already determined in their minds to exterminate the Jews. Thus, the Holocaust was a malicious movement that broke up many homes, brought immense despair, and congregated great discrimination. The Holocaust was an act of Hell on earth.
The Holocaust was the systematic and bureaucratic extermination of millions of Jews, both mentally and physically disabled patients, Communists, homosexuals, and other groups that were seen as inferior to the Nazi regime and its collaborators that occurred between 1933 and 1945. To many people, it is considered to be the most tragic event in history. To others, it is a conspiracy theory that never actually occurred. This horrific time period didn’t begin with the Nazi regime and its leader, Adolf Hitler. To understand how this party came into power, the mentality of its people and the events prior must be taken into consideration. The eugenic mindset, the development of deadly weapons with the potential of mass killings, and the fascination
Have you ever feared for your life or worried you will never see your family again because you’re a different race? This happened to 6 million Jews in 1933 when Hitler took over and the holocaust begins. In 1933, May, any books written by Jews, political dissidents and other not approved by state were burned. In 1935 Nuremberg laws passed which meant Jews were no longer considered citizens. Next 1936, August no Jews were allowed to hang Jewish signs. On July 1937 the Buchenwald concentration camps were open. In 1938 November Kristallnacht began. That is where all Jews were forced to transfer retail business to Aryan hands and all pupils expelled from German schools. The hatred toward Jews, and Hitler’s youth are three main roots as to how the Holocaust could happen.
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.