Preview

Is Anti-Semitism Sufficient in Explaining the Holocaust

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2982 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is Anti-Semitism Sufficient in Explaining the Holocaust
Jessica Lear
HR100
Rachel Duffett
Is anti-semitism a sufficient explanation for the Holocaust?

The “final solution” meant the systematic elimination of millions of Jews and other undesirables in Germany and the occupied and conquered territories. Obviously anti-Semitism was very important since millions of Jews were murdered in this act of Genocide. However other factors are also important in understanding how such a large-scale act of racial hatred can be possible in a European country such as Germany. To establish whether anti-Semitism was sufficient enough in understanding the holocaust one must look at both the world wars, the development of ideology, ‘aryanization’, persecution and opposition to the regime and finally history as the source of anti-semitism. The wars are important in understanding reasons for the Holocaust because they changed the circumstances drastically and had significant impact on making the holocaust possible.
Firstly the outcome of the First World War is important in understanding whether anti-Semitism is a sufficient explanation for the holocaust. The Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 had meant that Germany lost a lot of territory to the allies such as the Polish Corridor and all overseas colonies. The war guilt clause also meant that Germany took the blame for the war. However Hitler did not believe this to be acceptable and even blamed the outcome of the treaty on the Jews somewhat justifying the later extermination of the Jews. Hitler wanted living space for the Germans in the policy of lebensraum and gaining the territories that were lost in the treaty of Versailles would provide this. Therefore the Second World War can be portrayed as an outcome of the first. Hitler’s idea that territory lost was Germany’s and lebensraum meant that foreign policy became one of expansionism that helped initiate the Second World War. Moreover the Second World War meant that the holocaust was made directly more possible.
Probably more



Bibliography: Primary Sources Instruction from Foreign Office on eliminating Jews from German life, 25 January 1939’ in Steve Hochstadt (ed), Sources of the Holocaust, (Hampshire/New York, 2004). ‘Bavarian petition opposing equality for Jews, 10 January 1850’, in Steve Hochstadt (ed), Sources of the Holocaust, (Hampshire, New York: 2004). Secondary Sources Aly, Gotz, ‘Final Solution’ Nazi Population Policy and the Murder of the European Jews, (London, 1999). Avraham Barkai, ‘Volksgemeinschaft, ‘aryanization’ and the holocaust’, in David Ceserani (ed), The Final Solution Origins and Implementation, (London,1994). Omer Bartov, ‘Operation Barbarossa and the Origins of the Final Solution’ in David Ceserani (ed), The Final Solution Origins and Implementation, (London, 1994). Briggs, Asa, Clavin, Patricia, Modern Europe 1789-Present, 2nd edition (Great Britain, 2003). Christopher R. Browning ‘Hitler and the Euphoria of Victory The Path to the Final Solution’ in David Ceserani (ed), The Final Solution Origins and Implementation, (London, 1994). Heywood, Andrew, Political Ideologies, An Introduction, (Hampshire/New York: 3rd Ed 2003).

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The Holocaust: Buchenwald

    • 2850 Words
    • 12 Pages

    <br><li>Gilbert, Martin. The Holocaust - A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. New York: Holt, Reinhardt & Winston, 1985…

    • 2850 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dehumanization of Jews

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the most historical acts of evil and cruelty was the genocide of Jews in Europe executed by the Nazi party lead by Hitler. It is estimated that six to nine million Jews were killed through the use of devices such as gas chambers. One must know why an act of such evil was ever convened, how the Jewish people reacted, and how terrible genocide seized to exist.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is hard to grasp the number of lives lost during the Holocaust. How someone could have so much hatred towards one group of people. Or how so many people could set back and watch something like this take place without protest. To begin to understand how a tragedy like the Holocaust could have took place without intervention we need to understand antisemitism.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the first world war, Germany was almost at breaking point with the ramifications it was subject to after signing the treaty of Versailles. By the 1930s Germany, along with the whole of Europe, had been forced in a state of economic crisis as a result of the Wall Street Crash. This caused hyper inflation, widespread unemployment and poverty across the whole of Germany. The economic crisis was adding fuel to the flames of the already present anti-Semitic bonfire. A scapegoat had to be found and the Jewish-Germans were chosen. At the time of the Nazi takeover in 1933, the Jewish religion made up about 0.8% of the German population and the historian Daniel J. Goldhagen in his book ‘Hitler's Willing Executioners’ preposes that the remaining majority of Germans and Austrians knew and approved of the extermination of the Jewish race and that most would have actively participated in it had they been asked to do so. Goldhagen argues that one person cannot be responsible for the wrongdoings of a whole country and that the German people…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Holocaust was the country that sponsored mass murders for of over six million Jews by the Nazi government during World War II. It was the culmination of close to a decade of official discrimination, racial segregation, and brutal violence against the Jewish residential district in Germany. Under the shield of the war, the Nazis turned to systematic genocide after 1941, setting up industrial-style “extermination camps” planning to execute the detained Jewish population of Germany and Europe. While other groups targeted for extinction by the Nazi state, including gypsies, gays and communists, anti-Semitism was a fundamental tenet of Nazi ideology. In fact, Hitler believed until the end that the “war against the Jews” was a more important goal than victory in the conventional military battles of World War II. The Holocaust is today known as one of the worst mass crimes in human history.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The first areas that we look at that were prevalent and were used to lay the foundation during the holocaust were those of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism. Racism can be defined as a “prejudice and discrimination on a basis of race”, and prejudice can be defined as an “attitude or prejudging, usually in a negative way” (Henslin, J., 2014). Finally anti-Semitism is a “prejudice, discrimination, and persecution directed against the Jews” (Henslin, J., 2014). The leaders of the Nazi party used all of these elements (racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism) in the 1930’s to come to power by uniting the German people in a common cause and that was to purge Germany and ultimately the world of what was keeping Germany from being great and that was seen as the Jewish…

    • 1736 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Ryan McMaken, “the deadly effects of the war, the repressive measures enacted by supposedly enlightened regimes… paved the way for its even bloodier sequel twenty-five years later” (mises.org). These changes were essential components for the Holocaust, because they allowed for the cheapening of human life and the devaluing of human freedom. The sheer size of the armies and great number of causalities during WWI helped to desensitize people to death and made human life seem dispensable. As a result of the war, the Treaty of Versailles was registered by the League of Nations. Though this treaty wasn’t directly linked to the Holocaust, it certainly helped to instill bitterness in the German people, which made it easier for the Nazi party to re-kindle a dispirited German youth into enlisting in the German…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    ""Final Solution": Overview." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Jan. 2011. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?moduleid=10005151>.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Final Solution is the most controversial topic of German History as its origination is not clean cut, whilst it would be simple to place emphasis on Hitler and his World View for the destruction of all Jewry there are other factors such as WW2 which must be taken into consideration in analysis of the Final Solution. Other factors include the polarised view of a lack of formal mechanisms and coherent policy, both of which were fuelled by an honest desire to pursue the will of the Fuhrer to commit, as described by Layton ‘The darkest deed of the Third Reich.’ Throughout this essay it will be assessed as to whether or not this plan for the systematic annihilation arose from the chaotic nature of the regime.…

    • 1460 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gutman, Yisrael and Shatzker, Chaim. (1984) The Holocaust and Its Significance. Jerusalem, The Zalman Shazar Center.…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Chartock, Roselle, Jack Spencer. The Holocaust Years: Society on Trial. New York: Bantam Books, 1978.…

    • 2217 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The mass murder of millions of Jews is one of the largest genocides recorded in European history. Many historians, such as Christopher Browning, have come to the conclusion that the Holocaust was the result of careful planning by Hitler and the Nazi party long before the Final Solution. Others like V.R Berghahn are of the opinion that the Holocaust was a consequence of several events, such as war, that Hitler had not anticipated. There is also a third opinion amongst historians regarding the holocaust, the likes of Heim and Aly suggest that it was the intention of Himmler to annihilate the Jews and convinced Hitler the best option was to get rid of the Jews permanently. It is therefore the intention to review the arguments surrounding this topic and consider a conclusion to the question raised by this essay.…

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elie Wiesel Night Tragedy

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    January 30, 1933 marks the day that terror reigns and knocks on everyone’s door as Adolf Hitler becomes appointed as the Chancellor of Germany. Since Hitler took over, he immediately started to persecute and segregate the Jewish citizens. The Nazis were accommodated with the term, “Final Solution”, which refers to a plan to obliterate the Jewish citizens. Many torn from the only family they knew and left to work in order to survive. A once in a lifetime tragedy continues to make an impact upon our environment, but it’s up to the citizens to find the inner strength and help build to keep our society as one.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holocaust Persuasive Essay

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    However, this plan was never put into action. Revisionists do not believe the German State pursued a plan to kill all Jews, but there is plenty of proof to show they actually did. At the Wansee Conference, Reinhard Heydrich ordered Hermann Goering to prepare a “final solution” to the Jewish question (Butz, 1998). Heydrich was the principle planner of the “Final Solution.” He was on record stating that “Europe would be combed of Jews from East to West.” There were three phases of the Nazi’s “Final Solution.” Phase one was shooting. Jews were rounded up and taken to the woods. Then, they were shot one by one. Phase two was gas vans. The van’s exhaust was piped back into the van, and Jews were put in the back of the van to die. 700,000 Jews died from this method (Weale, 2010). The third and final phase was the camps. There were two types of camps: concentration and extermination. All three of these phases of the “Final Solution” prove that there was a distinct plan in place to exterminate the Jews in Europe. Another critical piece of evidence that shows that there was a plan to kill…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Holocaust (1933 – 1955) is, with no doubt, one of the most horrific occurrences in modern history in which millions of Jews and other groups perceived as “inferior” by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) were persecuted. A question that surrounds the holocaust is whether or not the extermination of the Jews had been intended from the start. The structuralist argument states that there was no long-term plan from the Nazis to exterminate the Jewish people, but that it was due to a number of factors that the Final Solution evolved over time. While it is evident that the Nazis had no conclusive plan as to how to exterminate them, it is undeniable that from the very beginning, there was an intention and a plan to remove…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics