Why did the Nazis implement the Final Solution?

The Final Solution was the planned extermination of all the Jews in Europe by the Nazis, through systematic gassing. The implementation of the Final Solution after the Wannsee Conference in January 1942 can be explained by fundamentally, the core beliefs of Nazis and Anti-Semitism. Thus the Final Solution was also implemented because of Nazi obsession with solving the 'Jewish problem' which had failed in previous methods. The war, and in particular the German invasion of Russia had also created the foundation for the Final Solution of the Jewish problem.

Firstly, Nazi ideology had from the start of Jewish persecution in Germany and its occupied areas being the rudimental reason for Nazi actions including the implementation of the Final Solution. The Nazis believed that the Jewish race was of inferior blood contaminated the purity of their race. The Nazis, and in particularly Adolf Hitler, wanted a perfect race of Aryans. Jews did not fit into this perfect race. This explains why the Nazis were planning to exterminate all Jews. The Nazis also had an anti-Semitic view that the Nazis were 'parasites' living on 'host' nations and that they would eventually try to take over the nation. This also linked to the idea that Hitler believed in that the Jews were involved in a conspiracy to dominate the rest of the world. Another part of Hitler's hatred of Jews was his linking of them to his hatred Marxism or Communism. The Jews were also blamed for everything that had gone wrong including Germany's defeat in WW1 as well as social problems. As leader of the Nazis, and the person making the primary decisions, Hitler's anti-Semitic views as outlined in his book Mein Kampf were very much a cause of the Final solution.

The Nazis also had 'scientific' socio-Darwinist reasons in their ideology for why they would have implemented the Final solution. It was thought that if the Nazis didn't eliminate the Jews, the Jews would eliminate them. Killing all of the Jews would have been a successful option in ensuring the survival of the Nazis and the Aryan race in general. If the Nazis did not have such a hatred of Jews and such a variety of reasons for hating them, then the Final Solution would not have occurred. Instead, the Final solution was implemented because it reflected Nazi ideology and provided an 'ideal' way of dealing with this hatred of the Jews.

Based on these ideologies, the Nazis tried several methods to try and remove the Jews from society, all of which had failed to complete the task of solving the Jewish problem adequately leading to the implementation of the last remaining option - the Final Solution. The Nazis had prior World War 2 taken away many rights from the Jewish people and also attempted segregation in the towns and cities which did not however fulfill their ultimate purpose. The Germans also planned to make a Jew-free Europe through voluntary and forced immigration. However, the war diminished such opportunities. Consequently, the Nazis also made plans for deportation of the Jews. Many plans were made to send the Jews to Eastern Poland and Siberia but Russian resistance during the war prevented Nazis from using Siberia as a destination for unwanted Jews. In 1940, a barbaric plan was also made to send all the Jews off to the African island of Madagascar but this plan was never put into action due to the war because of enemy control of the seas in that area. This meant that the idea of deportation had failed, and so the Nazis had to look for another solution which would eventually be extermination through gassing.

In 1940, the policy of ghettoisation was also started and its failure is another reason for the implementation of the Final Solution. Although these ghettos separated the Jews from non-Jews they were not effective enough as a solution. While there was an appalling death rate from starvation, disease and living/working conditions, the death rate was nowhere near quick or near enough and so the ghettos weren't viable economically. By October 1941, Hitler was also under pressure from Nazi party members to remove the Jews from German cities to re-house the Germans who had been bombed out of their homes. As a result of this, Hitler deported the Jews to Poland which was already overcrowded. The overcrowding of ghettos and camps meant that in the long run, new solutions needed to be found to permanently create a Jew-free Europe. It was clear that ghettos were no solution to the Jewish hindrance so the Nazis decided to kill the Jews instead which was later executed through the Final Solution.

The Nazis also found that it wasn't possible to shoot or poison all of the Jews and so shooting or poisoning as a method of extermination was also ruled out, creating another reason for implementing the Final Solution. Shooting was too public and psychologically strained the shooters. It also wasted ammunition. This led the Nazis to the method of gas, which would later be implemented as part of the Final solution. Initially, mobile gas vans were used by the Einsatzgruppen but this was distressing for the drivers, who often drove faster to complete the job quicker. This however, meant that some Jews were still alive when the vans stopped. Thus, the Nazis decided to implement the Final solution involving the gassing of Jews in chambers which could be done without anyone doing the actual killing. Systematic gassing in chambers would also be cheaper, quicker and more efficient in fulfilling the Nazi goal of creating a disappearance of the Jews from Europe than shooting or poisoning or mobile gas vans, and so the Final Solution was put into place after the Wannsee Conference.

The war was another contributing factor towards the Final Solution. The war with Russia which was increasingly violent created the culmination of events to systematic gas and radicalised the policy to genocide. Wannsee had also taken place when the German offensive had been halted by Russian resistance and so there were immense losses. As a result of this, part of the Final solution was to use any Jews who were able-bodied to work, and exterminate them once they expired past labour capability. The Germans tried to use the Jews to boost their war effort, and thus, the Final Solution was implemented.

The Holocaust had occurred as a result of Nazi beliefs and Anti-semitic views. Their hatred of the Jews sparked the events that led to the Final Solution, and created a desire for a Jew-free Europe. While other methods such as segregation, deportation, ghettoisation were tried, the Nazis realised that mass murder of the Jews was more efficient. The war had also radicalised things and created the setting for genocide. However, poisoning, shooting and mobile gas vans were found to not be as advantageous as systematic gassing in chambers. In conclusion, for these reasons, the Final Solution was implemented by the Nazis as a solution to the Jewish problem.