Bishop McNamara High School
What were Adolf Hitler’s reasons for the Holocaust?
Zina Saleem
Western Civilization
Mr. Molchan
26 March 2017
Saleem 1
Zina Saleem
Mr. Molchan
Western Civilization
26 March 2017
What were Hitler’s reasons for the Holocaust?
There is no one reason that Adolf Hitler started the Holocaust. What we do know is that all the reasons and theories came together to create one of the worst atrocities in history, the genocide of six million Jewish people. There are many theories but none any greater than anti-Semitism which has plagued the Jews since the crucifixion of Jesus. Another theory is that Hitler blamed Jews for the economic state of Germany after World War I. There
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is also the theory that Hitler had syphilis, and it caused brain damage transforming him into a mad man and megalomaniac. The Germans were taught almost from the moment they could understand language, that Jews were evil. Prejudice against or hatred of Jews known as anti-Semitism has plagued the world for more than 2,000 years. Early Christian held Jews responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. This religious teaching became embedded in both Catholic and Protestant theology during the first millennium. This had terrible consequences for Jews. Jews were targeted for their ideas and their role in society. All of these centuries of hatred were exploited by Hitler, the Nazis and their allies during World War II, culminating in the Holocaust. Saleem 2 Many historians point to Hitler’s years living in Vienna as having shaped him.
Between 1908 and 1913 the young Hitler unsuccessfully tried to set himself up as an artist there. The city had a large Jewish community just before the First World War. Jewish residents were 9% of the two million residents in Vienna, but the social climate was openly anti-Semitic. With an outspoken anti-Jewish mayor and many anti-Jewish newspapers and magazines there was no restriction on anti-Semitism, and Hitler was strongly influenced by this. Hitler and other Nazi leaders viewed the Jews not as a religious group, but as a poisonous “race,” which “lived off” the other races and weakened them (The Story of Anne Frank: Hitler’s …show more content…
Antisemitism). Hitler and the Nazis rise to power was seen as the leading cause of the Holocaust experience. Following the defeat of the Germans in the First World War I, the Versailles Treaty inflicted more pressure on Germany. The Versailles Treaty required Germany to accept the blame of instigating the war and accept responsibility of paying huge sums of money to the Allies. Germany did not have money and took loans from the United States to pay the financial penalties of the war. The toll of the Great Depression hit the United States economy hard and the financial institutions in the US which lent money to Germany started to demand repayment on the loan advancements. This resulted in even more economical suffering for the Germans. Hitler and the Nazis promised to make Germany a great country. They took over the government to fulfill these promises by rebuilding the nation. Since everyone wanted to see change in their country for the better, Hitler was elected and took control of the government with the hope of bringing change. Saleem 3 The obsession that Hitler had, of completely destroying the Jews has also been associated with the fact that he may have suffered from the effects of untreated syphilis.
It was reported that he contracted syphilis while in Austria as a young boy and was not treated. Critical examination of Hitler indicates that he might have contracted syphilis in 1908 while in Vienna which only reappeared in 1935 when it was at the tertiary stage. Tertiary syphilis can affect the nervous system and the brain. The effect of the disease on the brain includes aspects of paranoia and megalomania, which might explain his superior attitude and hatred of the Jews. Hitler’s personal physician, Theo Morrell expressed his suspicion in his diary. In his diary, Dr. Morrell noted Hitler's severe gastric crises, skin lesions, Parkinson's disease and violent mood swings as evidence that he had syphilis, as well as "sudden criminal behaviour, paranoia, grandiosity and mania", all of which are characteristic of cases of the advanced stage, neuro-syphilis (The Main Causes of the Holocaust History Essay). This is theory that Hitler had syphilis has never been proven but may explain Hitler’s obsession and hatred of the Jewish people.
Another theory that contributed to the development of the Holocaust could have been lack of intervention from the other nations in stopping what was happening in Germany. Hitler knew the other nations were at war and continued his plan knowing that they were too busy with the
war to stop him. Information regarding mass murders of Jews began to reach the free world in late June 1941. Reports about the murders began to increase. Sources about the murders include German police reports intercepted by British intelligence; local eyewitnesses and escaped Jews reporting to Saleem 4 underground, Soviet, or neutral sources; and Hungarian soldiers on home leave. During 1942, reports of Hitler’s plan to murder all the Jews including details on methods, numbers, and locations reached Allied and neutral leaders from many sources. On December 17, 1942, the Allies issued a proclamation condemning the "extermination" of the Jewish people in Europe and said that they would punish the perpetrators. It was unclear to what extent Allied and neutral leaders understood seriousness of the information they were given. From the spring to the autumn of 1944, Allied aircraft flew over several of the camps and bombed them, but the extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was never bombed. The Allies explained their decision not to bomb the camp in several ways. They said it was almost impossible for them to reach the camp. The fact that they bombed other targets very nearby indicates that this was not true. They said if they sent airmen in to help the murders would not stop and they would be taking airmen from other places needed and endanger them. They thought the only way to rescue Jews was by winning the war. Their main arguments were "rescue through victory" and "no diversion from the war effort." No one knows if a bombing mission to the extermination camp would have succeeded or failed. Saleem 5 Works Cited Dawidowicz, Lucy. The War Against the Jews: 1933-1945. New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 1975, pp. 65-66. Stichting, A. "The Story of Anne Frank: Hitler’s Antisemitism". Anne Frank House. N.p., 2017. web/. 19 February 2017. "Frequently Asked Questions." Shoah Resource Center. Yad Vashem, n.d. web. 20 February. 2017. "Nazi Racism". Ushmm.org. N.p., 2017. web. 18 February. 2017. "The Main Causes of The Holocaust History Essay." UK Essays. UKEssays.com, November 2013. web. 19 February 2017.
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The Holocaust was undertaken with the full knowledge and approval of Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler had in his mind the theory that he needed to make the perfect race. Hitler wanted the perfect Aryan race; this would have been accomplished by using the Holocaust.
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