The Final Solution

The Final Solution There are two main schools of thought amongst historians about the

Final Solution and only one of them is right. The 'intentionalist'

theory is that of one which places Hitler at the helm where he is seen

to have had the intention from the beginning (even before his rise to

power) to exterminate the Jews. International Jewry was blamed for the

humiliation of Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, and German Jewry

was accused of betraying Germany in World War I. The 'functionalist'

theory is that where the 'Final Solution' was decided upon only after

many failed attempts to force Jews to emigrate from Germany. After the

attempt to get rid of the Jews the 'functionalist' theory believes

that the 'Final Solution' was forced because there was no other

option. There is evidence to help both sides of argument but in this

case the theory of the functionalists is right. The fact is, Hitler's

'Final Solution' evolved and shifted from 1933 to 1941 and thus helped

the idea that the intention of Genocide was not on the cards. Living

Space was his major obsession. Hitler believed that the German people

needed living space and he thought that the Jewish people only made

for a nuisance. He wanted to move them and not kill them. Hitler does

not state that he wishes to bring physical harm to the Jewish people.

In speeches he states that he wish to 'annihilate' the Jews from

Europe, not kill them. (Speech made in January 1939)

Early on in Hitler's campaign there is no direct evidence that places

Hitler in a state of movement where he has included the physical

exterm...

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...rman race,

not the destruction of others in Germany. He wanted to get rid of

them, and in the end it came down to genocide.

In the end we can see that Hitler and in turn the whole Nazi party

wanted to rid Germany and Europe of all Jewish presence as they were

al fault for everything wrong in there. Hitler does not state (before

the killing of the Jewish people) that he wish to bring physical harm

to the Jewish race, only to condemn them to another place outside of

the Reich. After the attempt to move all Jewish people from Germany

and surroundings Hitler's only option was to destroy them. It was the

only thing to do in a time of war. It is seen that Hitler did not want

to commit to genocide at the beginning but that the annihilation of

the Jewish race came about after many attempts to get rid of them

another way.