The Final Solution

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The Final Solution evolved because of the chaotic nature of the Nazi regime in the years 1939-42, how far do you agree..?

The creation of a racially pure Germany lay at the heart of Hitler's world view and vision for a New Germany.  This vision led to the systematic mass murder of jews (and other minority races). However, there was never a set plan for the annihilation of Germany's Jews.

How did this 'social Darwinism', antisemetic view -  evolve into the Holocaust? 

THE PROPHECY

  • Central to Hitler's world view - destruction of the power of international Jewry,
  • A military struggle to win the Aryan people's living space - Lebensraum.
  • Hitler linked these two ideas together - believing that Russian Bolshevism and Judaism were linked - Hitler's main target during WW2 - was the destruction of the Soviet Union. 

INTERNATIONAL JEWRY: The idea that there was a worldwide conspiracy of Jews who wished to take over the world and destroy the Aryan people.


LINKING OF COMMUNISM AND JUDAISM IS IMPORTANT -  The Majority of German citizens in Germany during 1920's/30's were afraid of Bolshevism - Hitler managed to link the Jewish race to the Communist ideology which therby made the targeting of Jews more accepted amongst Germans. 

  • Hitler had not planned the holocaust however, he felt that the struggle between the Aryan race against international Jewry was inevitable and a cause which he took responsibility for. 
  • Radical policy was often uneven and a response to events.

1930's - Anti-semitism was limited by the need to ensure economic recovery for the Nazi's to maintain power in Germany. 

1. PERSECUTION OF GERMANY'S JEWS. = policy to separate Jews further from society - alienate Jewish population in Germany. 

The Nazi obsession with identifying who was a jew for purposes of persecution continued throughout the war. - often focusing on trivial issues. 

  • WW2 - led to a further tightening of restriction on Jews. 
  • 1939 - SEP - a curfew was introduced for all Jews. 
  • 1939 - SEP - Reinhard Heydrich ordered the concentration of Jews around railway junctions. 
  • 1939 - all radio sets were confiscated from Jews 
  • 1940 - JAN - all ration books belonging to Jews were stamped with 'J' (so jews could not claim goods that were barred from them e.g. leather) 
  • 1941 - SEP - All Jews had to wear the star of David on their clothing - failure to do so would lead to imprisonment. 
  • 1942 - NOV - Jews could no longer recieve the Reich sports medal...
  • 1943 - APRIL - German Jews finally lost their German citizenship. 

However - In the East - Mass murder had already begun. 

2. TURNING POINTS 

1939 SEPTEMBER. - The Advent of War

  • The war provided the circumstances in which the central point of Hitler's ideology - the removal of Jews from society and the destruction of International Jewry - could take place. 
  • 1939 - Poland Captured = more jews under Nazi control.
  • by the end of 1940 - Germany had captured: Holland, Belgium, France, Poland, Denmark, Norway, and Luxembourg = even more Jews…

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