How the Holocaust Was Able to Occur

The Nazi ideology was deeply rooted in anti-Semitism whereby Nazi rhetoric branded those they differed from as Jews. Hostility towards the Jews in Europe possessed a long history and they were subjected to violence and held responsible for pandemics. Moreover, they were subjected institutionalized discrimination, such as being cowed into ghettos and putting on specific badges to identify them as Jewish. This intolerance was more than sectarian discrimination since a shift to a different sect did not change the way these individuals were perceived at all. In line with this perspective, clearly the Nazis were in a sense demigods who exploited this prejudice. Besides that, the leader of the holocaust Hitler is connected to the anti-Semitic mayor Karl Leer who is said to have used a similar kind of demagoguery. Furthermore, they justified their beliefs with the pseudo-science of social Darwinism that they utilitarianism interpreted to mean that the interest of others did not logically entail an equal consideration of interests. 

At first, in Germany a utilitarian eugenics program "euthanized" people with physical or mental disabilities in order for "the strong to survive."  In other words these ideas brought about the notion that they could craft a "master race" by doing away with those that were considered a drain on society, and these thoughts actually became a mainstreamed into the entire society. "At first parents brought their kids to the government to be killed by choice if they "considered" unworthy of living". This is an indication of how the German publics were fooled to believe and support the nation of a master race. "That they had the hypothetical imperative "the advancement of the human race." As a result the firs mass killings were the killings of the disabled.

Following the events of the WWI all countries suffered economically.  This created an opportunity the Nazi party to strongly and craftily invoke the aforementioned prejudices. Hitler was agitating for the Nazi party and his popularity had increased after he participated in the beer hall putsch in Munich. Early on Bergen talks about the "intentionalists because they emphasize Hitler's intentions and consider the holocaust a result of his long term planning" and the "funtionalists because they describe the holocaust as a functionalist because they view the holocaust as a function of other developments". He had been jailed for 13 months and it was while serving this jail term that he wrote the book Mein Kampf.  Joseph Gobbels a popular journalist and writer became involved in the Nazi party in 1924 and was head of propaganda by 1928 and remained at that post throughout WWII. He openly incited hatred and organized Nazi hate speech rallies. Another important figure was Heinrich Himmler who served as the head of the Schutzstaffel between 1929-1945 and also doubled up as the chief of German police in 1936

The Weimar republic remained vibrant from 1918 until Hitler was promoted to serve German as a chancellor in January of 1933. Currencies in Europe had inflated after the First World War and in 1923, as a result of extremist methods the German state there was a hyperinflation of the German mark. This was a decade before Hitler came to power and legislation had been passed to stabilize their currency. In fact Wymar was in a better financial situation than most countries in Europe at the time. Then in 1929 after the U.S stock market crashed Germany was severely affects. By 1930 Germany was having a crisis, so they invoked Article 48 which allowed the president, Paul von Hindenburg, to use doctorial powers. In 1932 Hitler ran against Hindenburg in the presidential elections and lost.  However to gain support Hindenburg decided to make Hitler the chancellor in 1933.

As support for the Nazi party had diminished contrasting support for a more egalitarian society was gaining momentum.  Subsequently, on February 27, of 1933 the Reichstag was incinerated.  Hitler's propagandists spinned this incident to gain support by claiming that it was razed by communists. The press consistently reported the information from the Nazis. On the other hand some non-Nazis did posit that the Nazis had torched their own building. Hitler ordered more attacks against German communists, and opened the first concentration camp Dachau, where he confined many communists. He also capitalized on the Reichstag fire by using it to pass the enabling act despite mainstream social democrat resistance, in March 1933. The enabling act allowed Hitler more doctoral power as he could now pass any policy without approval of the Reichstag.  As a result of these new powers Hitler was able to outlaw all political parties other than the Nazi party and he did.

Further injustices took the form of an anti-gay agenda and propaganda. By 1933 The Nazistorm troopers were already raiding places where gays socialized. Sectarian forces acted with the state to legislate against other religious sects. Additional measures banned Jews from the civil service. This created an environment of animosity and provoked People to go beyond the institutionalized anti-Jewish measures and divorce their Jewish mate's. Jewish people were fired from their jobs and the pro-nazi protestant church removed Jewish members. The German government halted entitlementsprograms to Jews. The in 1933 Hitler began to rearm his country. The lack of defense for the targeted individuals was probably signaling to the instigators of these policies that what they were doing was permissible.

On the night of long nights or the Rohm Putsch on June 30, 1934, the SS killed many people that the Nazi party found problematic.  This consolidated more power with Hitler and the Nazi party. Routinization of the Nazi party had several factors. First off was the centralization of power. Next was legalization through the Nuremberg laws which defined Jews and made it illegal for them to have relationships with "Aryans." The Nazis also ritualized it through dramatic displays of power and unity typically at rallies like book burning. Finally the Nazis coordinated together and began to prepare for war that their ideology presupposed.

By 1938, Germany was rearmed and looking for war. At first, the Germans annexed Austria and the Sudetenland this emboldened the people of Germany that Hitler's policies could be trusted. In 1939 the German army took over the remaining land in czecoslevakia. At this point the concentration camp system started expanding and people could be jailed there without trial.  Germany expanded its military operations too and invaded Poland in September 1^st 1939.

Expansion and systemization took over after the rutionization (page 135). In 1940 German forces attacked Denmark. Denmark surrendered to German and by June 1940 it had successfully invaded Norway too.  German then attacked the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. By June 14 of 1940 she had taken control of Paris too.  The Germans plan was to weaken Britain. They kept attacking Britain throughout 1940 and expected to come back later for an easy victory when Britain is weak.  On June 22 1941 German troops now invaded Russia in a very destructive war.  This moved the Nazi leaders to the full implementation of their racial plan.  They had the hypothetical framework in place and now saw the war as an opportunity to slaughter all the Jews and other people that they deemed unworthy of life. The einsatzgruppen rounded up Jews, dug pits and shot them in large groups in the pits.

"Special murder squads" and "einsatzgruppen" " had explicit instructions from heydrich to kill Jews, prominent communists, and anyone suspected of sabotage or anti German activity". In 1941 "the chaplains appealed to the local military commander, to take pity on the children." "The army commander agreed to postpone the shooting of the children, but SS representatives and military officers on the spot prevailed, pointing to instructions from German field marshal Walter von Reichenau. The attempts to stop the shooting of children were futile because of orders that they had received. These orders received functional universal support as there is no evidence that any German was ever punished for refusing to murder people. They were not forced to do it.  In 1942 Germans met to try to find more efficient ways to better kill Jews.

The Genocide lasted as long as the Second World War coming to an end only after German had lost the war to the allies. It is unfortunate that Nazi used human difference to punish other for being different. Theirs was an absurd attempt to redefine race through what can be considered racial cleansing. The genocide caused a lot of suffering and many people lost their lives.