The Holocaust was the destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis through an officially sanctioned, government-ordered,
systematic plan of mass annihilation. As many as six million Jews died, almost two-thirds of the Jews of Europe. Although the
Holocaust took place during World War II, the war was not the cause of the Holocaust. The war played a role in covering up
the genocide of the Jewish people. How could this have happened? The answers can be found by understanding how violence
of this magnitude can evolve out of prejudice based on ignorance, fear, and misunderstanding about minority groups and other
groups who are different from ourselves.
In 19th century Europe, Jews were classified as an "inferior" race with specific physical and personality characteristics. Some
thinkers believed these traits would disappear if Jews received political and social emancipation and could assimilate into the
broader society. Others felt that these traits were genetically passed on and could not be changed. An
increasing emphasis on nationalism also highlighted the Jews as a "foreign element," which could contaminate the native stock
and culture and potentially dominate the native population economically and politically. This long-standing
history provided a seed-bed for the Nazi ideology and program of genocide.
Adolf Hitler, a charismatic, Austrian-born demagogue, rose to power in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s at a time of
social, political, and economic upheaval. Failing to take power by force in 1923, he eventually won power by democratic
means. Once in power, he eliminated all opposition and launched an ambitious program of world domination and elimination of
the Jews, paralleling ideas he advanced in his book..
The Nazis, under cover of the war, developed the technology, bureaucracy, and psychology of hate to efficiently murder
millions of Jews. The details of the "Final Solution" were worked out at the...
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