A History of the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler - Essay Example

The Holocaust Question B Adolf Hitler is arguably the most referred person of the 20th century given the power he had in Europe as well as the magnitude of the erroneous acts that he committed. Many historical and psychological scholars have attempted to unravel the puzzle of the reason behind Hitler’s brutality but little has been achieved. A majority of them often term him to be evil claims that often lack satisfactorily scientific backing (Bauer and Keren). Hitler was raised in a conflicting parental setting whereby his mother was humble and loving having gone through a sorrowful period of parenting in which he had previously lost three of his children. She was so compassionate that she had to direct all her motherly love to Hitler. On the other hand, Hitler’s father was a drunkard, harsh and ruthless man who would turn physical whenever he was slightly provoked. Many psychoanalysts claim that the attributes of his father played an important major role in shaping the personality of Hitler in his adult life. Based on the Adlerian theory an individual’s personality is developed through a creative and active process that is not dependent on hereditary or environmental factors. The traits that a person eventually shapes a person are mainly from the life experiences that he/she has faced. The close inclination of Hitler to his father served to influence him to assimilate a number of traits that later came to shape his character and personality. For instance, Hitler’s dad was very revengeful this made Hitler develop a sense of inferiority and fear towards him as a result of his harshness (Bauer and Keren). Parental brutality is a crucial factor that led Hitler to develop an aggressive personality, given the fact that his dad was so autocratic and commandeering it resulted in Hitler growing an introvert kind of character whereby he was antisocial and ready to prove himself to his peers to overcome his inabilities. Consequently, Hitler at his tender age had a dysfunctional anal character that made it difficult to interact with other people within his environment. The very character is responsible for the destructive and narcissism behavior that he later developed in life. However, the dysfunction on its own would not have culminated to the evil character of Hitler had it not been the harsh parental environment that he was exposed. Hitler appreciated the role and approval of masses, and this marked an important phase of his youthful years. The vengeful character that had been indoctrinated in him by his father was the principal force behind his aggressive desire to establish the Third Reich in order to revenge the historical insults and condemnation that Germany had suffered in the course of history as well as compensate for the threats that the nation faced (Bauer and Keren). Question D For a considerable period, Germany was a conservative society that embraced its cultural and ethnic diversity. Numerous scholars both within and abroad even came up with theories that tried to elaborate the legitimacy of German Jews as being part of the larger Aryan race. However, in the 19th century contrasting theories begun to erupt most of which were driven by Charles Darwin’s theory of species. Away from the abstract divine theory of creation that was commonplace the Darwin’s version was overwhelmingly assimilated by many as other scholars further refined it to bring the dimension of race superiority. In the theory, Darwin argued that in any environment species will tend to be faced with adverse condition, and thus only the fittest tend to survive (Bauer and Keren). The context of only the most adapted brought about the whole idea of racial superiority whereby some people felt that their races were more superior to those of others. It is from this notion that anti-Semitism campaigns began to be rife as indigenous Germans felt that German Jews, Slovaks, and other minority groups were not pure Aryans and thus were perceived to be less superior. While, in prison, Hitler wrote a book, which was widely acclaimed to have laid the foundation of anti-Semitism in Germany. The book was discriminatory in nature whereby it articulated that the Jews were not pure Aryans and as from Darwin’s theory he emphasized on struggle in which he argued that the fittest or superior race would only survive through extermination of the lesser races. Further, he notes that the laws of nature do not provide for people from the same lineage to mate since life will deal with that situation by limiting the fertility of the offspring’s produced or even extermination of the group in totality. The ideas of the book spread among most German who concurred with them thus breeding an anti-Semitism ideology that was against the German Jews. After serving his jail term, Hitler came out more energized to revive his Nazi party based on his social Darwinism ideas. He restructured the party in a way that being its leader he had the final say in all matters, and his followers were obliged to worship him unquestionably. The party commanded a large following in Germany who were introduced to the narcissism ideologies against the Jews. The moment the Nazi had come into power, the social Darwinism ideology was so rife that German theology was expunged and replaced with Darwinism. Learning institution reverted from teaching Judeo-Christian doctrines to teaching Darwinism. The entire German society had embraced the social Darwinism ideologies to the extent that even scholars concurred with them. The fact that the society was assimilated to those ideas further escalated the racist divide in the country that grew to animosity. It is prudent to note it is under this pretext that the Holocaust came to be a situation that claimed six million people in conservation camps and a further forty million in a war that claimed the nation trillions of dollars (Bauerand Keren). Question E Prior to the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws anti-Semitism the Nazi followers utilized uncouth techniques to vent their anger against the Jews. However, the open violence against the Jew race was not perceived to be right by the conventional German society since the communities were characterized by numerous incidents of violence that had suddenly transformed the peaceful life that they experienced in the past (Bauer and Keren). At some point, some German natives wanted to push for the legislation of rules that protected violence against the Jews not to preserve the race but for sanity and peace to be reinstated in the society. After ascending to power, Hitler was determined to implement a formidable technique that would efficiently deal with anti-Semitism. It was from this point that the idea of enacting the Nuremberg Laws came into being. That notwithstanding, another factor that influenced the enactment of those laws was from the fact that Hitler was keen to maintain a pure German blood in line with his social-Darwinism ideologies. Racial cleansing that was part of the Nazi’s objective was another critical factor as they had to come up with a formidable strategy that would see the Jewish people being eliminated from German in totality without any hurdles. Initially, the Nuremberg Laws were meant to alienate the Jews from the pure Germans but with time the implementation of the rules became more stringent as any direct contact or association with the Jews was brutally punished. Germans were encouraged to boycott Jewish businesses to force them out of operation for lack of business. As the laws evolved the Jews were expunged from the public service at the same time they were denied citizenship whereby the fundamental rights that they used enjoy in the past were stripped off and their plight was left at the mercy of the administration (Bauer and Keren). II. Briefly Define Five (5) of the Following Six Terms or Names Julius Streicher- He was a prominent Nazi member before the Second World War. He founded a publishing firm that owned the Del Sturmer newspaper which was later converted into a propaganda machine by the Nazi by spreading anti-Semitism to the masses. T4- T4 is alternatively known as T4 Euthanasia program. It was a technique implemented by the Nazi aimed at executing all individuals who exhibited the following characteristics; emotional disarray, physical or mental instability, incurable diseases and also the elderly in the society. It was initiated in 1939 by Adolf Hitler; however the program was later discontinued in 1945 when the Nazi rule was overthrown. Kristallnacht- This is a German term that is alternatively referred to as ‘the night of broken glasses. Ideally the term refers to November 9, 1938 when a wave of violent anti-Semitism pogroms erupted across Germany whereby Jewish related properties and businesses were destroyed. The violence was majorly instigated by the Nazi party together with Hitler’s youth who went to a destruction melee breaking synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses across Germany and some parts of Sudetenland. Versailles Treaty- Versailles treaty is a crucial peace pact in the history of the modern world. It was the peace agreement that was signed, after the First World War, to reconcile the warring parties and restore sanity to the world. The agreement was done at the Versailles Palace I France hence the name. Notable politicians in attendance included; David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Woodrow Wilson of America and Clemenceau of France. Protocol of the Elders of Zion- It is an anti-Semitism publication that was widely distributed globally with the aim of spreading hatred against the Jews. The book has 24 chapters all that explain a single protocol of how the Jews are in pursuit of subduing the world. However, the contents of the book are based on pure lies and fiction with the objective of shifting blame to the Jewish race for all the ills that the entire world was experiencing (Bauer and Keren). Works Cited Bauer, Yehuda, and Nili Keren. A History of the Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts, 2001. Print. Read More

 

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