Causes of the Holocaust Essay

The Holocaust was a very horrific time for the Jewish people of Europe and the world. Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany at the time of the Holocaust and World War II, started the Holocaust which killed over 10 million people, including almost 6 million Jews. Adolf Hitler was very anti-Semitic, but Hitler alone could not have caused the Holocaust. Hitler was the driving force behind the obsessive and fanatical Nazi persecution and ultimately also the mass slaughter of the Jews and various other groups, though the details of implementation were left to the terror apparatus, headed by Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich.

The rise of the Nazis is the main cause of the Holocaust. According to Kimel, the Nazis took advantage of the bad state of Germany, at the time in order to take control of the country. After World War I, German pride was hurt by the Versailles Treaty which, among other things, forced Germany to accept the blame for starting the First World War.

The Versailles Treaty also forced Germany to pay huge amounts of money to the Allies. Germany was forced to take loans from the United States in order to pay this money. Once the Great Depression started in the United States, the banks started demanding that Germany repay their loans, causing the German economy to suffer even more during this difficult period. The Nazis promised to make Germany a great country. This helped the Nazis take control of the government of Germany, as everybody wanted change in the government that would help rebuild their country.

The Holocaust obviously could not be carried out without at least some public support, so propaganda became an important part of Nazi politics. Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, became a well-known figure in Germany. (Causes of the Holocaust) Goebbels worked hard to convince the German public of the superiority of the Aryan race. Once propaganda was widespread in Germany, anti-Semitism became common. Hitler believed in racial anti-Semitism rather than religious anti-Semitism. Religious anti-Semitism was the hatred of Jews who would not convert to Christianity. Racial anti-Semitism was the hatred of anybody who could be traced back to a Jewish grandparent, even if he practiced Christianity..

Another problem that led to the execution of so many Jews in the Holocaust was that the other countries of the world were not trying to stop what was happening. The world powers simply stood by and watched. Some of the most powerful countries even signed contracts with Hitler saying that they would never go to war against Germany. (Causes of the Holocaust) Adolf Hitler wanted everything that he did to the Jews in Germany to be permanent. He wanted the world to continue to hate Jews after he was gone. Hitler thought that the only way to do this was to convince everybody that he was right. Hitler started the process of brainwashing by telling everybody how the destruction of the Jews would help them to live better.

There are quite a few causes of the Holocaust. Some of them were outside of the control of many people, while some of them could have been stopped. All of these causes could be repeated if we do not study the Holocaust. Anything that could happen fifty years ago could happen again now, today. In our time, anti-Semitism is on the rise once again, especially in Europe. Propaganda is at an extremely high point currently, and this propaganda could easily turn into brainwashing. If all of these discussed causes are repeated, there is a good chance that something resembling the Holocaust will occur once again. This could end up being fatal to the world. In this modern world, it is our job to prevent the Holocaust from happening again. Studying the Holocaust and learning about what happened is one way to prevent it from happening again, and that is very important!