Anti Semitic Campaign Against The Jews example essay topic

Nazi racial policy was a key component of Nazi ideology. Hitler placed great emphasis upon the need for a superior Aryan race, an idea that had originated from the earl 19th century Volkisch movement. An Aryan was essentially a pure German, born and bred in German culture, values and social thinking. The fundamental duty of government in Hitler's mind "was to preserve the racial purity of the state, for only in this way can the superior race maintain its dominance over inferior races" (Mason p. 227). Hitler perceived the Jews as "a parasite in the body, contaminating the purity of the blood and exploiting and corrupting the nation". Jews were commonly labeled as scapegoats for Germany's economic, social and cultural flaws, part of a world communist conspiracy.

Whilst Hitler promoted anti-Semitism (the hatred of Jews) as an important part of Nazi ideology, other minority groups were also targeted and singled out for persecution. The Nazis viewed gypsies as 'inferior people', not racially German, anti-social in their pagani stic practices and unproductive due to their unsettled lifestyle. The gypsies had no place within Hitler's Volksgemeinschaft (Peoples Community) and after the war began, were deported to concentration camps where over 200 000 were killed. Hitler also targeted homosexuals, making the act illegal under Section 175 of the criminal code. A special section of the Gestapo was established to arrest homosexuals and over 100 000 men were arrested, 15 000 of which were sent to concentration camps (60% died). The majority of homosexual victims were males as lesbians were not subject to the same systematic persecution.

The mentally ill or physically disabled also held no place within the Nazis Volksgemeinschaft (athleticism and physical health were promoted). In October 1939, Hitler authorized the killing of 5000 mentally ill and physically handicapped children. The secret operation was code-named T 4. People in institutions and hospitals were certified unfit to live by a special team of doctors, sent to one of six special killing facilities within Germany where they were murdered, usually by gassing. Despite the Cardinal Galen's protest of the 'euthanasia' program, killing still secretly continued and by 1945,250 000 mentally ill or handicapped people had been killed. Although these minority groups were targeted, Hitler placed greater emphasis upon the annihilation of the Jews.

Throughout the early 1930's, a series of laws were passed that restricted the civil rights of Jews within Germany. The Law Against the Overcrowding of German Schools (April 1933) saw the restriction of Jewish children in school. Hitler also encouraged a boycott of Jewish businesses, carried out by SA thugs who painted slogans and prevented Germans from entering such shops. The Hereditary Farm Law (September 1933) saw Jews prevented from owning farm land.

Goebbels's Reich Chamber of Culture saw Jews expelled from the artistic and cultural life of the nation, many of whom fled to the US for safety. A number of other laws removed Jews from the civil service, education, legal and health systems, no longer able to retain any position of power. However, it was the 1935 Nuremburg Laws that really isolated Jews as a separate group within German society. The Reich Citizenship Law deprived Jews of German citizenship and the Law for the Protection for German Blood and Honour forbid marriage and sexual relations between Germans and Jews.

During the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the anti-Semitic campaign against the Jews was visibly reduced, as Hitler wanted to "present the best possible face to the outside world and counter the growing level of international complaint" (Mason p. 299). In 1937 however, the campaign resumed with even greater ferocity as attacks on Jews and their property became legitimized. The 'Aryanisation' of economic life saw the seizure of many registered Jewish businesses by the state. Jews were also forbidden from entering theatres, restaurants, public parks and holiday resorts, always having to carry special identity papers. Jewish doctors were prohibited from treating German patients, and a law in August 1938 required Jews to add either Israel (for men) or Sarah (for women) to their names. Jews were also forced to wear a yellow 'Star of David' on their clothing, as well as have a red 'J's tamped on their passport.

As the Germans advanced in the East into Russia, special killing units called Einsatzgruppen were formed with the sole purpose of murdering Jews in Russian population centres. Under the command of Reinhard Heydrich, these elite SS death squads killed an estimated 1.4 million Jews and Russians in their first year of activity. However, these shooting methods were considered too slow and it was determined that gassing was the most efficient method of mass annihilation. In January of 1942, Heydrich called a secret meeting at Wannsee consisting of senior government and SS officials to discuss the technical details for the 'Final Solution' to the 'Jewish Question'. This so-called 'Final Solution' was "code for the deliberate, planned killing and genocide of all European Jews" and that the purpose of the Wannsee Conference was to "find ways to expand the slaughter and make the killings more efficient" (Mason p. 237). Between 1941 and 1942 a series of extermination camps were built including Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka and Majdanek, the majority of which were in Poland, central to transportation networks.

The systematic extermination campaign began in 1942 and continued until the advancing Russians captured the camps in 1944. Jews were transported to the camps in cattle trains, and upon arrival were either immediately gassed (usually by Zyklon B gas) or marked for slave labour. As the war continued, it became apparent that this 'parallel' war of annihilation was using vital resources that should have been diverted to the war effort. Regardless, as the German war situation became more futile, extermination campaigns became more radical. Thousands of Jews were killed in the final days of the war, as camps were emptied and Jews were forced to march deeper into German territory to escape the advancing allies. This horrific genocide campaign, known as the 'Holocaust', caused the death of approximately 6 million Jews, the most brutal mass extermination campaign in world history.