Describe Hitler’s treatment of the Jews in detail.
creating an exclusive racial community of pure Germans
‘killers of Christ and usurers'
separately marked areas
killers of Christ
terrorized, pauperized and segregated the Jews
Answers
Answer:
Antisemitism played a major role in Adolf Hitler’s thinking and in the Nazi ideology. Read here what inspired Hitler's hatred of Jews and what life events played a role in its development.
Antisemitism: an age-old phenomenonHitler did not invent the hatred of Jews. Jews in Europe had been victims of discrimination and persecution since the Middle Ages, often for religious reasons. Christians saw the Jewish faith as an aberration that had to be quashed. Jews were sometimes forced to convert or they were not allowed to practise certain professions.In the nineteenth century, religion played a less important role. It was replaced by theories about the differences between races and peoples. The idea that Jews belonged to a different people than the Germans, for instance, caught on. Even Jews who had converted to Christianity were still 'different' because of their bloodline.
Hitler is introduced to antisemitismThe origin of Hitler's hatred of Jews is not clear. In Mein Kampf, he described his development into an antisemite as the result of a long, personal struggle. Supposedly, his aversion to everything Jewish came to fruition when he was living and working as a painter in Vienna (1908-1913). Most historians believe that Hitler came up with this explanation in hindsight. He would have used it to assure people who were not yet convinced of his ideas that they would eventually see the light.One way or another, it is clear that Hitler came into contact with antisemitic ideas at an early age. To what extent he shared them at that point, is not certain. If he was prejudiced against Jews while living in Vienna, his prejudice had not yet crystallised into a clear worldview. After all, one of the most loyal buyers of his paintings in Vienna was a Jew, Samuel Morgenstern.
Imaginative Explanations There are countless imaginative explanations for the reasons for Hitler's antisemitism. Hitler is said to be have been ashamed of his partly Jewish roots. Another explanation links his hatred of Jews to trauma caused by a poison gas attack in the First World War. Yet other theories suggest that Hitler had contracted a venereal disease from a Jewish prostitute. There are, however, no facts to support these explanations.
German nationalism and antisemitism What we do know is that two Austrian politicians greatly influenced Hitler's thinking. The first, Georg Ritter von Schönerer (1842-1921), was a German nationalist. He believed that the German-speaking regions of Austria-Hungary should be added to the German empire. He also felt that Jews could never be fully-fledged German citizens.From the second, the Viennese mayor Karl Lueger (1844-1910), Hitler learned how antisemitism and social reforms could be successful. In Mein Kampf, Hitler praised Lueger as 'the greatest German mayor of all times'. When Hitler came to power in 1933, he put similar ideas into practice.