Womack 1 Cassie Womack Mr.

Neuburger Eng Comp 101-130 19 April 2012 Research Paper Nazi Ideology Ideology is simply a belief that is strong enough to guide an individual or an entire group. Typically, when one of these beliefs becomes strong enough to lead a large group of people, there is a persuasive leader in charge. This leader may come into power by a variety of ways. He or she could already be in power or may be placed there solely because of this ideology that comes into play. The primary beginning of the Holocaust was because of racial ideology. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), the Nazi group had a shared central belief. This belief was that the Jewish people were . . . parasitic, only being worth eradication (Victims of the Nazi Era). The article also explains this belief was not just born into the Nazi group; it was learned. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party, was the first person to plant the idea of racial ideology into the Nazi party. Hitler was mainly, but not exclusively, against the Jews. He also had a strong hatred for gypsies, Romans and Africans as well. Furthermore, the USHMM observes that Hitlers incredible ideology originated from his time spent alone in jail. While writing Mein Kampf, Hitler convinced himself that he had
Adolf Hitler as a Nazi Party Leader Source: http://bit.ly/xGQ4zj

finally put sense to the world. He decided a persons characteristics, attributes, abilities and

Womack 2 behaviors were determined by their racial- makeup (qtd. in Victims of the Nazi Era). This idea explained the racial struggle people had been facing. If one could not overcome their ancestors stereotype, then one race had to be stronger than the rest. Hitler believed race was defined by both inner and outer qualities of a person. Therefore, Jewish was considered to be a race (Victims of the Nazi Era). One may not believe that Hitler actually referred to the Jews as a race because they are known as a religion, not race. However, as quoted in his infamous novel, Mein Kampf, (My Struggles), The Jew has always been a people with definite racial characteristics and never a religion (qtd. in Upps!). By this quote, one can see how twisted and complicated Hitlers thoughts really were after the war. Noted scholar Jerry Bergman explains how Hitler stressed to the Nazi party the idea of social Darwinism. This popular idea was taken from the original Darwinism theory of survival of the fittest. The survival of the fittest theory states
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

that superior individuals will survive over the weaker and will

Source: http://bit.ly/HJ43WV

then pass down their stronger genes to their offspring. In addition, the author describes how Hitler was convinced that this theory could easily be applied to races. The Aryans, or Germans, were considered to be the superior race, and the Nazi party needed to keep that status by threatening other races. Hitler believed if they did not get rid of the other races, including the Jews, then Germany would become contaminated, and fail as a superior race (Bergman). The strong and pursued belief of social Darwinism eventually led to the Holocaust. By persuading the Nazi party into this concept, Adolf Hitler soon had all control and was able to

Womack 3 begin his destruction of the Jewish people. As the USHMM describes, the Nazis would not stand for the Jews, or any other race for that matter, contaminating their pure and true German bloodline. This party not only saw the destruction of all Jewish people necessary, but felt it as their obligation to rid Germany of this race (Victims of the Nazi Era). Therefore, when Hitler decided for extermination of the Jews, no one questioned his opinions. By that point, the Nazi party was so used to agreeing with Hitler that the extremity of extermination seemed to be the only logical option. Of course, Darwinism cannot be put to complete blame for the Holocaust. Richard Weikart, the author of From Darwin to Hitler, strongly agrees with this statement. Weikart writes, Darwinism by itself did not produce the Holocaust, but without Darwinism... neither Hitler nor his Nazi followers would have had the necessary scientific underpinnings to convince themselves and their collaborators that one of the worlds greatest atrocities was really morally praiseworthy (qtd. in From Darwin to Hitler). From this thought, one can draw somewhat of an understanding as to why no one questioned the Nazis actions during the Holocaust. Hitler was able to persuade people so well he actually convinced a group of people as large as the Nazi political party that there was nothing morally wrong with mass murdering over six million people. With the confidence this group gained from their charming leader, they were able to then, with the help of great propaganda, convince the rest of Germany, and parts of the world the same thing (From Darwin to Hitler). The BBC website states that once the majority of Germany believed the basic thought behind social Darwinism, Hitler introduced another part of the idea of Nazi ideology,

A Map of Proposed Lebensraum for Germany Source: http://bit.ly/J2bCwB

Womack 4 lebensraum. Lebensraum means the need for living space, meaning Germany needed to expand their territorial boundaries. By doing this, Germany would be able to have more control over a larger amount of people. Hitlers goal from the beginning was sole control, making lebensraum one of his top priorities. The thought of expanding Germanys living space and social Darwinism both played a rather large role in the primary Nazi beliefs (Nazi Beliefs). One may wonder why the German people did not rebel against the Nazi movement or the laws that they enforced. However, according to The Valkyrie Conspiracy website, many Germans formed resistance groups at one time or another over the Holocaust time period. The website goes on to mention, . . . the German resistance which began long before the Warhad more to do with moral outrage than with conventional patriotism, (The Valkyrie Conspiracy). This article also mentions that most of the German population was against Hitler and his
A German Resistance Group Source: http://bit.ly/HW2Mzl

beliefs of social Darwinism long before he came into

power. Some of these groups were even involved in the assassination attempts that were later taken against Hitler. These attempts continuously failed, but the resistance groups realized that the only way to reduce the German problems would be Hitlers ultimate elimination (The Valkyrie Conspiracy). In conclusion, Hitler and his beliefs in Nazi ideology could ultimately be blamed as the primary source for the Holocaust. This is supported by the fact that the Nazi party did not begin as a group wanting to exterminate the Jewish people. They originally were the German Workers Party, having no specific beliefs toward other races. However, when Hitler and Nazi ideology became a part of their group, everything changed, eventually leading to the Holocaust.

Womack 5 Works Cited Bergman, Jerry. "Darwinism and the Nazi Race Holocaust." The True Origin Archive. 1999. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. Hitler, Adolf. Upps! Web. 18 Apr. 2012. "Nazi Beliefs." Bitesize. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. "Resistance Within Germany Against Hitler and the Nazis." The Valkyrie Conspiracy. 1 Sept. 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. "Victims of the Nazi Era: Nazi Racial Ideology." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. Weikart, Richard. Goodreads. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.

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Content paper demonstrates understanding and confidence about topic Sources uses only primary and secondary sources In-Text Citations integrates sources within text with effective use of signal words and phrases Formatting properly uses MLA formatting Works Cited works cited page has the required number of sources and is properly formatted Pictures uses pictures to enhance the text with effective captions and source information
Spacing is supposed to be single spaced

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Writing Mechanics Paper is free from errors in spelling, punctuation, etc.

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Total Score

Total = 100

92