Here is the ninth part in my continuing series.
Himmler and Heydrich bear much of the blame for the Final Solution, but every wing of the Nazi party became a cog in the machine to rid the world of Jews. Even though there were differences in opinion among the top Nazis, each man did believe that Jews were a pathogenic race. Hatred of Jews bonded the top Nazis together, and masked by the legitimacy of Hitler’s leadership they used their departments in cooperation with each other. Goebbels, for instance, raided Jewish factories and neighborhoods in order to rid Berlin of its Jewish population. Even the propaganda minister was not above rounding up Jews for his Fuhrer.
Himmler and Heydrich bear much of the blame for the Final Solution, but every wing of the Nazi party became a cog in the machine to rid the world of Jews. Even though there were differences in opinion among the top Nazis, each man did believe that Jews were a pathogenic race. Hatred of Jews bonded the top Nazis together, and masked by the legitimacy of Hitler’s leadership they used their departments in cooperation with each other. Goebbels, for instance, raided Jewish factories and neighborhoods in order to rid Berlin of its Jewish population. Even the propaganda minister was not above rounding up Jews for his Fuhrer.
The most telling bit of evidence of the existence of a Nazi personality, is to what lengths each man was willing to go for Nazism and Hitler. Hitler’s love of Germany during World War I was recreated in his own men and directed back at him during World War II. Unwavering devotion to the movement was what made it successful and popular, but this would also be its undoing, just as German defeat in 1918 had been Hitler’s.
Fragile. That is a word that can easily describe any one of the top Nazis. Hitler and all of his inner circle were men who had very little strength. Most of them only had success after joining the party, and the thought of living without it was unbearable. Not one of the top Nazi leaders was able to escape their role in the war because they were all so wrapped up in the party. Speer got the least amount of punishment, but as a high official he still received his due.
Fragile. That is a word that can easily describe any one of the top Nazis. Hitler and all of his inner circle were men who had very little strength. Most of them only had success after joining the party, and the thought of living without it was unbearable. Not one of the top Nazi leaders was able to escape their role in the war because they were all so wrapped up in the party. Speer got the least amount of punishment, but as a high official he still received his due.
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| Speer, with Hitler |
Going into the movement, these men were already on the margins, and at any given time a twist of fate could have plunged them into grave misfortune. Nazism was what brought them back into the mainstream, and perhaps in gratitude they poured every ounce of their being into the ideology of National Socialism. Many men had given so much to party in its early years that they were glorified by the other members, and this in turn made men who were new to the party want to give as much as they could. Hitler, of course, set the example and began to use his power to create martyrs of certain party members who had been killed, always in the service of the party. Service of the party was what usually came first to the top Nazis, and life was forced to assume a back seat.
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