Ideology of the Nazis: Fundamental Principles That Guided the Holocaust Perpetrators

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Ideology of the Nazis: Fundamental…

MEIN KAMPF

What beliefs did Adolf Hitler and the Nazis propagate that led the Germans — long considered to be among the most civilized and cultured people in the world — to become mass murderers on an unprecedented scale? Understanding the philosophical and doctrinal underpinnings of Nazism is essential if humanity is to prevent such a diabolical regime from arising ever again.

Quote: “Their dark obsession with race separated Hitler and the Nazis from many other fascist and nationalist groups. The Nazis considered Aryans — those of Nordic heritage, with blonde hair and blue eyes — Europe’s ‘master race.’ According to Nazi racial theories, Aryans were physically stronger, intellectually advanced, and more culturally gifted than other European races. The Nazis considered races like Jews, Slavs, and Romany to be Untermensch (‘inferior men’).”

Sources: Wikipedia (introduction), alphahistory.com (quotation)

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Watch “The Main Principles of Nazi Ideology” [10:05]. ►

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Photo: The Times of Israel

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Notable &
Quotable

“[T]he foundations for extremism usually are held in check by various restraints. Societies are not liberal, moderate, progressive, and free because almost all their citizens – let alone their politicians — are liberal, moderate, progressive or committed to the freedoms of others.

“But societies consistently avoid extremism when the infrastructures of freedom are strong: when key institutions and norms encourage a more decent, rights-respective, lawful politics; when powerful social movements and independent media hold leaders to account, expose rather than reinforce political fantasies, and champion the rights of the vulnerable; and when information is produced and scrutinized by scholars, civil servants, and non-governmental organizations devoid of either government repression or vested interests.

“Yet no infrastructure is rigidly immovable, and once key components are eroded and weakened, once sections of the political and cultural elite attempt to mobilize the foundations of extremism, the system of restraints can swiftly collapse.

“While genocide on the scale of the Holocaust is historically exceptional, its central lesson is that the broader danger of extreme atrocities is not. In the words of the great historian Ian Kershaw, the Holocaust ‘lit a warning beacon that still burns brightly: it showed how a modern, advanced, cultured society can so rapidly sink into barbarity… It showed what we are capable of.’ Only by rejecting false narratives of conflict and polarization, and maintaining systems of rights and freedoms for all, can we hope to prevent that capability from once more becoming a reality.”

— Jonathan Leader Maynard in his incisive article “Could It Happen Here?: The Holocaust and Atrocities in the 21st Century” To read the entire article, click here.