If It Were Not For Hitler Ther

Essay, Research Paper

If it were not for Hitler, there would be no Isreal

Hitler was a German political and government leader and one of the 20th century’s most powerful dictators, who converted Germany into a fully militarized society and launched World War II in 1939. Making anti-Semitism a keystone of his propaganda and policies, he built the Nazi Party into a mass movement. For a time he dominated most of Europe and North Africa. He caused the slaughter of millions of Jews and other people whom he considered inferior.

To rise to power Hitler spread his gospel of racial hatred and contempt for democracy. He organized meetings, and terrorized political foes with his personal bodyguard force, the Storm Troopers. He soon became a key figure in Bavarian politics, aided by high officials and businessmen. In November 1923, a time of political and economic chaos, he led an uprising in Munich against the postwar Weimar Republic, proclaiming himself chancellor of a new authoritarian regime.

Once in power, however, Hitler quickly established himself as a dictator. A subservient legislature passed the Enabling Act that permitted Hitler’s government to make laws without the legislature. The act effectively made the legislature powerless. Hitler used the act to Nazify the bureaucracy and the judiciary, replace all labor unions with one Nazi-controlled German Labor Front, and ban all political parties except his own. The economy, the media, and all cultural activities were brought under Nazi authority by making an individual’s livelihood dependent on his or her political loyalty. Thousands of anti-Nazis were taken to concentration camps and all signs of dissent suppressed.

Hitler relied on his secret police, the Gestapo, and on jails and camps to intimidate his opponents, but many Germans supported him enthusiastically. His armament drive wiped out unemployment, an ambitious recreational program attracted workers and employees, and his foreign policy successes impressed the nation. He thus managed to build support among the German people. He needed their support to establish German rule over Europe and other parts of the world. Discrediting the churches with charges of corruption and immorality, he imposed his own brutal moral code. He derided the concept of human equality and claimed racial superiority for the Aryans, of which he said the Germans were the highest form. As the master race, they were told, they had the right to dominate all nations they subjected. The increasingly ruthless persecution of the Jews was to inure the Germans to this task.

In 1939 World War II began and Hitler attacked Poland in September. The Poles were quickly overpowered, and their allies, the British and French, who had declared war on Germany, would do nothing to help. In the spring of 1940 Hitler’s forces overran Denmark and Norway and a few weeks later routed the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

Throughout this period he continued the campaign to destroy world Jewry. In 1942 Hitler met with high ranking Reich officials to create the final solution to the Jewish problem. The Germans began building large extermination camps to accompany the concentration camps. Six million Jews were murdered in these camps. Endless trains took millions of Jews to the camps, seriously interfering with the war effort.

Due to the extermination and hatred towards Jews, which we see repeatedly in history, Jews have always felt unwanted in many of the countries and for this reason they felt that they needed a homeland of their own. This homeland would later come in the form of Israel, which has been a savior to the Jews and Judaism. Had it not been for Israel the Jews would still be wondering around the world. Had this been the case, I feel, many more Jews would have lost their lives to anti-Semitism and persecution.

The purpose of World War II, I feel, was to stress and reinforce the idea of a Jewish homeland. Although millions of innocent Jews lost their lives in the war, I think that had the war not taken place, many more might have died over a longer period of time. The war indirectly served as a wakeup call for the Jews and the rest of the world that Jews do need a homeland that will help them, and a place where Jews can live freely and practice their religions as they please.

Hitler was obviously not intending to actually help the Jews in the long run, but had it not been for him and the war the consequences could have been more severe. The world eventually began to understand the severity of Hitler s actions. This brought about a feeling of great sentiment throughout citizens of the world and this can be seen as instrumental in the formation of a Jewish state. Without the sympathy of the world there would have been no pressure on leaders to establish a state for the Jews.

Hitler indirectly helped the Jews and now with the establishment of Israel, Jews all over the world can feel much safer and always know that there is someone looking out for them, no matter the situation.

Done by

Greg Bernard

Bibliography

Encarta Encyclopedia

Internet

World Book