The Holocaust

4 Pages 895 Words

The Holocaust is a major event in world history. Indifference was to blame for the millions of unique people slaughtered. Prejudice begins with the “less than we are” logic. Hitler and the Nazis believed that the pure Arian race was above all other races. They believed this to the extent of butchering all who didn’t fit in, or anyone challenging Hitler's master race. These were the gradual steps that led to the ultimate consequence, sprouting from that first name calling.

Some of the first Anti-Semitism acts were boycotts of all Jewish shops. This was instigated by the S.A. Not only small business owners suffered, the same action was directed against Jewish physicians and lawyers. Schooling for Jewish students was forbidden. Around the same time, Jewish people were to wear the Star of David so they could be identified without confusion.

Many people are surprised to hear that the German government elected in 1933 was completely democratic. Remember, Hitler was voted into power, there was no military overthrow. However, Hitler did have his 50 000 body guards which he named schutzstaffel (SS) founded in April 1925. Heinrich Himmler was the commander from 1929 until its collapse in 1945. 1934 to 1936 served as the high point of Hitler’s rein of horror; The SS now gained control of Germany’s police forces, which included “racial matters”. The SS divided into two sub-units: Allgemeince-SS (general SS) and the Waffen-SS (armed SS). These two organizations combined totalled over 250 000 troops by 1939.

The main component of the General SS was the Reichssicherheitshauptamt ("RSHA," Reich Security Central Office in German). 4 sub-groups were included within the RSHA including the notorious Gestapo controlled by Heinrich Muller.

The Armed SS consisted of three main groups. The first was the Leibstandarte, they served Hitler as his personal bodyguard. The Totenkopfverbande were in charge of the death ...