Why did Hitler discriminate against the Jews?

Answer 1

Although no one knows for sure why Hitler did these things to the Jews, there are several suggestions and theories. Some of which he blamed them for Germany's loss in World War 1, they were evil, that Hitler wanted to be an artist, so he applied to an art school run by Jews but they turned him down. he was so upset by that as his ambition was to be an artist. Also his mother had Breast cancer and she was treated by a Jewish doctor, and Hitler thinks he was the one to blame for his mothers death a theory could be Hitler just wanted to create a "perfect race".

Answer 2

1) Because no-one stopped him.

2) Because his actions were the "logical" consequence of the socio-political views in Germany at the time

Hitler (along with many other politicians) blamed the "world Jewry", in conjunction with capitalism and marxism/bolshevism for Germany's defeat in World War I (Dolchstoß-Legende) and her woes in the aftermath. The reasons for this are on the one hand rooted in society, on the other hand in history.

It is important to remember the historical context of Germany at this time when answering this question. The "first" German Reich had existed until 1806 but had been a conglomarate of states in a (relatively) loose federation, with no single national identity. After its defeat by Napoleon, the empire had fallen into disarray, and competing factions competed against each other for hegemony. The result was the North German Federation and a number of independent German Kingdoms, followed in 1871 with the "second" Reich under the leadership of Prussia and the exclusion of Austria, which had formed the Austro-hungarian empire.

The "second" Reich developed out of the revolutionary movement of the 1840s and attempts to create a German nation state, which prior to 1871 had never existed. At the same time, the idea of "democracy" was somewhat new and alien to Germans - All German states had been autocratic until 1919, with the right to vote depending on a man's social standing and wealth.

With the collapse of Germany after the First World War and the "November Revolution" which led to the proclamation of several "Soviet Republics" in Germany (such as the Soviet Republic of Munich), political parties appeared like wild-fire. Many were socialist and antisemitic in nature, such as the German Workers' Party (which Hitler joined and later renamed the National Socialist

German Workers' Party).

At this time, anti-semitism was wide-spread in Europe in general and Germany in particular, both in politics, and society.

In his apparently antisemitic essay "Zur Judenfrage" (On the Jewish Question), Karl Marx (the founder father of communism and himself a Jew) excoriated the behaviour of the "real worldly Jews" and wrote:

"Let us consider the real worldly Jews, not the Sabbath Jews, as Bauer* does, but the every-day Jews. We will not look for the secret of the Jew in his religion, but we will look for the secret of religion in the real Jew. What is the secular basis of Judaism? Practical needs, egoism. What is the secular cult of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his secular God? Money.

Very well. Emancipation from huckstering and from money, and therefore from practical, real Judaism would be the self-emancipation of our epoch.

An organization of society, which would abolish the fundamental conditions of huckstering, and therefore the possibility of huckstering, would render the Jew impossible. His religious consciousness would dissolve like a mist in the real vital air of society. On the other hand: if the Jew recognizes as valueless this his practical essence, and labours for its abolition, he would work himself free of his previous development, and labour for human emancipation generally, turning against the supreme practical expression of human self-alienation.

We therefore perceive in Judaism a general pervading anti-social element, which has been carried to its highest point by the historical development, in which Jews in this bad relation have zealously co-operated, a point at which it must necessarily dissolve itself. The emancipation of the Jews in its last significance is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism."

In society, Christian churches in Europe and Germany had a long history of anti-Judaism (based on the biblical argument that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ).

Anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe was further entrenched over the previous centuries due to the domination of the European banking system by Jewish families. Canonical law forbade Christians from usury (the practice of lending money and charging interest), this made this industry sector uninteresting for Christians. Jewish law, however, only forbade the charging of interest against other Jews, making Christian Europe the ideal place for Jewish bankers to build up successful banking dynasties. This had in previous centuries led to pogroms against Jews in Europe.

Hitler, as a socialist and catholic, would have come into contact with both political and religious anti-semitism and in 1919 rejected any form of antisemitism based purely on emotion and instead called for a "Antisemitismus der Vernunft" (reasoned antisemitism). This had the effect that certain, privileged, people who were Jewish or had Jewish ancestry were "arianised".

Hitler made it very clear from the start, that it was his intention to remove Jews from German society and many Germans across the poitical divide agreed with this policy. Initially this was to be done by restricting their access to society by banning them from certain professions, discriminating against them and generally creating an atmosphere, where German Jews would leave the country voluntarily. This policy changed after 1938, after the Evian conference and Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), when it became apparent to Hitler that the rest of the world was not willing to stand up for German Jews, a policy change which ultimately led to the mass murder of European and German Jews.

*Bruno Bauer, Die Judenfrage (The Jewish Question), 1843

Answer 3

Hitler was an equal opportunity discriminator. Jews, Gypsies, Blacks, homosexuals, handicapped, and a whole long list. The Jews, in particular, he blamed for Germany's loss in WWI and the economic problems that followed.

Hitler tortured Jews and experimented on them.

Answer 4

There was still a sizable ranking between 'better' people and 'worse' people, Jews were one group on that ranking. For example, Hitler believed that Slavs were detestable, but not as much of a problem, and that Aryans (Nordic peoples) were the master race who should be given more power and benefits.

As a general rule ordinary Germans were treated well, though only a minority adhered to the Nazi vision of Aryans, by the end of the war all gentiles were called Aryan. Hitler was obsessed with remaining popular and had agents spy and report on the population so that any unpopular initiative could be stopped (even if only temporarily).

The treatment of gypsies was varied, as he saw a difference between the nomadic and staic, and between the tribes. Some, like the Sinti were nomadic in some areas and static in others. But Hitler only refered to the gypsies in about one pr two public speeches and they were early, most of the (mis)treatment of the gypsies was due to Himmler's obsession.

The treatment of people in conquored territories differed greatly, with much more respect given to those in the west than in the east.

Answer 5

Because he wanted to get rid of them and create a 'perfect race'. He didn't like anyone who had not been born German, with blond hair and blue eyes.

Answer 6

As displayed in Mein Kampf, Hitler put out the already rampant anti-semitism in Europe as a vehicle for unification, the whole common enemy scenario.

Answer 7

Because they were racist

Answer 8

What do you mean by groups?