{"id":3285,"date":"2016-09-18T00:08:15","date_gmt":"2016-09-18T00:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=3285"},"modified":"2026-02-16T12:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T12:54:37","slug":"causes-of-the-holocaust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/causes-of-the-holocaust\/","title":{"rendered":"Causes of the Holocaust: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The main causes of the Holocaust<\/a> were connected to several factors, such as: anti-Semitism<\/a>, Social Darwinism<\/a>,\u00a0Eugenics<\/a>, Ultranationalism, Adolf Hitler<\/a>, and the Nazi Party<\/a>. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles<\/a> and Germany’s defeat in World War I<\/a> created widespread anger among the German public. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party exploited this anger by promoting a racist ideology rooted in anti-Semitism and hatred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHAT WAS THE HOLOCAUST?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Holocaust<\/a>\u00a0is one of the most important events of the 20th century and is perhaps the most significant genocide<\/a> in human history. \u00a0It unfolded during the reign of\u00a0Adolf Hitler\u00a0in Germany and the major events of\u00a0World War II<\/a>.\u00a0 The term \u2018holocaust\u2019 refers to death by fire in reference to the way that people were executed during the event.\u00a0 In general, it is historically important as a genocide, which is a mass killing of a group of people for ethnic, religious or racial reasons.\u00a0 During the Holocaust, which occurred from 1933 to 1945, over 11 million people were executed, including\u00a0 6 million who were Jewish, and another 5 million that were made up of several other groups, including: disabled people, homosexuals, communists, Soviet and Polish prisoners of war, gypsies, and other religious and ethnic minorities.\u00a0 Historians have identified several different causes that led to the events of the Holocaust, including:\u00a0anti-Semitism, Social Darwinism,\u00a0Eugenics, Ultranationalism, Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Death
Starved prisoners, nearly dead from hunger, pose in Nazi concentration camp in Ebensee, Austria. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CAUSES OF THE HOLOCAUST – ANTI-SEMITISM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Anti-Semitism<\/a> is best defined as a prejudice or hatred of Jewish people.\u00a0Throughout history, anti-Semitism has increased during times of economic crisis.\u00a0 Because they were an isolated minority, who lacked their own nation-state (until 1948 with the formation of Israel), Jewish people were often blamed for society\u2019s problems throughout Europe.\u00a0 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany did not invent anti-Semitism; rather they used it to their advantage, as it already existed for centuries.\u00a0 Historians refer to the Nazi-focused anti-Semitism of the 1930\u2019s and 1940\u2019s as an example of scapegoating.\u00a0Scapegoating is when the problems of a nation are redirected towards a different group.\u00a0 It is also referred to as \u2018directing popular discontent\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Anti-Semitism
German reading of the anti-Semitic newspaper Der St\u00fcrmer, in Germany in 1935. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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By the 1930\u2019s, Europe, and the rest of the world, were in the grips of the\u00a0Great Depression<\/a>, which saw unemployment increase rapidly.\u00a0 As well, Germany was experiencing hyperinflation (a loss of value in their currency) due to the reparation payments of the\u00a0Treaty of Versailles\u00a0which was forced upon Germany at the end of\u00a0World War I.\u00a0 These two events combined to set the stage for the growth of anti-Semitism and eventually the Holocaust.\u00a0 Since Jewish people were historically stereotyped as controlling banks and other sources of money they became an easy and convenient target for the source of Germany\u2019s economic problems.\u00a0 Hitler and other prominent Nazis, including Joseph Goebbels<\/a>, blamed the Jewish for many of Germany\u2019s problems in speeches and rallies throughout the 1930s.\u00a0 The growth of anti-Semitism led to the events of the Holocaust because it legitimatized violence against Jewish people in the eyes of many Germans.\u00a0 As such, when the Holocaust began, hatred and prejudice against the Jewish was already well established in German society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Joseph
Joseph Goebbels in 1934. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CAUSES OF THE HOLOCAUST – SOCIAL DARWINISM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next cause of the Holocaust was the theory of Social Darwinism<\/a>, which was the idea that some ethnic groups or races are superior to others.\u00a0 Charles Darwin was the renowned British scientist who is credited with developing the theory of evolution in his famous book Origin of Species.\u00a0 While Darwin was referring to biological studies of species, others twisted his ideas and applied them to human beings.\u00a0 Therefore, supporters of Social Darwinism attempted to use the ideas of Charles Darwin to scientifically justify or prove racist beliefs.\u00a0 In terms of Nazi Germany, Social Darwinist theories were used to justify the policy of eugenics and Aryanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CAUSES OF THE HOLOCAUST – EUGENICS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The third cause of the Holocaust was the development of eugenics<\/a> and the promotion of the idea of a master race.\u00a0 Eugenics is the idea that certain genetic traits should be promoted while others should be removed through selective reproduction.\u00a0 Eugenics developed as a theory along with the early development of genetics as a field of study, and while it was not unique to the Nazis, Germany was the country that practiced eugenics the most.\u00a0 Essentially, countries who practiced eugenics sought to eliminate certain human traits by preventing \u2018undesirable\u2019 people from reproducing.\u00a0 For Nazi Germany, the people with \u2018undesirable\u2019 genetic traits included: mentally and physically disabled people, the Jewish, the Polish, and Slavic people.\u00a0 For example, the first victims of the Holocaust were mentally and physically disabled German citizens who the Nazi regime considered to be a burden on society. \u00a0It was the view of Nazi officials that the care for these people was too expensive and they carried genetic traits that weakened the Aryan race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eugenics
The poster reads: “60,000 Reichsmark is what this person suffering from a hereditary defect costs the community during his lifetime. Fellow citizen, that is your money too”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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As such, the Nazis created the\u00a0Euthanasia Program<\/a>, which was designed to execute many of these people. Under the Euthanasia Program Nazi doctors passed judgment on a disabled person based purely on viewing the patients file.\u00a0 If 2 out of 3 of the Nazi doctors deemed so, then the patient would be euthanized, meaning they were executed.\u00a0 These people were executed by being gassed in the back of a truck that travelled between different mental institutions in Germany.\u00a0 Today, many historians view the Euthanasia Program as one of the first stages in the overall Holocaust and a clear example of Nazi eugenics policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nazi
Psychiatric patients are evacuated to clinics where they will be murdered as part of the Nazi Euthanasia Program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CAUSES OF THE HOLOCAUST – ULTRANATIONALISM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fourth cause of the Holocaust was the growth and spread of ultranationalism.  While, nationalism is best understood as the patriotic feeling that a group of people share, Hitler instead promoted a form of nationalism that historians refer to as ultranationalism.  Ultranationalism is different from nationalism in that it typically involves different nations (groups of people) using violence against each other in the name of patriotism.  For example, the Nazi\u2019s persecution of Jewish people (and other ethnic groups) was a form of ultranationalism, in that the Nazis were using violence to promote their own sense of nationalism over another\u2019s.  As such, many historians link ultranationalism with Hitler\u2019s views on Aryanism and the creation of a master race.  For Hitler, Aryans were northern Europeans who had certain genetic traits, including blonde hair and blue eyes.  Hitler believed that Aryan genetic traits should be promoted and that all others should be restricted or removed from society.  In order to achieve this, the Nazis practised the theory of eugenics.  Therefore, ultranationalism led to Holocaust because it caused some Germans to express violence against people considered to be ‘undesirable’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Adolf<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CAUSES OF THE HOLOCAUST – ADOLF HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The final cause of the Holocaust was the views and ambitions of Adolf Hitler<\/a> and the Nazi Party<\/a>.\u00a0 A major component of Nazi ideology was the promotion of anti-Semitism and Aryanism which were discussed above.\u00a0 Adolf Hitler and other prominent Nazis justified their views through official programs such as eugenics and the Euthanasia Program.\u00a0 For example, Hitler\u2019s infamous book \u2018Mein Kampf<\/a>\u2019 expressed many of these beliefs and values and helped spread the views of the Nazis in the years before and during the Holocaust.\u00a0 First published in 1925, the autobiographical account highlighted several of Hitler\u2019s core beliefs, including: anti-Semitism, anti-Communism, extreme German nationalism and lebensraum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mein
‘Mein Kampf’ by Adolf Hitler.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Historians have identified several main causes of the Holocaust. This article details the history and significance of the causes of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":134,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,51,47],"tags":[61,15,101,56,22],"class_list":["post-3285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holocaust","category-genocide","category-nazi-germany","tag-genocide","tag-history","tag-holocaust","tag-nazi-germany","tag-world-war-ii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3285"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5381,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285\/revisions\/5381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}