The intentionalist view of the Holocaust is the belief that the extermination of Jews and other minority groups during World War II was a premeditated and deliberate act carried out by the Nazi regime. This view contrasts with the structuralist view, which argues that the Holocaust was a byproduct of larger systemic forces and not necessarily a planned event.
One of the main arguments for the intentionalist view is the existence of the "Final Solution," a plan developed by the Nazi party to systematically exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. The plan was first proposed at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942 and was implemented through a network of concentration camps and death camps such as Auschwitz and Treblinka. The fact that such a detailed and organized plan existed suggests that the Holocaust was not an ad hoc event, but rather a carefully planned and executed campaign of extermination.
Another piece of evidence for the intentionalist view is the fact that the Nazi party actively propagated anti-Semitic ideology and incited violence against Jews long before the start of the war. The party's official newspaper, the "Völkischer Beobachter," regularly published articles promoting anti-Semitic views and calling for the expulsion or extermination of Jews. Adolf Hitler's speeches and writings also contain numerous references to his desire to rid the world of Jews and other perceived "undesirables."
There is also evidence that high-ranking members of the Nazi party were aware of and supported the extermination of Jews. For example, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, was responsible for overseeing the concentration camps and is known to have made statements about the need to eliminate Jews from Europe. Similarly, Adolf Eichmann, a key figure in the implementation of the Final Solution, was put on trial and found guilty of crimes against humanity for his role in organizing the deportations of Jews to concentration camps.
However, it is important to note that there were also some within the Nazi party who opposed the extermination of Jews and other minority groups. For example, Adolf Hitler's mistress Eva Braun is reported to have expressed opposition to the Holocaust, and some members of the resistance movement within Germany also worked to protect Jews and other targeted groups.
In conclusion, the intentionalist view of the Holocaust holds that the extermination of Jews and other minority groups during World War II was a premeditated and deliberate act carried out by the Nazi regime. This view is supported by the existence of the "Final Solution" and the fact that high-ranking members of the Nazi party were aware of and supported the extermination of Jews. However, it is also important to recognize that there were those within the Nazi party and the broader German society who opposed the Holocaust and worked to protect those targeted by the regime.
Functionalism vs. Intentionalism & the Holocaust: Debate & Questions
For us in the present day, it is easy for us to say that something was inevitable or bound to happen. German society was involved, too, both at the top and at the middle, and the lower ranges became part of the consensus. The Holocaust in History, Toronto: KeyPorter, 2000, p. In Kershaw's view, there was much dissent and opposition within German society, but outside of the working class, very little resistance. Unlike intentionalists who believe the Holocaust stemmed from Hitlers early ideas around 1920, these historians believe that the Holocaust did not actually start until around 1941. ZB argues that with distance comes a loss of subjectivity, a transformation of a person into an object. It is only by comparison that we can answer the question of whether it is unprecedented and has features not found in similar events.
Saul Friedländer
Moreover, the debate has bearings on other questions relating to the Holocaust, such as, Is the Holocaust unique among modern genocides? Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-421-01997-5 Dokument Nr. Analysis of the events shows that cooperation with the anti-Jewish policies gave the rulers of these countries a chance to obtain various advantages in their relations with Nazi Germany. Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland New York: Harper Collins, 1992. The idea of extermination surfaced pervasively: the talk was of exterminating Judaism, not the Jews. The 'structuralist' approach puts forth the idea that Hitler seized opportunities as they came, radicalizing the foreign policies of the Nazi regime in response.
Functionalism
Retrieved 9 June 2009. Thus, while they could 'choose' between the deaths of 20 or the deaths of 100, they could not choose to not have people die. Norton, New York, 1998, p. Although this perception marked Jews as intrinsically iniquitous and pernicious, they nevertheless belonged—or were always relegated—to the fringes of general life. Wolff, 1961 , p. Most of' the leading Bolsheviks were originally "bourgeois" intellectuals and sometimes former aristocrats. This would be unbearable if not for the safeguards in our society, that institutions at cross pressures kept state power at bay.
The Holocaust in Belarus
ZB gives the example of people trying to move out of the 'third race' -- those who were not counted as pure German and also not counted as Jew. Einsatzgruppen with 90,000—100,000 Jews killed between July and October 1941, which led to the almost total destruction of the Jewish communities in that area. To Hitler, Bolshevism meant the consummate rule of Jewry, while democracy - as it had developed in Western Europe and Weimar Germany - represented a preliminary stage of Bolshevism, since the Jews there won a leading, if not yet a dominant influence. Rethinking the Holocaust CHAPTER ONE Rethinking the Holocaust By YEHUDA BAUER Yale University Press What Was the Holocaust? One must ask themselves this question. Norton, New York, 1998 pp. In the inter-war period, especially in the 1930s—to no small extent under the influence of German Nazism—anti-Semitism in Rumania, Poland, and Hungary developments in the Soviet Union during that time are a separate issue lurched onto a path of intensive public activity. On days when the unit engaged in murder, it also took part in routine cultural and entertainment activities.
Lucy Dawidowicz
However, it has been demonstrated that the Italians refused to participate in certain kinds of actions and to obey certain orders. It was simply that the Final Solution changed from simply removing the Jews from Europe i. As long as this type of anti-Semitism represented a potential threat only, the Jews served as objects of insult, threat, and discrimination in certain segments of society, but their physical security was not at risk. In contrast, structuralists assert that to place the blame solely on Hitler and his desires is too simplistic, and that there is a need for greater analysis. Thus actors are not always in a position to control what happens. As a technical problem to be solved -- since their action is often unpredictable.
