Interesting to me...like I say I never really delved all that deep into Hitler and the Third Reich. Everything I have ever seen always painted Hitler as the driving force of all of the terrible events done by the Nazis. The camps/holocaust etc. But that simply isn't true. Hitler was psychopath. He was a narcissistic egomaniac. He indeed was a racist, an extreme nationalist - all of these things.
The Final Solution.... the infamous creed and document all loyalist had to sign. - He wasn't the author, it was Reinhard Heydrich.
The concentration camps and wholesale mass murdering Jews.... Himmler. Heydrich was having jews dig deep trenches and lining them up and shooting them. Himmler didn't like the "messiness" of this and wanted it to be more organized, so he and Heydrich devised the gas chambers. - Hitler approved them, but he didn't think of them.
In fact at the beginning Hitler wasn't interested or motivated to even beat jews...that was Goebbels that used the SA troops to start riots and beat jews. Hitler was worried everyday Germans wouldn't accept the violence... he himself had no problem with it, but was worried about the political fallout.
Not in any way trying to defend Hitler in any way. Absolute mad man.
But he wasn't really the one who sought out to eradicate jews, and certainly not by genocide.
That was a combination of Goebbels, Himmler and Heydrich.
no hitler = no WW2 = no Holocaust/etc ..he was the driving force
Absolutely not true.
If you went back in time and shot Hitler, there most likely would have still been a WW II.
There were PLENTY of other people in high power who believed the only way Germany could get out poverty and shame was war. Specifically Ernst Rohm. One of the founding members of the Nazi Party and ran their militia before Hitler was a blip on the radar. He was the most decorated German officer in WW I. And was relegated to performing air stunts to make a living. He was desperate for a return of German glory and military might.
Joseph Goebbels, some in the party wanted him to lead not Hitler. He was fanatically an anti Semite and like I said orchestrated Jewish persecution that Hitler frowned upon, but tolerated it because of the support he had by ranking party members.
What I am saying is it seems it is over simplistic to think Hitler "did it all". The truth is, he actually did little of it. Hitler was more interested in glorifying himself with pomp and flare than getting his hands dirty and doing the work. He spent weeks high in the mountains of his retreat in the middle of the war. He wasn't even present in many of the war room meetings. Hitlers power was in Himmler's fanatical devotion to him and the SS troops he controlled. The first sign of a HINT of anything but total devotion to Hitler and your done. That was the hold he had.
wrong --absolutely true ---they didn't vote and elect someone else to lead--they elected and appointed hitler
..and a lot of generals/admirals were against wars/etc....
Goebbels, etc would not have had any power if it wasn't for hitler
..hitler had a LOT more to do with it because he was a DICTATOR !! it was much, much different than the American or UK way of doing things---they didn't MURDER people to get their way!! the American way was more Democratic
.....also we see how he handled the Battle of the Bulge as an example of his way or the highway [ death ].....the generals knew hitler's plan was folly, but hitler insisted on it and--demanded it
Only partly true, and I always thought the same things because that is what our history books taught us.
Reinhard Heydrich was the primary jew killer till he was assassinated by Czechs.
He was appointed by Himmler. He was also the author of "The Final Solution".
Just because I am saying Hitler didn't do everything doesn't give the guy a pass or automatically means I believe he is a swell guy.
Try not to think so binary
try to think
Fine, you want to keep believing what you believe...
cheers
..you have no proof there would be a WW2/Holocaust if there was no hitler
The Holocaust was merely a money making scheme.
The Jews were an affluent minority, which meant there were not that many of them compared to the general population, and rich. So the Nazi regime simply rounded the Jews all up, took all their wealth, and sent them off to die. It appealed to the human nature to covet and get even. The people loved it and you continue to see this today with those hating the top 1% in the US. Then the Nazi regime would conquer a region and then create a currency so that their soldiers could buy anything they wanted in the conquered land so they could loot it. Of course, this would cause hyperinflation and as the economy began to collapse, the Nazi regime would explain to them that they needed to round up the Jews, take their gold, and stabilize their economy. Shrug, it worked.
If you ask me, the socioeconomic affluence of the Jewish people was at the heart of their persecution, not just in Nazi Germany but in Europe for centuries. In fact, everything they Nazi regime did to the Jews, such as putting them in ghettos, making them wear special cloths to identify them, rounding them up and killing them in mass, was done over the centuries leading up to the Holocaust. You might even say that the Holocaust was a natural climax of such persecution.
And if you look at the world today, this jealousy can still be seen today. Look at those on the Left in the Occupy Wall Street movement holding signs that say, "Jewish Zionist bankers go home!"