Was German ‘Eliminationist Anti-Semitism Responsible for...

â€Å"Was German ‘Eliminationist Anti-Semitism† Responsible for the Holocaust?† is a fascinating and somewhat discouraging debate that explores the question of whether German anti-Semitism, instilled within citizens outside of the Nazi Party, played a vast role in the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust . Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of â€Å"The Paradigm Challenged,† believes that it did; and argues quite convincingly that ordinary German citizens were duplicitous either by their actions or inactions due to the deep-seeded nature of anti-Semitic sentiment in the country. On the other hand, Christopher R. Browning, who has extensively researched the Holocaust, argues that the arguments of Goldhagen leaves out significant dynamics which were prevalent throughout most of Western and Eastern Europe during this period of history. Goldhagen presents his argument in a manner indicative of a person on the defensive; who seems hard-pressed at convincing the reader that anti-Semitic sentiments throughout Germany plays a key role in the genocide . The tenor of his presentation is quite rushed, yet this is somewhat understandable because his presentation is also quite authoritative and is filled with a remarkable amount of information that begs further consideration of its readers. Goldhagen challenges what he argues as being the prevailing views of historians concerning who is ultimately responsible for the atrocities that happened to German Jews in Nazi Germany. He sees theShow MoreRelatedWas German â€Å"Eliminationist Anti-Semitism† Responsible for the Holocaust?2341 Words   |  10 Pages | |Was German â€Å"Eliminationist Anti-Semitism† Responsible for the Holocaust? | |Issue 10 â€Å"Taking Sides: Clashing Views in World History† | | | German anti-Semitism played the main role in Holocaust and extermination of Jewish populationRead MoreHitlers Willing Executioners Essay example2875 Words   |  12 Pagesscrutiny by his academic peers. Goldhagen’s argument is that the usual historical explanations of the Holocaust do not add up. The Holocaust was not perpetrated by a small band of Nazis but by â€Å"ordinary Germans† in the hundreds of thousands. The abrupt transformation of Germans from bakers, bankers and bureaucrats to mass murderers was due to a particularly virulent strain of anti-Semitism. Goldhagen’s indictment focuses on the citizenry’s complicity in three of Nazi Germany’s institutionsRead MoreWhy Common Germans Took Part Of The Holocaust2222 Words   |  9 PagesThis investigation evaluates why common Germans took part in the Holocaust. In order to assess why common Germans took part in the Holocaust the investigation focuses on the participation and complacency of the German people during the Holocaust, specifically the extermination of the Jewish people, and the reasoning behind it. Different explanations for the German actions developed by a range of historians will be presented. The conventional reasons, like psychological and cultural, and the nonconventionalRead MoreThe Holocaust: The Biggest Hate Crime in the World1418 Words   |  6 PagesThe Holocaust is consider one of the biggest hate crime that the world has witness. It is a hate crime due to the fact that is directed toward a specific group of people. Individual chosen or group chosen because they represent a group believed to represent a group that the perpetrator is biased against. Everything started when Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany, form 1934 to 1945. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. Hitler rose to power in German politics becoming the leader of theRead MoreHitler s Willing Executioners And Christopher Browning s Book Ordinary Men1101 Words   |  5 Pagesaverage German soldiers and civilians were responsible for the holocaust. My research paper argues in favor of Goldhagen s book, the average German was responsible for the participation of he holocaust. At the end of world war ll the Jewish community and the the rest of the world were crying for justice because of the devastation of there homes. The crimes committed by the Germans were cruel and someone had to pay. Several Nazi leaders were held accountable for the actions of the Germans. Were theRead MoreHitlers Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen1677 Words   |  7 PagesGoldhagens book Hitlers Willing Executioners. Goldhagen’s thesis re lies on the idea that since medieval times, a specific kind of eliminationist anti-Semitism had developed in Germany. According to Goldhagen, the German population was already open to the idea of eliminating the Jews. He also claims that when Hitler came to Power in 1933, rather than slowly convincing the Germans to commit mass murder, he merely gave them the opportunity to do what they have wanted to do for years. Goldhagen also inflatedRead MoreThe Transformation Of Deportation Of Mass Extermination2963 Words   |  12 Pagesoutright disgust against the perpetrators of the industrial scale mass-murder that was the Holocaust. This provides both positive and negative outcomes for those who seek to study the Holocaust and understand it from all angles. The demonization of key Nazi luminaries like Hitler and Himmler are highly appropriate given their ruthless and inhumane actions against European Jewry, ethnic minorities, their own German citizenry, and an international global standa rd of morality. Their reputations forRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesrecession of 2008) when one could quite plausibly argue that a new era had begun. A compelling case can be made for viewing the decades of the global scramble for colonies after 1870 as a predictable culmination of the long nineteenth century, which was ushered in by the industrial and political revolutions of the late 1700s. But at the same time, without serious attention to the processes and misguided policies that led to decades of agrarian and industrial depression from the late 1860s to the