Why did the Holocaust happen?
1 Answer
The Holocaust was a policy of the Nazi Party.
Explanation:
When you get a government you get all their policies. Hitler and the Nazis appealed to a lot of Germans for a variety of reasons. Once in power the Nazis viewed the Jews as a social infection to be eradicated. Prejudice against the Jews in Germany had, to that point, been less apparent than in other countries in Europe. Because the Nazis formed the government they had the resources of the German state and the burning desire to rid the state of this group of people that grew to become the Holocaust.
Because it was a Policy of the the State, Jews often felt they were trapped and had no alternatives but to obey.
In Poland a man described meeting a young woman he knew casually in a very long line. When he asked what the line was for she said it was a line to get shot. Security in the the line was loose enough that the boy could approach her and have a conversation. She and the other people in the line could have hidden. They knew what the lineup was for. She was shot that day. This is not to victim blame. She would have felt helpless at the scale of the forces against her. Her only appeal would be for mercy and that was not available.
The Nazis organized, motivated and supported an armed resourceful group with the mission of Holocaust.
