Rachel D
Anti-semitism played a major role in the Holocaust. Anti-semitism
arose in Europe prior to 1919. It was started by William Story who was
made to be a saint to bring fame to his monastery. He created a myth,
that suggested that Jews were evil and people to be feared. Anti-
semitism planted the seed for the holocaust.
In 1918, the end of WWI, the German national pride faced an
extreme decline due to losing the war. The Germans felt that they had
been taken advantage of by its leftwing politicians, Communists, and
Jews. Germany’s military was heavily restricted and forced to pay
reparations for the huge costs of the war because of the Treaty of
Versailles. The Germans used the Jews as scapegoats and blamed them
for the war. Lack of national pride led to the discrimination against
Jews after WWI.
In 1919 and 1920, Adolf Hitler developed a political party and rose
to leadership. Hitler’s speeches emphasized national pride and racial
purity in Germany. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, a book which blamed the
Jews and supported anti-semitism feelings that had remained in Europe
for centuries. Hitler’s party was called the National Socialist German
Workers’ Party, or the Nazi Party. Hitler became it’s leader, or Fuhrer.
The Great Depression in the U.S. created economic problems for
Germany. Germany, the Weimar Democracy, could not cope with the
debt they were from the previous war and suffered from inflation.
President Hindenburg realized the problem and called for a new
constitution, to create a new government.
Hitler’s volume one of Mein Kampf (My Struggle), had a major
impact politically. He wrote the book while in prison, writing of