The Role Of Intentionalism In The Holocaust

The two schools of thought in contemporary studies of the holocaust origins fall under the categories of functionalism and intentionalism. Functionalists believe that Hitler was an anti-Semite yet held no permanent orchestrated plan to eliminate the Jewish race, rather that the vast genocide of the Holocaust was a result of the continual German anti-Semitic policy changing to become increasingly radical and the failure of the Jewish deportation plans. In contrast Intentionalist Historians generally agree that Hitler did have a fixed long-term plan to kill the Jews from the beginning of his political career and that he was the dominant and driving authority force which encouraged the mass slaughter which occurred throughout the Holocaust. The
In interpretation C it states that even before Hitler was propelled into Governmental power his eliminationist desire was ‘clear and constant’. Furthermore, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen suggests that the Nazi regime ‘came into power determined to undertake a task – the elimination of the Jews from all spheres of social life in Germany and also their capacity to harm Germany’. The genocide of the Holocaust was not ‘linear and unambiguous’ and did not come about as a simple progression due to the war circumstances or neither as an ‘outgrowth of Hitler’s moods’, but rather it was part of ‘Hitler’s long held ideal to eliminate all Jewish power’. A fundamental theme of the book, ‘Hitler’s willing executioners’ that Goldhagen expressed is that the radical anti-Semitic ‘goal directed’ and premeditated Nazi policy and plans towards the European Jewry was supported by the public because of the long held widespread hatred of the
A common feature of both these sources is the idea that the war absolutely sped up plans or even changed plans to a more radical policy of mass Jewish genocide. The Second World War contributed to the Holocaust for a number of reasons, another war would provide the extreme and radical situation and the ‘excuse’ in which the Holocaust could be carried out because of the gravity and instability of the circumstance and the distortion in people’s moral compasses. The war disrupted the Nazi’s emigration programme, war brutalized people, added Jews to Germany when Nazi’s were trying to remove them, and it encouraged extremism. D insinuates that the war gave Hitler the excuse he needed to pull off such a policy and A shows there was a lack of any other possible options available due to the war climate. Interpretations A and B strongly agree that there was no evidence of a long-term plan from Hitler but that there was instead a long held racism directed against the Jews. Interpretations C and D agree that there was a long-term plan held by the Nazi’s directed at killing off the Jewish population but differ on their opinions regarding Hitler’s role in the Holocaust proposals. Interpretation D states that Hitler signaled his authorization to Heydrich who would put the plans into practice but interpretation C suggests Hitler