The Nazi German State: Restricted to Loyal Aryans only

History 108

Spring Semester, 2016

John Alpert

The Nazi German State: Restricted to Loyal Aryans Only

        Nazi Germany is one of the most unique history topics of the twentieth century. From the ashes of the Second Reich Adolf Hitler was able to gain power with his Nazi Party, also known as the National Socialist German Workers' Party. His goal was to create a German Empire, and that it was the destiny of the Aryan race to rule Europe. His plan consisted of one main point: that only the Aryan Nazi’s belonged in his empire. Anyone that was resistant to Adolf Hitler’s plan, had different beliefs than the Nazi Party, or was of a group that was not considered ethnically pure were outsiders that had to be removed.

        The first publicized group of outsiders were organizations that challenged the Nazi Party. Communists, Social Democrats, and people belonging to trade unions were considered enemies of the State. Hitler was against Marxism and any other view of governing that did not fall in line with his ideas. Hitler used the police and storm troopers to drive these enemies to exile, keep them silent, or send them to concentration camps.^[1] The Communist Party was eventually banned and once the Enabling Act was issued it lead to the abolition of all political parties other than the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Even those in the Nazi Party that were considered opposition to Hitler were targeted. On June 30th, 1934 Hitler used the SS to eliminate Röhm and many other political rivals which was known as the Night of Long Knives.^[2]

        Also those with different beliefs than the Nazi Party were outsiders too. The first groups of people that were in concentration camps were not actually Jews. Instead it consisted of Jehovah’s Witnesses, prostitutes, vagrants, drunks, male homosexuals, others that had behaviors that did not fall in line with the rest of society. Unlike the others though homosexuals were also sterilized. Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, specifically addressed how homosexuals should be dealt with:

I have now decided, that upon the following: in each case, (homosexuals) will naturally be publicly degraded, expelled, and handed over to the courts. Following the completion of punishment … they will be sent, by my order, to a concentration camp.^[3]

Religious groups with opinions against the Nazi Party were treated as outsiders similar to the political parties. While most of Germany consisted of Protestants the Catholic Church feared they may become a target to Nazi opposition. Hitler made a deal with the Vatican that he would not interfere with the Catholic Church as long as they refrained from any political activity in Germany, such as the Catholic Center party.^[4] Most Protestants were considered insiders and a part of the German community; however, there were a Protestant church leaders that resisted a unified national German Evangelical Church. In 1934, the church leaders resisted and declared they would not conform in a declaration of independence: “We summon the Christian communities, their pastors and elders, to accept no directives from the present Church Government.”^[5] In the late 1930’s some of the church leaders were eventually arrested. The Third Reich treated those with different viewpoints as enemies, despite those that were still considered Aryans.

        One of the most common characteristics of the outsiders were that they were ethnically different, with the most common group being those of Jewish decent. According to Hitler Jews were one of the biggest problems in Germany and considered Jews the “universal poisoner of all peoples.”^[6] He blamed them for being the root of Germany’s problems. In his speech, Hitler even claimed that the Jews were responsible for the Bolshevik Revolution and Communism:

“I ask you: Did the Jews have an interest in the collapse of 1918? It is possible for us to discuss that objectively today. You are undoubtedly aware that on a on a comparative basis very few Jews have suffered at all. Let no one tell me: Oh, the poor Eastern Jew!”^[7]

Hitler eventually ordered that Jews should be put into ghettos and stripped away the rights of the Jewish people. Such an example was a law that those deemed Jews could not marry Germans and could not engage in extramarital relations either, which would prevent the outsiders mingling with the pure insiders.^[8] Eventually he would use the same method he used with others deemed as outsiders and would send them to camps to work and eventually be killed. Sometimes they would skip camps and use killing squads to kill Jews such as when the German army moved through the Soviet Union the killing squads that followed would commit mass murder as they moved. Heinrich Himmler, in a speech to SS officers, “praises his men and acknowledges that mass murder is hard work, a difficult duty carried out ‘for the love of our people.’”^[9] The Jews were Hitler’s most hated group and he continued to work against them even up to his death.