Why Did Hitler Hate Jews?

In the context of the events of World War I, World War II and in particular the genocide, the Holocaust, in which Hitler murdered six million Jews, Hitler’s hatred of Jews also played a major role. Nazi ideology -- which drew on personal, political and social factors -- included his own anti-Semitic beliefs. This piece looks at the roots and causes of Hitler’s hatred for Jews and how it led to one of the darkest periods in history.

The Roots of Anti-Semitism in Europe

This kicked off in Europe before Hitler took power. For centuries, many European societies had scapegoated Jews for social and economic woes. In the Middle Ages, Jews were blamed for crimes such as poisoning wells or manipulating finances. By the 19th century, pseudo-scientific theories of race depicted Jews as inferior or dangerous. These precedents were leveraged by Hitler, who used them to justify his own prejudices.

Germany’s post-World War I economic instability also fed anti-Jewish sentiments. Germans in large numbers believed that Jewish bankers and businessmen were manipulating the economy, profiting while the common folk was the one suffering. Causing people to blame their problems on Jews and make them the ants in the colony, allowing Hitler to gain support through business, by branding Jews as enemies of the German people.

Hitler’s Personal and Political Motivations

Other historians posit that Hitler’s loathing of Jews was based on his own experiences. After being rejected from an art school in Vienna, he spent years in poverty. At this time, he became inundated with anti-Semitic propaganda that held Jews responsible for everything wrong with society.

Socially, and politically, Hitler economically capitalized on pre-existing anti-Semitic attitudes. He blamed Jews for Germany’s economic woes and loss in World War I, and his Nazi party spread propaganda peddling the conspiracy that Jews controlled banks, media and government, framing them as an enemy of the self-described “Aryan race.”

Hitler’s own experiences as a soldier during World War I also shaped his thinking. Like other right-wingers, he thought Jews had stabbed Germany in the back from within, and that this helped cause its defeat. This conviction — referred to as the “stab-in-the-back” myth — intensified his hatred.

Why Did Hitler Hate Jews?

Hitler did not have one reason why he hated Jews but rather many things in history shaped his beliefs:

1. Blame the Jews for Germany’s Troubles — Hitler accused Jews of having cost Germany the First World War and causing it to have to submit to the vituperative terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which extracted harsh economic sanctions from Germany. He employed Jews as a cheap scapegoat for the nation’s pain.

2. Racial Ideology – Hitler pushed the idea that Germans were the “master race” (Aryans) and that Jews were inferior. He was a eugenicist and viewed Jews as harmful to his notions of a racially pureAryan society.

Conspiracy Theories Nazi propaganda promoted conspiracy theories that Jews control world finance, politics, and media in secret. Hitler convinced many Germans that Jews were using the machinations of society to their own advantage.

3. Influence of Anti-Semitic Literature – Hitler drew from anti-Semitic literature and pseudoscientific racial theories that made bogus claims that Jews were biologically detrimental to society.

4. Desire for Power – Hitler consolidated his political power by uniting Germans against a common enemy. He exploited the public’s fears and prejudices to tighten his grip on Germany.

5. Religious and Cultural Differences — Hitler capitalized on historical religious animosities towards Jews virtually from time immemorial portraying them as not only outsiders, but outsiders who could never fully integrate into the fabric of German life.

The Impact of Hitler’s Hatred

Hitler’s anti-Semitism eventually grew to extreme policies, including the Holocaust. Jews were marginalized, ghettoized and ultimately sent to concentration camps, where millions were slaughtered. His ideology also resulted in the killing of millions of others, including Slavs, Romani people and political opponents.

The Holocaust is one of the greatest atrocities in human history. Families were ripped apart, whole communities were wiped out. Survivors lived with trauma for the rest of their lives. After World War II, the Nuremberg Trials revealed the atrocities carried out by Hitler and his supporters to ensure that their egregious acts were not buried in the sands of time.