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10 - The Holocaust

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2021

Klaus H. Schmider
Affiliation:
Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst
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Summary

Many historians have alleged – or strongly implied - that the days of late November/December 1941 witnessed an escalation of the Shoa from localised ethnic cleansing to genocide on a continental scale on account of the outbreak of US-German hostilities. According to this theory, Hitler managed to convince himself that the war was militarily lost by virtue of the Red Army’s winter offensive and/or the US entry into the war and hence, decided to prioritise the mass murder of his (perceived) domestic enemies. Antisemitism pure and simple is seen as the key driver. This theory is problematic to say the least, since the situation outside Moscow would not come to be regarded as critical before mid-December.

I have concluded that the decision for the Shoah had almost certainly been made by late November and that there is indeed evidence which points to this being influenced by the assessment of imminent US-German hostilities. Crucially, however, it was put on hold for about a fortnight when the Germans arrived at the mistaken impression that Japan would not join them in hostilities. Antisemitism may have been important but was still trumped by strategic calculation.

Type
Chapter
Information
Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation
Why Germany Declared War on the United States
, pp. 523 - 542
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • The Holocaust
  • Klaus H. Schmider
  • Book: Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation
  • Online publication: 08 January 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108870405.012
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  • The Holocaust
  • Klaus H. Schmider
  • Book: Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation
  • Online publication: 08 January 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108870405.012
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Holocaust
  • Klaus H. Schmider
  • Book: Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation
  • Online publication: 08 January 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108870405.012
Available formats
×