What was the Nazi rationale for the extermination effort that came to be known as the Holocaust?

Answer 1

Hitler played on the prejudices and fears of the German people. Jews had almost always been outsiders, and so they were suspect. They were even blamed for the Black Death, even though they died from it just like their Christian neighbors. Jews were not permitted to own land, so traditionally they migrated toward business, such as banking. After WWI, the Germans were loaded with so many reparations by the Allies that the German economy collapsed. Hitler played on the fears and anger of the German people by first telling a truth--the German people are poor. Then he told a half-truth--the Jews have money (because some of them owned the businesses, even though they had to pay the same high prices as everyone else). Then, he told an outright lie--the Jews are the reason the German people are poor, so if the Jews are extinguished, the Germans will have money again. The Germans were so desperate, they would do anything that might help them survive, so they turned a blind eye to the Holocaust.

Answer 2

In a nutshell, Germany had many social, economic and political problems over the decades. Hitler rose to power with a vision to try to ignite the German people into building a new nation with superior people who would create a superior culture that would eventually spread to the whole world. He saw the Jewish people (and some other smaller groups) as the force behind the problems of Germany throughout its history. So in order to build his superior nation, he would have to do away with these people because they were imperfect and would infect his dream. Part of the plan would be to exterminate any people he saw as inferior.

Answer 3

They considered that the Jewish people were carriers of genetic corruption, a bit like the mice who carried the virus of plague, and because the cornerstone of the Nazi ideology was the purity of the race (espessily those of the master race, that is themselves) they believed that they had to extreminate all Jewish people without distinction of age or gender. Also they could help themselves from any asset they stripped from the Jews

Answer 4

Hitler blamed the Jews for owning the banks and finance houses, they seemed to have or control the wealth in Germany at that time.......inflation was crippling the country and people needed almost a wheel barrow full of duetschmarks to buy a simple loaf of bread, he blamed the Jews and set out to get what he thought was justifiable revenge.

Answer 5

racial cleansing.

But as in most conflicts or atrocities the roots lay in fear and anger.
Hitler and his minions saw the Jewish people as threats. On the whole the Jews were economically stable, they had both prestige and money and could affect politics to a certain point within countries. Their religion made them suspect as at the time many 'christians' still referred to Jew as 'Christ killers'. The Jews were persecuted in many countries, forced into ghettos, victims of random raids and violence. Hitler took it to the next level.