Did Hitler kill Jewish people thinking that he was avenging the Christ? Was he even pious?

Answer 1

Adolph Hitler not only was raised as a Catholic, but he also attended school at a monastery. At one time, he even considered becoming a priest. So he did believe in God.

Apparently, Hitler's hatred for Jews was a result of his upbringing. The inferiority of Jews when compared to Aryan Christians was common knowledge taught by Catholic priests and Protestant ministers throughout Germany for hundreds of years before and during Hitler's time.

Adolf Hitler wrote a book called "Mein Kampf". Below are some of his quotations from that book:

"My views with regard to anti-Semitism thus succumbed to the passage of time, and this was my greatest transformation of all."

"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."

"the personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew."

Answer 2

The Nazis were against most religions. They disliked Catholicism because it wasn't connected to any particular nationality--i.e., theirs. Also, they were not willing to let the church have authority that overrode their own.

However, Nazis were not atheists, either. Hitler launched a movement against "free-thinkers;" Nazism used a lot of the Christian symbols. They thought that religions that taught a God of love were "slave religions." Their own religion combined elements of Lutheranism and German paganism.

In 1543 Martin Luther had written a treatise called On Jews and Their Lies. Most scholars believe that this treatise heavily influenced German treatment of its Jewish citizens beginning in the reformation and continuing through the Third Reich years. Luther argued, among other things, that Jews' homes should be burned and their property and money confiscated, and that they should be shown no mercy or kindness and should be expelled or sent into forced labor.

As to what Hitler thought about all this, in a speech in 1933 he denounced atheism. Private statements he made about religion indicated that he preferred a state religion, as the Japanese had in which the Emperor was divine, and that he was deeply anti-Christian. He believed Jesus was an Aryan and opponent of the Jews.

Connecting this to the "Final Solution"? I'm cynical enough to think that Hitler's religion had less to do with that than his attempts to appeal to the common people. But there could be something to the idea that he was getting rid of Jewish people to bring about his own version of the City of God.

Answer 3

hitler was a roman catholic, but not a practising one. he was far more interested in inventing a germanic religion based on ancient pagan german myths (which were mostly bogus) mixed with various bits of indian mythology. (the swastika was originally an indian religious symbol).

the holocaust wasn't even particularly hitler's idea. the nazis were anti-semitic from the start (there is some evidence that hitler got dumped by a jewish girl in his student days in vienna), but this was a lot to do with needing to fit in with anti-semitic ideas which had been common in germany long before 1933.

but the idea of actually murdering the jews already in the concentration camps seems to have started at the wannsee conference in january 1942.

the germans had a brilliant success when they invaded france in may 1940, but their other campaigns (the battle of britain, the battle of africa) had been indecisive. by 1942 the german war effort was running out of momentum. the early success of operation barbarossa (the invasion of russia) gave german moral a needed boost, and part of the reason for the wannsee conference was to discuss what measures could keep german spirits high.

it was probably reinhard heydrich who suggested mass-extermination of the jews as a likely crowd-pleaser. heydrich was goering's protegé and goering was second only to hitler.

hitler would have thought the holocaust was a good idea, but hitler tended not to have good ideas himself.

in fact hitler tended not to have ideas at all, but then you don't need to be clever to be a reichsfuehrer.

Answer 4

Hitler was simply horribly pro-German. He felt that jews were an inferior race, and their beliefs were incompatible with his ideas of Germany and the Germans being the best people on earth. He was also anti-Christian, and anti-religion in general. He started Hitler Youth so that young people's beliefs would be completely about how great Germany was. If he was Christian he would have tried to put Christian values into Germany's society.

Answer 5

No. He had decided on a pure white nation....he said the Jewish people were evil. Pious had nothing to do with it.

Answer 6

No since Hitler sent thousands of Catholic priests and protestant ministers to death in the concentration camps; and Hitler threatened the Pope.

Hitler was a Catholic, but not a very good one.

Answer 7

The evidence suggests he was avenging his own personal history of struggle (Mein Kampf means my struggle) and failure. He hated Jews for personal reasons and also found them a convenient place to put blame for the depression in Germany at that time.

Answer 8

Hitler was raised as a Roman Catholic who have always been persecutors of the jews but his actions were more to do with his impression that jews were behind Germany's failure to win WW1

Answer 9

the reason Hitler started killing Jews,was because his mother got real sick and her doctor was a Jew,and the doctor let his mother die,Hitler didn't think the doctor did all he could have to save her.that's what turned Hitler against the Jews.

Answer 10

I always thought it was because the Jews had been made scapegoats, and he thought he was killing the enemies of his people.