Pike, James Mrs. Angeles 1st Period 2/29/24 Who Is To Blame for the Holocaust? According to the Holocaust Museum Houston, Jewish people made up less than 1% of the German population when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Most people believe that Adolf Hitler was the person most responsible for the Holocaust. However, he did not do it alone. Adolf Hitler planned the “Final Solution” but wanted the SS officers to execute the plan because they were loyal to him. Besides Adolf Hitler, Nazi soldiers and the German Army, and top SS (Schutzstaffel) officers were the most responsible for the Holocaust. Because Nazi soldiers and the German Army both had hateful views of the Jews, SS officers came with the motivation of violence to execute the “Final Solution.” …show more content…
For example, “The military also fell in line with the Nazi regime's racism and racial laws” (“The Role of the Military”). Therefore, the soldiers in the army accepted the racist views which led them to murder the Jews. For instance, “Individual Jews were also victims of assaults and threats of violence by SA men, Hitler Youth, and other Nazi activists who flexed their power with little fear of interference by the police or courts” (“Nazis and Their Collaborators Implement the Holocaust”). As a result, Jews were threatened with violence from several different groups. But the Nazi soldiers and German Army were some of the largest groups who took part, and there was no one to stop them. Anyone who tried to stop them or help the Jews was punished. For these reasons, the Nazi soldiers and the German Army were a major reason why so many Jews died in the