Nazi Ideology

The popular dictator from the chapters of history, Adolf Hitler, was known for the harsh ideologies that he and his Nazi party practiced under National Socialism. During the rise of Hitler in power in Germany in the 1930s, he applied the ideology to distinguish between ‘Nordic German Aryans’ and other communities living in Europe. 

Many named his ideology as the ‘cult of violence’ as it incorporated fervent scientific racism and anti-communism, originating from Pan-Germanism. Hitler and his Nazi ideology always rejected the concept of universal equality and the ‘common good’ in German society. His ideology majorly focused on two things: race and space. The ideology to breed the pure race while conquering space and land from other races. However, the ideology was not just limited to breed and conquer.

Adolf Hitler, The Nazi Party & The Ideology

The Nazi Ideology became firm when Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He majorly focused on two things in his ideology: Race and Space! He believed that humanity was divided into separate groups and always rejected the idea of one group of human beings. He thought that each race was fighting for space and land. 

When you can conquer more space and land, you can grow more of yourself, which means more space will have more of your race. To succeed as the dictator and ultimate leader of Europe, Hitler focused on these two specific terms in Nazi ideology.

They were just two factors, but it devastated all other races living in Germany. Based on these two factors, the Nazi party established horrifying programs and groups to distinguish the races and eventually capture huge lands of Europe.

Concept of Lebensraum

The concept of Lebensraum, commonly known as ‘living space’, was a popular policy established in the Nazi Ideology to conquer borders and territories in Europe. Hitler believed that Lebensraum was not just about conquering the land, but it also involved slaughtering the inferior races from that region. 

In the 1930s, when Germans looked to the Nazis to help the country come out of economic crises, Hitler and his party believed that Lebensraum would help the country well. Under this ideology, his party slaughtered Slavs and Jews living in that region by occupying lands of other races. People were horrified by the way Nazis treated them. Jews and Slavs were publicly slaughtered by the Nazis when they tried to protest. 

Nordic German Aryans

Commonly known as the master race, this was a primary concept on the Nazi ideology that deemed ‘Aryan Race’ the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. As Hitler came into power, he declared that Aryans were superior to any other race in Europe. The Nazi party introduced a policy called the Aryan Certificate. 

All the Reich or Germans citizens were required to show this certificate by law. The only way to receive this certificate is by the government examining the roots and beliefs of the respective ancestors. People with no Aryan Certificate were considered as ‘undesirables’ and would eventually be killed in the mass shootings. 

Jungvolk

Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party were specifically interested in the country’s youth. He founded the organization called ‘Jungvolk’ for German kids aged between 10-14. These children were part of Nazi schooling subjects. They were taught to be submissive and loyal towards the country while nurturing the spirit of violence and aggression against other people and races.

They learned to hate Jews along with other ‘undesirable’ races. While girls were taught to be quiet and nurturing mothers in the future, boys went through physical training to be masculine and powerful. After the rigorous physical and ideological training, boys had to join the Labor Service to serve in the armed forces at 18. 

The Racial Utopia

When Germany occupied Poland, Poles were forced to flee their homes and possessions because they were deemed ‘undesirable’ by the Nazis. Children from Poland who appeared to be ‘Aryans’ were taken from their homes and tested by race experts. If they failed the test, children were deposited in orphanages and died of starvation.

Those who passed their test were raised in German families and taught Nazi ideology. Soon at the age of 10, they were forced to join the Jungvolk program under Hitler’s leadership.

Killing Fields for Poles, Slavs & Jews

Under the leadership of Hitler, Jews had to wear a yellow Star of David on their shirts. This star was also marked on their legal documents and houses. Jews along with other races, were kept in ghettos like Warsaw in eastern Germany. Jews, along with other ‘undesirable’ races, were brought to death by goods trains. 

The people were charred in gas chambers in Sobibor, Auschwitz, Majdanek, Chelmno  Belzec, and Treblinka. People in gas chambers were killed within a few minutes after inhaling poisonous gas inside the chambers. This practice was later termed the Holocaust.

The Holocaust

Under Nazi ideology, the Holocaust was one of the terrifying incidents considered the genocide of European Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War. Nazi Germany slaughtered over six million Jews across occupied Europe by carrying out mass shootings in concentrations camps and gas chambers.

Not only were mothers separated from their kids, but they were forced to watch their loved ones die in front of their eyes. Many holocaust survivors have written poems, books, and biographies highlighting the killing fields for the Jews during the Second World War.

Global Reaction to Nazi Ideology 

The Nazi ideology, when spread all across the world, faced huge criticism and backlash for ‘inhumane practices’. Other races were suffering and dying from the injustice, but many Germans were against practices like Jungvolk and Racial Utopia. However, Germans were too scared of protesting against the system as they feared being publicly condemned and severely punished.

While Jews and Pole mothers shed blood for their children while crying, Nazi ideology forced the races to leave everything they owned in the hands of Nazis. It was only after the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Nazi ideas were prohibited forever in Germany and other parts of Europe.