The Nazi Party
The Nazi party is often not focused on in historical sources of the Holocaust, with the exception of the way that they treated the targeted groups. Many of the soldiers of the Nazi party were drafted into their position and did not have a choice whether or not to be a party in the worst crimes committed by the Third Reich (the Nazi designation of Germany and its regime)(1). If they were to show any sort of resistance or disobedience to the higher authorities of the Nazi party, they would have been treated as a member of the other side of the war and killed immediately (3).
When the time came for the major players in the Nazi party to be tried, most claimed that they were under the command of a higher authority (4). The Nazi soldiers lost certain freedoms in these ways while gaining other freedoms due to being on the winning side before the Nazi party was eventually defeated. Some of these freedoms came in the form of the draft (1), oaths such as the Oath to Adolf Hitler (2) that all members of the Nazi party had to take, and the overall dictator role that Hitler had.
Video Link
1) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1028111831
2) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1028132937
3) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1028128120
When the time came for the major players in the Nazi party to be tried, most claimed that they were under the command of a higher authority (4). The Nazi soldiers lost certain freedoms in these ways while gaining other freedoms due to being on the winning side before the Nazi party was eventually defeated. Some of these freedoms came in the form of the draft (1), oaths such as the Oath to Adolf Hitler (2) that all members of the Nazi party had to take, and the overall dictator role that Hitler had.
Video Link
1) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1028111831
2) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1028132937
3) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1028128120
Freedoms
During the Holocaust, their actions against the targeted groups had no consequence because of how their group of people (the Nazi party) were the ones in control and the soldiers simply did as they were told (1). When it came time for the Nazi party members to stand in trial, their defense was that they were following orders and being obedient to those authorities in order to stay alive. If they showed any sign of disobedience, they would have been treated as a member of the other side of the war which meant automatic execution (3). They argued that they did not have the freedom of choice, a freedom considered as basic to most first world countries in the 21st century (1). The members of the Nazi party not in a position of authority had the influence of the views of the party leaders on every "choice" they made. They were constantly facing obstacles of authority figures when faced with a choice, so their ultimate choice was seen to them as not a choice at all but something they are forced to do (1). In their perspective, it didn't matter what the soldier's personal beliefs were because they had no choice but to do what the higher authority wanted them to do. It was survival of the fittest, with the fittest being those who carried out the orders they were given without hesitation. Hitler's sovereignal freedom (the power to act as one pleases, regardless of others wishes and freedoms), in the eyes of the Nazi soldiers, took away from each of their own personal freedom (the freedom from constraint or coercion by another person)(1).
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As the main goal of the Nazi party was to eliminate the target groups in order to promote the Aryan race, the targeted groups were put into concentration camps and forced to provide labor for the Nazi war effort and oftentimes deported. When they got ill or physically weak and ineffective to use for labor, they were killed via mass shootings, gas chambers, and crematoriums. After the war ended in 1945, the Nazi party as a whole was taken into POW camps and tried for their war crimes (5). Most of the Nazis on trial admitted to their accused crimes, but claimed that they were following the orders of a higher authority. Many of the Nazi criminals were never tried because they fled Germany or , like Adolf Hitler, committed suicide. And most of the individuals who were not directly involved in the killing of the targeted groups received short sentences or no penalty. The verdict of Nuremberg was 12 death sentences, 3 life imprisonments, and 4 prison terms of 10-20 years. (4) |
Sources:
(1) Bohr, Felix, et al. “Interview with an Auschwitz Guard.” Spiegel Online, 28 Aug. 2014, www.spiegel.de/international/germany/spiegel-interview-with-a-91-year-old-former-auschwitz-guard-a-988127-2.html. Accessed on December 2, 2017.
(2) Bytwerk, Randall. “Rudolf Hess Speech.” German Propaganda Archive, Calvin College, 1998, research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/hess1.htm. Accessed on December 2, 2017.
(3) Bytwerk, Randall. “There Are Two Possibilities...” German Propaganda Archive, Calvin College, 2007, research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/2choices.htm. Accessed on December 2, 2017.
(4) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "The Nuremberg Trials." Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007722. Accessed on December 2, 2017.2.
(5) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "War Crimes Trials." Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005140. Accessed on December 2, 2017.
(6) Lieutenant, Walther. “Nazi War Crimes: Mass Murder of Jews and Gypsies.” Officer's Report on the Shooting of Jews and Gypsies, Yad Vashem Archive, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/officer-s-report-on-the-shooting-of-jews-and-gypsies. Accessed on December 2, 2017.
Image sources:
(7) Bones of anti-Nazi German women still are in the crematoriums in the German concentration camp at Weimar, Germany by The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration is in the public domain
(8) Buschenwald Prisoners Nazis 13129 by Work of the United States Government is in the public domain
(9) Defendants in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials by Work of the United States Government is in the public domain
(10) German War Crimes Trials. Nuremberg & Dachau - NARA 292606 by Unknown is in the public domain
(11) Nuremberg Trials defendants in the dock 1945 by United States Army Signal Corps photographer is in the public domain