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Gretta Bender
Ms. Schmidt
Honors English
3/29/16

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1481809/Hitler-kept-himself-aloof-from-the-dirtiestwork.html
Kershaw, Ian. "Hitler Kept Himself Aloof from the Dirtiest Work." The Telegraph. Telegraph
Media Group, 23 Jan. 2005. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Hitler did not kill one person with his own hands during the Holocaust. Professor Ian Kershaw
writes that Hitler pushed his dirty work on the SS men throughout the Holocaust and never
openly spoke about this mass execution of the Jews. Also during this time, he visited not even
one death camp. He was, however, the man behind the scenes; the person ordering the killings
behind closed doors. The most telling thing known about Hitler, though, was that he was openly
one of the most anti-Semitic persons in recorded history. He very willingly allowed these
atrocities to occur, and he seemed to obsess about the need to remove the Jews from the face of
the Earth. He did not speak directly about the extermination, and there were no written records
of specific guidelines regarding the killings. Some of his underlings, such as Himmler, have been
quoted as addressing the specifics of the Jewish annihilation. Some neo-Nazis claim that Hitler
was not directly responsible for killing the Jews as there was no written evidence convicting him,
and that Himmler was just brainwashing him. That is completely false, because Hitler left his

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mark on every stage of the Final Solution. Without his dictatorial presence, the annihilation of
the Jews might not have occurred. Hitler was their indirect overseer of the killings, and he knew
what was going on in these camps. Hitler kept his hands theoretically clean from the killings,
yet he ultimately verbally authorized the entire Final Solution.

https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/historpedia/home/specific-individuals/the-childhood-andearly-adulthood-of-adolf-hitler-fall-2012
"The Childhood and Early Adulthood of Adolf Hitler (Fall 2012) - Historpedia." Historpedia.
The Childhood and Early Adulthood of Adolf Hitler (Fall 2012) - Historpedia, 8 Sept. 2012.
Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/historpedia/home/specificindividuals/the-childhood-and-early-adulthood-of-adolf-hitler-fall-2012>.
Hitlers early life is fascinating, in part because it might lend insight into what might have
made him so hateful of the Jews. His childhood seemed to have formed him into a man who
despised and truly resented the Jewish race. When someone invokes the name Hitler, how does
a person normally respond? Usually, one thinks of an evil man who led the committal of an
atrocious genocide but perhaps fail to take into consideration the difficulties Hitler faced
throughout his life. These difficulties include a physically and emotionally abusive father, lack of
familial support for Hitlers ultimate goal of becoming an artist, academic struggles, and the
untimely death of his beloved mother. Some say that Hitler was part Jewish, and he despised this
because of his early tendency to blame the Jewish race for his troubles. The main factor

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contributing to Hitlers anti-Semitic views involved the time when he became homeless in
Vienna. Vienna was highly anti-Jewish in attitude, and Hitler adopted these views, feeding his
earlier prejudices. Hitler also fought during World War I and blamed the Jews for the loss of the
war. He hinted that if the Jews were to start another war, he would annihilate the entire race.
Coupled with the hardships of his young adult life in Vienna and the predominant prejudice
against those of the Jewish persuasion, Hitlers seeds of hatred for Jews seems to have been
planted during this time period.
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/17/science/insane-or-just-evil-a-psychiatrist-takes-a-new-lookat-hitler.html?pagewanted=all
Goode, Erica. "Insane or Just Evil? A Psychiatrist Takes a New Look at Hitler." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 16 Nov. 1998. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/17/science/insane-or-just-evil-a-psychiatrist-takes-a-newlook-at-hitler.html?pagewanted=all>.

Dr. Redlich, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at both Yale University and the University of
California at Los Angeles, emphasizes what actually led Hitler to commit these mass crimes. The
psychologist researched his entire life and all the choices he made and attempted to determine
whether Hitler was mentally insane or just plain malicious. Dr. Redlich published a book with
extensive research and ultimately concluded that Hitler was not actually mentally ill, at least not
to the extent of absolving blame for his horrific actions. The conclusion is that Hitler knew what
he was doing, and chose to do it with pride and enthusiasm. Some

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Holocaust-revisionists claim that Hitler was manipulated by his physician, Dr. Morell. Dr.
Redlich performed pathography, or the study of the life and character of an individual. He
considered Hitlers psyche, his medical conditions, and any medical sources or interviews of
Hitlers physician. Trying to put oneself in such a malevolent persons shoes is hard, but it is
necessary to try to understand what was going on in Hitlers head. Although Adolf Hitler did
suffer from a number of medical conditions and did exhibit symptoms of several psychological
conditions, no such physical or mental malady led to Hitlers warped state of mind.
Unfortunately, Hitler was mentally competent enough to make his own decisions and was
perhaps of an evil constitution.
Night
Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.
Throughout the book Night, it is implied that the SS and Josef Mengele were the primary
persons who killed the Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is mentioned in the book that one man
had more belief in Hitler than God, because Hitler had accomplished everything he said he
would. Elie Wiesel, the author, questions his faith throughout his experience at the camps.
Ultimately, Hitler and his party destructed and took away not only the Jews lives, but also often
their faith in God and in humanity.

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The main theme is the loss of faith, and the personal struggle Wiesel has with his God. He
questions how God would let this happen to His chosen people. Some people were able to
retain their faith in God, but for anyone living in such extreme circumstances it would be quite
impossible to comprehend the fact that Hitler and his party were willing to commit such
inhumane acts against other humans. The Jews didnt know exactly what was going on at the
time, and they almost couldnt fathom what the Nazis were willing to do. The Jews witness more
death than life in these camps, and they would never be the same because of it. Wiesel questions
how everyone around him is remaining strong in their faith while barely clinging to life;
ultimately wrestling with the conflicting fact that the source of such suffering is the same faith
which lends them purpose and hope.