Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?: The Origins of Adolf Hitler's Anti-Semitism and its Outcome
A unique investigation into the mind of Adolf Hitler and written by a recognized expert in the field, using the latest scientific knowledge to analyze his actions.

What do we really know about the sources of Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitism? What led him to become such a genocidal anti-Semite?

It is often said that the strongly anti-Semitic atmosphere in pre-war Vienna, in which Hitler failed to achieve his dream of becoming an artist, was when his hatred of the Jews first began to stir. We also often read that such feelings were compounded by the so-called ‘stab in the back’ by Jewish-Marxists at the end of the First World War, which led to Germany’s humiliating capitulation. The Darwinian science of natural selection is often included in the debate as well, which to Hitler meant keeping the Germanic race ‘pure’ and untainted by the ‘inferior’ Jews.

However, as Peter den Hertog sets out in this book, such external, cultural and environmental factors were also experienced by most of Hitler’s contemporaries, and they did not all turn into rabid Jew-haters. In this study, the author investigates what we do know about the roots of the German leader’s anti-Semitism. He also takes the significant step of mapping out what we do not know in detail. This allows the reader to understand which information needs to be looked for in the search for a complete explanation.

Historians will be historians and so have their own way of looking at the world. This fails to provide us with complete clarity in this matter. That is why this study also employs insights from Psychology, Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. Readers even take a trip 65 million years back in time to the field of Evolutionary Psychology. The author reveals how Hitler was a man with highly paranoid traits. The causes of this paranoia are clarified for the first time and its connection to Hitler’s anti-Semitism is explained in depth. The author also explores, and answers, whether the Führer gave one specific instruction ordering the elimination of Europe’s Jews, and, if so, when this took place.

Peter den Hertog is able to provide an all-encompassing explanation for Hitler’s anti-Semitism by combining insights from many different disciplines. He also succeeds in clarifying how Hitler’s own particular brand of anti-Semitism could lead the way to the Holocaust.
"1136483840"
Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?: The Origins of Adolf Hitler's Anti-Semitism and its Outcome
A unique investigation into the mind of Adolf Hitler and written by a recognized expert in the field, using the latest scientific knowledge to analyze his actions.

What do we really know about the sources of Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitism? What led him to become such a genocidal anti-Semite?

It is often said that the strongly anti-Semitic atmosphere in pre-war Vienna, in which Hitler failed to achieve his dream of becoming an artist, was when his hatred of the Jews first began to stir. We also often read that such feelings were compounded by the so-called ‘stab in the back’ by Jewish-Marxists at the end of the First World War, which led to Germany’s humiliating capitulation. The Darwinian science of natural selection is often included in the debate as well, which to Hitler meant keeping the Germanic race ‘pure’ and untainted by the ‘inferior’ Jews.

However, as Peter den Hertog sets out in this book, such external, cultural and environmental factors were also experienced by most of Hitler’s contemporaries, and they did not all turn into rabid Jew-haters. In this study, the author investigates what we do know about the roots of the German leader’s anti-Semitism. He also takes the significant step of mapping out what we do not know in detail. This allows the reader to understand which information needs to be looked for in the search for a complete explanation.

Historians will be historians and so have their own way of looking at the world. This fails to provide us with complete clarity in this matter. That is why this study also employs insights from Psychology, Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. Readers even take a trip 65 million years back in time to the field of Evolutionary Psychology. The author reveals how Hitler was a man with highly paranoid traits. The causes of this paranoia are clarified for the first time and its connection to Hitler’s anti-Semitism is explained in depth. The author also explores, and answers, whether the Führer gave one specific instruction ordering the elimination of Europe’s Jews, and, if so, when this took place.

Peter den Hertog is able to provide an all-encompassing explanation for Hitler’s anti-Semitism by combining insights from many different disciplines. He also succeeds in clarifying how Hitler’s own particular brand of anti-Semitism could lead the way to the Holocaust.
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Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?: The Origins of Adolf Hitler's Anti-Semitism and its Outcome

Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?: The Origins of Adolf Hitler's Anti-Semitism and its Outcome

by Peter den Hertog
Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?: The Origins of Adolf Hitler's Anti-Semitism and its Outcome

Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?: The Origins of Adolf Hitler's Anti-Semitism and its Outcome

by Peter den Hertog

Hardcover

$32.95 
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Overview

A unique investigation into the mind of Adolf Hitler and written by a recognized expert in the field, using the latest scientific knowledge to analyze his actions.

What do we really know about the sources of Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitism? What led him to become such a genocidal anti-Semite?

It is often said that the strongly anti-Semitic atmosphere in pre-war Vienna, in which Hitler failed to achieve his dream of becoming an artist, was when his hatred of the Jews first began to stir. We also often read that such feelings were compounded by the so-called ‘stab in the back’ by Jewish-Marxists at the end of the First World War, which led to Germany’s humiliating capitulation. The Darwinian science of natural selection is often included in the debate as well, which to Hitler meant keeping the Germanic race ‘pure’ and untainted by the ‘inferior’ Jews.

However, as Peter den Hertog sets out in this book, such external, cultural and environmental factors were also experienced by most of Hitler’s contemporaries, and they did not all turn into rabid Jew-haters. In this study, the author investigates what we do know about the roots of the German leader’s anti-Semitism. He also takes the significant step of mapping out what we do not know in detail. This allows the reader to understand which information needs to be looked for in the search for a complete explanation.

Historians will be historians and so have their own way of looking at the world. This fails to provide us with complete clarity in this matter. That is why this study also employs insights from Psychology, Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. Readers even take a trip 65 million years back in time to the field of Evolutionary Psychology. The author reveals how Hitler was a man with highly paranoid traits. The causes of this paranoia are clarified for the first time and its connection to Hitler’s anti-Semitism is explained in depth. The author also explores, and answers, whether the Führer gave one specific instruction ordering the elimination of Europe’s Jews, and, if so, when this took place.

Peter den Hertog is able to provide an all-encompassing explanation for Hitler’s anti-Semitism by combining insights from many different disciplines. He also succeeds in clarifying how Hitler’s own particular brand of anti-Semitism could lead the way to the Holocaust.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781526772381
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 10/28/2020
Pages: 264
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

PETER DEN HERTOG is a historian and author who specializes in the history of Germany in the first half of the twentieth century, and, in particular, that of Adolf Hitler. A regular guest on radio programs in the Netherlands and Belgium, speaking about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, he also lectures on these subjects at universities and teacher training colleges. Having studied history, biology and cultural studies, and written novels and thrillers, Peter also teaches the art of writing and is frequently sought-after as a ghost writer.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Chapter 1 The Riddle 1

Chapter 2 The Detective 3

Chapter 3 The Nineteenth-Century Background: Anti-Semitic Traditions 5

Chapter 4 The Causes of Paranoia: The Proximate Level of Explanation 13

Chapter 5 Adolf Hitler, 1889-1914 16

Chapter 6 Adolf Hitler and the First World War 36

Chapter 7 From Pasewalk to Lechfeld 43

Chapter 8 The Method 51

Chapter 9 Hitler and Paranoia 54

ChaptetilO The Anti-Semitic Turnaround 70

Chapter 11 The Lethal Consequences of Hitler's Paranoia 74

Chapter 12 Nature and Paranoia: The Deepest Roots of Paranoia 77

Chapter 13 Paranoia, Morality and Emotions 85

Chapter 14 Provisional Incantation of Fear and Narcissism 88

Chapter 15 Other Interpretations 91

Chapter 16 The Viennese Interpretation 92

Chapter 17 More Recent Publications 95

Chapter 18 Freudian Psychohistory 108

Chapter 19 More Modern Psychological Research 112

Chapter 20 Evaluation and Some New Remarks 121

Chapter 21 Hitler's Motives to Kill the European Jews 125

Chapter 22 Was there a Killing Order? 134

Chapter 23 The Killing Order - Three Sources 136

Chapter 24 The Killing Order: When? 154

Epilogue 159

Notes 161

Bibliography 179

Index 185

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