*whortense brings a topic back from the dead
To answer brettig, I agree with you. The Treaty of Versailles was the main cause of World War II, and did lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
To answer foray et al., Hitler was a lifelong anti-Semite--but so was most of Christianity in the late 19th century, early 20th century in which he lived, which also stretched back since the time of the early Church (c. A.D. 100). Anti-Semitism, in essence, was socially acceptable in Hitler's day. In fact, it took something as horrific as the Holocaust to wake people up to the silliness of tying inherent anti-Semitism to the New Testament, and, hence, inherent in a "true Christian."
Hitler also was a rabid anti-communist. How does this tie in? Hitler believed that the Weimar Republic, created out of the remnants of the German Empire in the wake of the Treaty of Versailles, was run by Jews. I don't know my history enough here to know if that's true, but Hitler wholly believed this. In addition, the leaders of the Weimar Republic--i.e., "the Jews" to Hitler--were often advocating socialist / communist ideals, further angering him. What further angered Hitler was the Weimar Republic's concessions to the European Allies, including hyperinflation and demilitarization. The final straw, to Hitler, was that, while Germans were languishing in poverty and unemployment, "the Jews" were living highly and even capitalizing on this. Once again, I don't know my history enough here to know if this is true, but Hitler believed this.
Hitler was successful because he echoed the sentiments of the German people during his early years of the rise to power. They were humiliated, poor, and, essentially, defenseless. The people wanted a visible scapegoat for their problems, and they found it in Judaism--"the leaders of the Weimar Republic."
The German people, however, had no idea, overall, that Hitler had actually planned on genocide, until after the Allies liberated Germany at the end of WWII. I think they expected it to be done in the way of their forefathers: ghettos and harrassment, interspersed with work camps; once again, for their time, it was perfectly acceptable in their eyes. Obviously, we should now know better.
It is unfortunate that such an event in history took place, but we cannot erase what has happened. It is our obligation to learn from it and to ensure that it never happens again.
Melon
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How long must we sing this song?!
