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Downfall of the Third Reich and the Holocaust - Disclaimer Sensitive Topic

3916 Views 43 Replies 14 Participants Last post by  car99
Hey guys I've wanted to hear some discussion on this for a while, just never got around to asking the question. I hope it doesn't come out the wrong and especially hope it doesn't offend anyone.

Everyone reading this is probably already familiar with World War II and the role the Holocaust played in that particular point in history. I think everyone in here can agree that the crimes against humanity that the Nazis committed (along with the Japanese and even the Soviets) should not be condoned. That's not what I am proposing or suggesting.

What I am is trying to look at the role it played in the Nazi's rise to power. Germany came out of a hyper depression following WWI. Debt, devaluing the Deutschmark, starvation etc. The Nazi party was able to bring the country together under the Fear of Communism, Nationalism and antisemitism.

The Third Reich amassed untold wealth from essentially stealing from those it placed in the Ghettos and either sent to forced slave labor or for mass murder.

What I'm asking is, how much "wealthier" did Germany actually "benefit" from the Holocaust. It was able to collect, currency, gold, art, precious metals, gold, etc. Also, provided with an endless supply of slave labor to fuel the "war machine" even though slave labor is hardly quality labor and can never replace skilled craftsmanship.

On the other side, the run this project the Holocaust and Final Solution. It takes personnel, resources, money, etc.

All of that effort took resources away from the front lines instead it going to fuel essentially an ideology. Or did the amount of wealth it produced from stealing, murdering or forcing into labor out produce the costs to run the program.

I'm leaving morality out of this because there is no debate, It was a horrible act that should have never been allowed. But did the Holocaust lead to the downfall of Germany because it took resources away from the war effort or did it produce wealth and labor to keep it going when it should have met its demise earlier?

I sincerely hope this question does not offend anyone. I'm just trying to analyze that point in history from another angle.
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Can't find the link, but a simple comparison of population, coal, steel and petroleum between the various Axis and Allied powers proves that the Axis could not sustain a long-term war, they simply didn't have the ability to outproduce the Allies. Some of their administrative decisions exacerbated their problems.

Hitler was kind of over a barrel with the Jewish question. After all, the Nazis used the Jews as a scapegoat during their rise to power, if they stopped persecuting them and started coopting them during the war it might make the rest of Germany wonder what else they got wrong...
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