Mein Kampf (My Struggle) was written by Adolf Hitler whilst imprisoned following the failed Munich Putsch. His political manifesto it combines an autobiographical narrative with his political ideas. Mein Kampf was not particularly successful as a released book until the Nazi Party were in power in 1933. After this, Mein Kampf became an integral part of Nazi Germany’s core reading. The book reflects is a demonstration of politics driven by antisemitism, hatred, and discontentment.
Mein Kampf’s antisemitic messages
In this book Hitler explained why he regarded the Jews as responsible for Germany’s troubles. He explained that:
* The Jews were parasites because they had never had a state of their own. As a religion they had no host environment and were therefore set to roam and leech upon every nation.
* The Jews first lie was that they ‘pretended’ to be a religion when in fact they were a race. Through their growth in capitalism they had managed to exploit liberal-minded democracies to their own advantage.
* The Jews were planning to undermine the world with their capitalism and force the rest of the world to become their slaves.
* The Jews were planning a Russian Revolution style takeover that would see them implement Communism across the world.
* The German people were not beaten on the battlefield in 1918 but by the Jews who had been “….robbing our people of the political and moral instincts and forces which alone make nations capable and hence worthy of existence….”
The book cannot be considered a success upon its first release but after 1933 it was made compulsory reading and study in schools, universities and the home.
Germany 1919 – 1945 Links
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