Book contents
- Christianity in Hitler’s Ideology
- Christianity in Hitler’s Ideology
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Christ on the Crooked Cross, Part I
- 2 Hitler’s Religious Teachers
- 3 Christ on the Crooked Cross, Part II
- 4 Hitler’s Damascus Road Experience
- 5 Jesus as an Ideological Inspiration for Hitler and the NSDAP
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: aN Invalid Date NaN
- Christianity in Hitler’s Ideology
- Christianity in Hitler’s Ideology
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Christ on the Crooked Cross, Part I
- 2 Hitler’s Religious Teachers
- 3 Christ on the Crooked Cross, Part II
- 4 Hitler’s Damascus Road Experience
- 5 Jesus as an Ideological Inspiration for Hitler and the NSDAP
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The conclusion that Hitler was genuinely inspired by Jesus in his antisemitic struggle against the Jews thus cannot be avoided. Hitler viewed Jesus as the original Aryan warrior who had begun an apocalyptic battle against the Jews, but who had been killed before he had had a chance to finish the job. Historians must start taking Hitler’s (and the other leading Nazis’) religious beliefs seriously if we wish to fully understand how Hitler and his followers could be so morally convinced that what they were doing was the right thing – indeed, the “good” thing – to do. It adds significantly to our understanding not only of how Hitler could sway so many Germans to do what he wanted, but also of how the Nazis’ ultimate crime – the Holocaust – was possible to undertake in one of Europe’s most “civilized” and culturally and economically developed nations. Hitler thought he was following in the footsteps of Jesus – an alleged Aryan warrior who had dedicated his life to fighting the Jews – and that the National Socialists had a duty to finish what he was convinced Jesus had started: the eradication of theof the Jewish people from the face of the earth.
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- Christianity in Hitler's IdeologyThe Role of Jesus in National Socialism, pp. 234 - 242Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024