Homework Help is Here – Start Your Trial Now!
Social Science
Psychology
Within his speech, who does Himmler blame for the mass murders his organization committed, and who does he identify as the beneficiaries of these murderous actions?

Within his speech, who does Himmler blame for the mass murders his organization committed, and who does he identify as the beneficiaries of these murderous actions?

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
5th Edition
ISBN:9780134477961
Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Chapter1: The Science Of Psychology
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1TY
See similar textbooks
icon
Related questions
Question

Within his speech, who does Himmler blame for the mass murders his organization committed, and who does he identify as the beneficiaries of these murderous actions?

SOURCES FROM THE PAST After reviewing the "Sources from the Past: "We Will Never Speak about it in Public" feature, answer the following questions. SOURCES FROM THE PAST "We Will Never Speak about It in Public" On 4 October 1943, Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS and chief of the German police, gave a three-hour speech to on assembly of SS generals in the city of Posen (Poznan), in what is now Poland. In the following excerpt, Himmler justified Nazi anti-Jewish policies that culminoted in mass murder. The speech, recorded on tope and in handwritten notes, was entered into evidence at the Nuremberg war crimes trials in 1945. I also want to speak to you here, in complete frankness, of a really grave chapter. Amongst ourselves, for once, it shall be said quite openly, but all the same we will never speak about it in public.... I am referring here to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people. This is one of the things that is easily said: "The Jewish people are going to be exterminated," that's what every Party member says, "sure, it's in our program, elimination of the Jews, extermination-it'll be done." And then they all come along, the 80 million worthy Germans, and each one has his one decent Jew. Of course, the others are swine, but this one, he is a first-rate Jew. Of all- those who talk like that, not one has seen it happen, not one has had to go through with it. Most of you men know what it is like to see 100 corpses side by side, or 500 or 1,000. To have stood fast through this and except for cases of human weakness to have stayed decent, that has made. us hard. This is an unwritten and never-to-be-written page of glory in our history.... The wealth they possessed we took from them. I gave a strict order, which has been carried out by SS Obergruppenfuehrer Pohl, that this wealth will of course be turned over to the Reich in its entirety. We have taken none of it for ourselves. Individuals who have erred will be punished in accordance with the order given by me at the start, threatening that anyone who takes as much as a single Mark of this money is a dead man. A number of SS men, they are not very many, committed this offense, and they shall die. There will be no mercy. We had the moral right, we had the duty towards our people, to destroy this people that wanted to destroy us. But we do not have the right to enrich ourselves by so much as a fur, as a watch, by one Mark or a cigarette or anything else. We do not want, in the end, because we destroyed a bacillus, to be infected by this bacillus and to die. I will never stand by and watch while even a small rotten spot develops or takes hold. Wherever it- may form we will together burn it away. All in all, however, we can say that we have car- ried out this most difficult of tasks in a spirit of love for our people. And we have suffered no harm to our inner being, our soul, our character.... What was Himmler's point here about "decent" Jews? Why was it so important to Himmler that individual Germans not take the wealth of murdered Jews? For Further Reflection Himmler argued that SS officers and soldiers "stayed decent" while overseeing the extermination of the Jews; how, according to him, was this possible? Source: Heinrich Himmler, "We Will Never Speak about it in Public" (The Complete Text of the Poznan Speech), October 4, 1943, Translation used with permission of the Holocaust History Project (www.holocaust-history.org). Heinrich Himmler, "We Will Never Speak about it in Public (The Complete Text of the Poznan Speech), October 4, 1943, Translation used with permission of the
Transcribed Image Text:SOURCES FROM THE PAST After reviewing the "Sources from the Past: "We Will Never Speak about it in Public" feature, answer the following questions. SOURCES FROM THE PAST "We Will Never Speak about It in Public" On 4 October 1943, Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS and chief of the German police, gave a three-hour speech to on assembly of SS generals in the city of Posen (Poznan), in what is now Poland. In the following excerpt, Himmler justified Nazi anti-Jewish policies that culminoted in mass murder. The speech, recorded on tope and in handwritten notes, was entered into evidence at the Nuremberg war crimes trials in 1945. I also want to speak to you here, in complete frankness, of a really grave chapter. Amongst ourselves, for once, it shall be said quite openly, but all the same we will never speak about it in public.... I am referring here to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people. This is one of the things that is easily said: "The Jewish people are going to be exterminated," that's what every Party member says, "sure, it's in our program, elimination of the Jews, extermination-it'll be done." And then they all come along, the 80 million worthy Germans, and each one has his one decent Jew. Of course, the others are swine, but this one, he is a first-rate Jew. Of all- those who talk like that, not one has seen it happen, not one has had to go through with it. Most of you men know what it is like to see 100 corpses side by side, or 500 or 1,000. To have stood fast through this and except for cases of human weakness to have stayed decent, that has made. us hard. This is an unwritten and never-to-be-written page of glory in our history.... The wealth they possessed we took from them. I gave a strict order, which has been carried out by SS Obergruppenfuehrer Pohl, that this wealth will of course be turned over to the Reich in its entirety. We have taken none of it for ourselves. Individuals who have erred will be punished in accordance with the order given by me at the start, threatening that anyone who takes as much as a single Mark of this money is a dead man. A number of SS men, they are not very many, committed this offense, and they shall die. There will be no mercy. We had the moral right, we had the duty towards our people, to destroy this people that wanted to destroy us. But we do not have the right to enrich ourselves by so much as a fur, as a watch, by one Mark or a cigarette or anything else. We do not want, in the end, because we destroyed a bacillus, to be infected by this bacillus and to die. I will never stand by and watch while even a small rotten spot develops or takes hold. Wherever it- may form we will together burn it away. All in all, however, we can say that we have car- ried out this most difficult of tasks in a spirit of love for our people. And we have suffered no harm to our inner being, our soul, our character.... What was Himmler's point here about "decent" Jews? Why was it so important to Himmler that individual Germans not take the wealth of murdered Jews? For Further Reflection Himmler argued that SS officers and soldiers "stayed decent" while overseeing the extermination of the Jews; how, according to him, was this possible? Source: Heinrich Himmler, "We Will Never Speak about it in Public" (The Complete Text of the Poznan Speech), October 4, 1943, Translation used with permission of the Holocaust History Project (www.holocaust-history.org). Heinrich Himmler, "We Will Never Speak about it in Public (The Complete Text of the Poznan Speech), October 4, 1943, Translation used with permission of the
Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 3 steps

SEE SOLUTIONCheck out a sample Q&A here
Blurred answer
Recommended textbooks for you
Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:
9780134477961
Author:
Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:
PEARSON
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Psychology
ISBN:
9781337408271
Author:
Goldstein, E. Bruce.
Publisher:
Cengage Learning,
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and …
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and …
Psychology
ISBN:
9781337565691
Author:
Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)
Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:
9780393265156
Author:
Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a…
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a…
Psychology
ISBN:
9781285763880
Author:
E. Bruce Goldstein
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)
Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)
Psychology
ISBN:
9781305652958
Author:
Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
SEE MORE TEXTBOOKS