FAQ: Did Hitler Know?

Adolf Hitler has become the symbol of despotism and tyranny in the 20th century, and the man, Hitler is lost in the portrayal of the epitome of evil. While he was certainly that and perpetrated the greatest genocide of history, one often loses sight of the fact that before the events occurred, he was viewed not as the monster he became, but as just another political figure, although one with a grandiose nationalistic view.

Studies of the holocaust have revealed and continued to reveal, the massive plan and operation of the killing of the Jews and other disfavored groups in Europe. Even 60 years later, new killing and atrocity centers are still being discovered, new mass graves opened. Still, a popular plank of Historical Revisionists, or those who downplay or deny the events of the Shoah is that Hitler was a great soldier, the leader of a Nation at war, and that these atrocities were either not known to him, or not known in severity. One holocaust-denier even offered a huge sum of money to whoever could prove that Hitler actually knew about the massive effort of the killing centers. Hitler however did know, and nothing took place without his knowledge or permission. While a few of those in his inner circle may have veiled a few things for their own benefit, the numbers killed was not veiled, and was taken as a sign of triumph over the enemies of Germany.

The FuhrerPrinzip and Hitler

The Fuhrerprinzip is described elsewhere as a principle employed by the nazis in the military, party and social order, in which organization was hierarchal, with a small group, a leader, a greater leader, and so on from the smallest person in the organization up to Hitler. The word "fuhrer" means 'leader' but has more the connation of 'lord'. The German expression Fuhrerprinzip means literally, the 'Fuhrer' or Leader Principle: it was the guiding principle in Germany in WWII. In sum, it means that personal responsibility for an action was removed, and was held by the commander or leader who gave the command. (see Nazi Organization). This principle was so inculcated in German youth and young men in the service, that it made possible the radical cruelty and obedience to genocidal acts and atrocities committed by the Nazis. The training for the principle began in the Hitlerjugend. Ultimately, the principle was carried to such extremes, that it meant that Hitler bore the utter responsibility for every act. The paradox and hypocrisy of the the principle, was that those at the top blamed their subordinates, and claimed that 'they could not know' what was going on everywhere. Hence, Germany managed a colossal pseudo-atonement for all the sins of genocide.

In answering the questions about whether Hitler knew about the actions of atrocities and the killing centers, the answer can only be an unqualified 'Yes' due in part to the Fuhrerprinzip, the issue of leadership, and "Befehlnotstand" the blind obedience to authority which went hand in hand. It would have been virtually unthinkable, a capital offense, for information of that magnitude not to have been carefully detailed to Hitler. Even Himmler and Goering had to abide by the principle. The head of the Einsatzgruppen, reponsible for 1.5 million deaths, Heydrich, reported directly to Himmler. Himmler gave the orders for the aktions. Himmler reported directly to Hitler. Communiques regarding instructions from the aktions were from Berlin. The notion that Hitler did not know, given the line of authority and principle of authority would have been ludicrous.

Direct Evidence

Direct evidence that Hitler knew about the atrocities comes from several directions.

1. The first is the pre-war intentions of Hitler and his followers found in speeches and writings, particularly "Mein Kampf". As the quote at the beginning of this writing indicates, there can be no doubt that it was Hitler's early intentions to eradicate the Jews, making Germany and then Europe "Judenrein".

2. The second round of evidence is in the documents and records during the time of the war and his regime. These are somewhat problematic because while there were extensive plans and efforts to eradicate the Jews and others, they were seldom made public or put in writing. When put in writing, they were cautiously worded such that those involved understood directions, but those in the general public would not. The Nazis while keeping copious records on their own actions, also kept them diligently hidden: they meant to exact their plans fully before the radical end of their plans was known. This second issue is the reason many scholars disagree: the scholars who say Hitler and others never mentioned the atrocities are usually referring to war time documents available at the federal level: there were reasons there was little or no mention of "Endlosung", or the "Final Solution" and what that actually meant.

3. The third grouping is that of subsequent finds of historical documents and other information which has been made known since. During Hitler's administration, few knew of the extent of the killings and atrocities until after the war. Even today, there are new finds of killing centers and subcamps----just a year or two ago, another mass grave near Belzec was uncovered. There is also now far more knowledge of what the Nazi's planned to do, and what they believed. (see Nazi Beliefs)