Were the Nazis evil

Answer 1

He is generally considered evil by most people's standards.

Evil is a difficult area to explore, because the concept of evil, like any other word needs a definition and all definitions of evil are different. Author John Kekes defines evil by its malevolence, its excess, and its lack of moral justification. While the Nazi regime certainly met and far exceed these requirements, Hitler's role is rather complex.

A tome could be written about this, but, as an original poster pointed out, Hitler was a highly disturbed individual on many levels; we'll never get a complete picture of his psychological profile. But it is true that this man had quite an awful life and could almost be looked upon with sympathy prior to the end of World War I, at which point his discovered talents as a demagogue imbued with unparalleled will and drive, though his unique outward projection of his deep inner self-hatred from a failed existence led to a fanatical drive to to destroy those branded for Germany's post-war catastrophe. Hitler had tremendous charisma, tremendous. There is no doubt that after the incorporation of Austria he was seen as a hero and was loved by millions of people.

Unfortunately this hateful man also harbored tremendous brutality, and potential for extreme evil; Hitler actually wanted war, first demonstrated when he took up the idea of destroying Czechoslovakia in 1937 against the desire and advice of his military high command and even his Nazi associates. And war brings out the worst in human beings. The euthansia programs, the destruction of Poland - their people, the clergy, their culture - and the Holocaust in general would not have been possible without WAR, and Hitler was war's chief exponent. His destruction of Poland combined with a long-time pathological hatred of Jews - the scapegoats - opened up the human misery of the Nazi regime, and the abyss of the Holocaust really began to gain pace with the invasion of Russia in 1941, which was Hitler's war - no ordinary war - but a war of annihiliation. This demonstrated his brutality to the greatest degree as he personally wanted the complete destruction of all communists, Jews, partisans, both the cities of Moscow and Leningrad ("to teach them a lesson"), and sanctioned the murderous rampages of the SS under Heinrich Himmler and the other important Holocaust architects.

Hitler was evil then, yes very much so, but the atrocities of Nazi regime was far more than the sum of its parts, and Hitler was a part - though he more than anyone else was responsible because of his personal form of power, ability as an enabler, and symbol of a morally repugnant ideology.

Answer 2

If you were a German at that time then no, he wasn't. Otherwise it depended on the people. Overall, YES! But when Hitler was at his prime, many Germans looked up to him as a hero and their fuhrer. His motivational speeches and determination gave many Germans their hope for a better future after WWI. Mostly all of his life he discriminated against the Jews and cripples and any race that he considered inferior to the Germans. When he took the position as the fuhrer, he immediately began his "master plan" of genocide against Jews. He killed nearly 6 million Jews alone and another million or so of other races and handicapped. After his suicide, everyone soon realized that they were literally brainwashed and that this idea of genocide was absurd and completely wrong. Today there are less than 1000 Jews in Hungary and a little under or over 1 million in Europe. In addition to being evil, Hitler has also become the leading 'icon' of evil. In other words, he has come to symbolize evil, though there may be others, like Mao, who caused as many deaths, perhaps more. It's unfair to say Hitler discriminated against Jews "Mostly all of his life". General consensus is that Hitler was evil, but let's not just remember him for his destruction (although it shouldn't be forgotten), let's also remember him for what he created. The Volkswagen Beetle was mostly designed by Hitler himself, in order to provide a comfortable and gas efficient vehicle for the German people. His version got better gas mileage than most cars today. The Autobahn was the first time a national highway system had been successfully implemented, and was also a Hitler creation. Hitler, in my opinion, was also a talented artist, which was his passion. So the next time you're driving down the interstate in your Beetle listening to someone talk about art on your radio, be sure to remember Hitler. Are we seriously being asked to believe that the Volkwagen - designed by Porsche, not the grotesque little man - and the Autobahns in any way offset Hitler's evil? I know some people are car-mad, but this is ridiculous. Don't forget that Hitler plunged Europe into a devastating war. Hitler was not simply an evil brainwasher. Many of his absurd and brutal ideas had wide support in Europe at the time he rose to power.

Hitler was definitely evil if we use a common definition of the word evil. He caused damage, death and suffering like no other person in history.

But he did not think of himself as evil - a quality he shares with most world leaders who believe that they go to war for a just cause. Answer: Yes, because he killed 6 MILLION Jews and wanted to conquer the Earth.

Answer 3

He was evil and crafty, but not a genius.

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Geniuses don't fight three front wars or invade Russia late in the year without cold weather gear.

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In terms of IQ, Hitler was, in fact, a genius. Most historians believe his Iq to be around 145. {this is not substantiated by documented history, see rebuttals below}

Rebuttal: [Most historians? There is no reference anywhere to Hitler ever having taken an IQ test].

Rebuttal: What is stated above is pure speculation. A genius wouldn't have needed to steal other people's idea's, since Hitler did take credit for others work and idea's it proves that he didn't have the IQ that would make one a genius. He was evil no doubt about that but a genius NO!

Rebuttal:

Adolf Hitler never took an IQ test in his life. There are no credible academic sources claiming that he did. During the Nuremberg Trails several Nazi officers took a crude IQ test and none of them scored as high as 145, therefor it is highly unlikely that Hitler (with a high school education and former rank of corporal in the German military) would have been any more intelligent than his officers.

His literary accomplishments amount to one finished book, an unfinished manuscript, and several documents that were dictated before he committed suicide. None of this work is recognized as being particularly creative or having advanced human understanding.

Update:

Just to provide a little context...

Hitler was an illegitimate child who felt cheated out of a university education by the implicit social caste system in Germany (he stated this in his book). This instilled in him resentment and hatred. As a child he was described by many family members and close friends as "unstable". He was heavily addicted toMethamphetamine. All of these factors strongly suggest that Hitler was mentally ill. While we can safely say he was of terrible moral character, we should probably look at his more coherent inner circle when we begin to truly assign the word "evil" to the Nazis. Hitler was a propaganda tool of lesser seen puppet masters.

Answer 4

This question cannot really be answered. However Hitler definitely had a lot of hatred and bitterness and was determined to take it out on as much of the world as possible.

hitler was if you will not a "bad" guy but the things he did were bad i think that he thought that what he was doing was good but when you look at it from a lot of other perspectives a lot of people think that he was down right possessed the things he did were very very wrong and not one person said a word so dosn't that make them all evil

Answer 5

Those that I would consider truly evil are: Klaus Barbie, Heinrich Himmler, Heinrich Mueller for starters. Hitler was evil in his ways but he also was mentally ill according to information I have found. Attached is a link to primary officers to read about.

Close to all were, but many were forced to fight. My great uncle was a nazi and he was a great man. As soon as he could he fled from Germany to south America

Answer 6

I doubt Hitler was born "evil". The word evil, like all words, are symbols that mean different things to different people, and also carry a specific denotation or connotation. To illustrate by example, you could have asked, "was Hitler born anti-social?" or "was Hitler born without empathy, or a conscience". These questions have subtle differences that one must recognize that might be more helpful in understanding such things, as they embrace a decidely more scientific inquiry that ignores the realm of the metaphyscial which may occlude at least a systematic understanding of the roots of his evil. A genetic predisposition towards a negative temperament may carry more currency than just asking about "evil", but even this seems dubious. Ultimately, the authorities on this would be PhDs in childhood development or genetics.

The answer is probably in his upbring and, perhaps to a lessor extent, his later experiences. Hitler had a troubled youth, not the least of which was due to his overbearing, ill-humored, and often absent father - who also used corporal punishment - undoubtably contributing to his later mental illness. Interestingly though, author Bradley Smith, who wrote a book about Hitler's early years (published in the 1960s), admits that, despite agreeing that Hilter's youth was far from normal, he has trouble understanding the transformation into the pathological monster that grew out of these formative years.

It's worth noting that Hitler, without an appropriate father-figure in his life, led a life of escape, constantly spending his days dreaming, fantisizing while he dabbled as a self-taught artist. Hitler's father died when Hitler was 14 years old and his mother soon after that. The orphan pension he received allowed him to live this carefree existence for over 2 years until he ran out of financial support. Having dropped out of secondary school (high school) and without any hopes or prospects, Hitler had no where to turn and was even homeless for a time. Fast forward to 1918, when Germany signed an armistice to end the first world war in which Hitler was a soldier. The humiliation and unexpectedness of this event created mass disaffection, social upheavel and a ruined economy. Hitler's intense hatred of those in politics and the private sphere - whom he thought stood to benefit from a lost war - were sentiments shared by many at the time in Germany. The difference was his undoubted skills in demagougery, which brought him notice and which got the ball rolling towards world catastrophe.

So, with this, the circumstances of his early life, along with social, political, economic, and culture forces impacting negatively on his outlook, had more to do with his "evilness", or at least its manifestation, than his birth.
Nobody is born evil. Hitler was born with a sense of nationalistic pride that people in MANY nations have. He wanted to find a reason for why his country was suffering after WW1, and the Jews were an easy scapegoat, considering the were already hated by the majority of Christian-ruled Europe anyway.