The Roots of Hitler's Hatred of Jews

Austria-Hungary had a significant Jewish population. In Vienna alone, approximately 200,000 Jews lived, many of whom had migrated from the eastern provinces, particularly Galicia. At that time, the antisemitic movement in Vienna was already quite vocal, spreading slanderous accusations of destructive behavior against Jews. It claimed that the Jewish race was inherently flawed, unwilling and incapable of change. During his time in Vienna (1907–1913), Hitler absorbed these ideas.

After the war, in post-war Munich, the military command, wary of the spread of leftist ideologies, ensured the dissemination of "appropriate education." At one of the organized courses, a letter posed the question: "Does the government correctly assess the influence of Jews?" Hitler was tasked with answering this query.

Hitler's response, dated September 16, 1919, was the first document in which he elaborated his views on Jews in detail. He argued that Jews were like parasites draining the state's blood, fragmenting the strength of nations, and infecting them with "racial tuberculosis." Turning to the solution, he distinguished between antisemitism driven by "purely emotional reasons," which led only to temporary "pogroms" without solving the Jewish question, and "antisemitism of reason," which demanded the systematic, legal destruction of Jewish privileges and ultimately their "removal." Hitler's distinction between these forms of antisemitism, previously unknown, likely originated from his own reflections. He considered emotional sentimentality transient and reasoned resolve as permanent. This permanence, he believed, was essential to achieving his ultimate goal: the total destruction and complete elimination of Jews, best encapsulated by the ambiguous term "removal."

When Hitler wrote this letter, he was thirty years old. No previous statements or notes of his indicated this level of severity. Nor did any earlier interactions with Jews explain such overt hostility. Some have speculated that Hitler saw Jewish doctors as a threat to the health of the German people, given that Dr. Eduard Bloch, his mother's physician, was Jewish. While such accusations later appeared in crude Nazi propaganda, and Hitler as Führer did indeed prohibit Jewish doctors from treating German patients, this primarily concerned doctors' societal status as role models. Hitler did not want Jews to belong to the elite. Regarding his dealings with Jewish art dealers, it has been questioned whether he felt deceived by them. While Hitler did order the liquidation of Jewish businesses, he never complained about his personal dealings with them. During his life on the front lines or near the front (1914–1918), there is no indication of obsessive hatred toward Jews. After coming to power, he did not allow Jews in the Wehrmacht, but even in 1938, he stated privately, "...people can say what they like, but during the World War, there were brave Jewish soldiers, even officers."

The roots of Hitler's obsession trace back to Vienna, where he read antisemitic tracts and, as he later recounted, gradually developed his hatred of Jews. These publications, along with impressions of recently arrived Jews from the East observed on Vienna's streets, did not distort his view of individual Jews he had known in Linz, Vienna, or the army. Instead, they reinforced his obsession against Jews. He saw them as the pests of the German people, collectively blaming them for the greatest loss: Germany's defeat in the war. He must have deliberated on this conclusion for a long time because his 1919 response shows no hesitation or uncertainty—it reflects someone who was already utterly convinced of his stance.

Raul Hilberg "Täter, Opfer, Zuschauer "Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 2003