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Introduction
- Nazism, or National Socialism, Totalitarian movement led by Adolf Hitler as head of Germany’s Nazi Party (1920–45).
- Nazism’s ideology was shaped by Hitler’s beliefs in German racial superiority and the dangers of communism. It rejected liberalism, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, stressing instead the subordination of the individual to the state and the necessity of strict obedience to leaders.
- It emphasized the inequality of individuals and “races” and the right of the strong to rule the weak.
- Nazism was a system, a structure of ideas about the world and politics.
In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the allies.
Hitler, his propaganda minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in his Berlin Bunker in April.
At the end of the war, an I
nternational Military Tribunal at Nuremberg
was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals for
Crimes against Peace, for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.
- Under the shadow of Second World war, Germany had waged a genocidal ( killing on large scale leading to destruction of lots of people) war, which resulted in mass murder of selected groups of innocent civilians of Europe.
- Number of people who were killed included- 6 million Jews, 2,00,000 Gypsies, 1 million Polish Civilians, 70,000 Germans who were considered mentally and physically disabled , besides innumerable political opponents.
- Nazis devised an unprecedented means of killing people, that is by, gassing them in various centres like Auschwitz.
