Hitler and the Holocaust
Alan Farmer assesses the personal responsibility of the Führer
On 30 April 1945 Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the bunker beneath the Chancellery in Berlin. From November 1945 until October 1946 over a score of the chief Nazis who had escaped death in the last few days of the war faced trial at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity. Let’s for a moment suspend disbelief. Let’s suppose that Hitler had not taken his life but had instead been taken alive by Russian troops in the last days of the war. Let’s suppose that he too faced trial at Nuremberg. Leaving aside his responsibility for causing the Second World War, what would his defence have been with regard to the Holocaust?
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