The Final Solution as it emerged was not the product of a grand design.

(20)
K Schleunes The Twisted Road to Auschwitz, 1970

The Final Solution emerged from the grim affair of the Wannsee Conference in early 1942, seeing the culmination of
Nazi policy into a regime that brutally exterminated and annihilated the Jewish race in an act of dehumanising
genocide. The indigestible read of Hitlers authorial Mein Kampf and chaotic Structuralist polycracy redefine the
significant mass murder, not as a presumed systematic act of genius particularly under the Intentionalist pro-Hitler
stance, but alternatively as a disorderly and largely haphazard regime with incredibly diminished co-operation.
Although the main contentions of the Intentionalist view stress the prolonged occurrence of pre-existing anti-Semitism
throughout German society and the projection of Anti-Semitic obsession from as early as 1920, the Final Solution
becomes more of a disjointed pragmatic response to the confusion and chaos of war rather than the culmination of
long-term ideological blueprints.

The emergence of notable grand design, paying significant contribution to the development of genocide, is somewhat
presented within the pre-existence of anti-Semitism prior to the official legislation of the Final Solution in 1942. The
cumulative radicalisation of the German communities within all aspects of life via means of incessant Anti-Semitic
propaganda e.g. the Anti-Semitic film The Eternal Jew, almost directly implies the creation of a societally indoctrinating
blueprint that would size the Final Solution to that of a grand design. The terror reign of racial hatred towards Jewish
individuals via methodical campaign on behalf of Goebbels saw the early creation of posters and signs reading Jews
are not wanted here and the release of media campaigns that destroyed the psychological positions of the Semitic
community, almost defining Jewish hatred as a societal norm. Particularly the adoption of anti-Semitic Nazi racism
within the school curriculum from an incredibly young age, compulsorily introduced by the totalitarian regime laid the
basis for the segregation of Germans and Jews in every aspect of day-to-day living, across all age ranges, hinting upon
the incredible plans to advance anti-Semitic emotions to an unimaginable extent. The prolonged provision of racial
hatred from years as early as 1935 (the start of desensitisation) undoubtedly evokes the long-term plan for an
extensive measure of extremism, with the early emergence of Jewish hatred simply imposed to form the necessary
foundations for annihilation. The pre-existence of racism was a measure that ensured the systematic escalation of
anti-Semitism to a whole new level without fatal resistance, securing the flourishing of a grand design at Nazi request
into the extremism of the Final Solution. Perfectly in the words of historian Hilberg: The Nazis did not discard the
past, they built on it.

The postulation of grand design can be further extended when referencing the Intentionalist stance of Hitler himself as
a powerful entity within German governance. Hitler clearly had intentions in advance of the start of the war,
regardless of whether these overarching intentions symbolised the rise of the Final Solution or simply Jewish
persecution of some other form. Dramatically prior to the outbreak of war, as early as the beginning of NSDAP
campaign in 1920, Hitlers public platform centred on retrospective speeches referencing the annihilation of the Jews,
long before implementation of brutal policies. Through statements such as For us, it is a problem whether the
Jewish spirit can ever really be eradicated the Jewish race becomes labelled as a Jewish contamination that will not
subside, the poisoning of our nation will not end, until the carrier himself, the Jew, has been banished from our midst
continuously hinting upon pre-empted designs for racial extermination. The extensive period before ratification of the
Final Solution in 1942 certainly embraced racial hatred, particularly through ideological campaign on behalf of Hitler
himself, undoubtedly seeing the addressing of a prospective grand design through persecutory obsession, projecting a
Nazi vision. In the words of Intentionalist Lucy Dawidowicz: The Jews inhabited Hitlers mind seeing the Final Solution
as an eternal blueprint on the retinas of a radical demagogue.

However, The Final Solution as it emerged was never the product of a grand design; instead a spontaneous
interpretation of vast euphemistic language, all derivative of Hitlers self-obsessed monologue. The publication of
Mein Kampf presented an indigestible read to the entire German race, even perplexing those closest to the realm, so

Georgia Lennon
much so that it is hard to extract almost any clear quotations of relevance to the prospects of Hitler, denying an
individual Intentionalist stance. Even further still, the text produces a myriad of language and translation barriers,
marring Hitlers intent, developing the inference that the Final Solution was never a grand design as such because
singular intention was never explicitly evoked and could never fully be understood. Within his works Hitler frequently
referred to the removal and eradication of Jews and their social and political influences, however such a vague
statement could refer to resettlement of the Jewish population, the strategic weakening of their hierarchical position
simultaneously destroying personal autonomy, or more relevant to the implementation of the Final Solution, the mass
killing of the race. The lack of explicit content within the presented text clearly proves that Hitler himself had no clear
outlook for the acceding years, and was simply mind-mapping potential proposals, therefore allowing the Final
Solution to emerge as a product of improvised policy never once was a document found ratified by Hitler in relation
to the Holocaust, implying that it was a Structuralist approach that shaped the extremism of genocide through severe
acts of spontaneity, never grand design, in a vying attempt to please the Fhrer.

The Final Solution once more lacks in any intentional direction, diminishing any hint of a functionally systematic and
grand design, instead becoming a sporadic response to the chaos of government rivalry. Termed polycracy, the Third
Reich seemed to evolve from the pressure of circumstances, particularly that of war (removing proof of long-term
blueprint), calling for uneducated yet sharp turning points in the governance of Germany to sustain its dominance;
namely the implementation of Jewish sanction, the Final Solution. Government was definitively chaotic upon the
sudden re-organisation of the Wannsee Conference from early December to early January, once more implying the
lack of co-operation of Germany as a whole, removing possibility of a Jewish policy reaching back years. Hitlers
personal weaknesses regarded him as incapable of making effective decisions and as a result the entire government
lacked clear direction, removing any prolonged intent of genocide. Infact, polycracy was implemented to such an
extent that the Third Reich became an alliance of overlapping power groups e.g. the Nazi Party, the SS-Police System,
the army, big business and high state bureaucracy, once again eradicating theoretical grand design and agreeing with
K.Schleunes as the rivalling opinions ensured the impossibility of co-operation on long-term plans, allowing the Final
Solution to stand as an infinite number of possibilities rather than one fixed design idea. The constant overlap of
sectors removed clear objectivism, instead becoming responsive to disorder, implying that this termed act of
extremism was implemented on an opportunist basis improvised policy was developed as a quick response to the
military and human situation and never once crossed the minds of German governance as an inevitably planned genius
design. The Final Solution was simply the end product of a frenzied political chaos.

Upon reflecting, it seems that the weight of the evidence in relation to the provided interpretation gathers very
definitely in favour of K.Schleunes interpretation of the Final Solution; this act of genocide could never ever be
possibly categorised as an evolution of grand design. The indigestibility of Mein Kampf, written by a supposed
mastermind, diminished the ability to reach any affirmed persecutory conclusions, which alongside a chaotic
polycracy rewrites the Final Solution as improvised spontaneity. The road to Auschwitz was a twisted one
K.Schleunes.

Georgia Lennon