"The Weapons in Our Hands are Limitless": The Protocols of The Elders of Zion's Influence on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
William Vickers (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/

Abstract: In the first years of the twentieth century, an anti-Semitic document appeared in Russia that profoundly shaped the course of the entire century. Despite being quickly discredited as a plagiarized forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion spread across the world, being translated into dozens of languages and utilized as hateful rhetoric by leaders of many religions and nationalities. While the effects of the document were felt internationally, the Protocols also helped to reshape centuries old prejudices about Jews in a country still in its infancy, Germany. This “hoax of the twentieth century” helped to redefine age-old anti-Semitic values firmly ingrained within German society, and helped Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party justify committing the landmark genocide of world history, the Holocaust. Utilizing a variety of sources, particularly the actual text of the Protocols and the writings of Adolf Hitler, this examination argues that Hitler and his cabinet became progressively more radicalized towards extermination of the Jews due to their belief in the Jewish world conspiracy outlined within the Protocols.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Vickers, W. (2015). "The Weapons in Our Hands are Limitless: The Protocols of The Elders of Zion's Influence on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany." Unpublished Honors Thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
Language: English
Date: 2015

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