Briefly explain the intentionalist-functionalist debate concerning the Holocaust.
The internationalist theory of the holocaust states that Hitler had already planned the systematic annihilation of the Jewish population, even back during his imprisonment after the Munich Hall Putch in the 1920’s. His statements in Mein Kampf and his rhetoric in his speeches was filled with anti-semitism and statements which directed towards the “master plan”. This view is supported by a vast amount of historians, including Ian Kershaw and Lucy Dawidowicz. The functionalist approach, on the other hand, claims that the holocaust was a product of the Second World War, suggesting that there was no master plan. The aim was merely to transfer the Jewish population out of the country, thus establishing the master race. Once this was not feasible, genocide was viewed as the only alternative. This view is supported by Christopher Browning and Saul Friedlander.
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