We Will Never Speak of It: Evidence of Hitler's Direct Responsibility for the Premeditation and Implementation of the Nazi Final Solution

Authors

Kevin P. Sweeney, Illinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow

Abstract

The “Intentionalist vs. Functionalist” debate has raged amongst academic historians for decades, centered on the question of whether Adolf Hitler personally premeditated and instigated the Final Solution, or whether the idea and its implementation developed more gradually out of a collaborative effort within the ranks of the Nazi bureaucracy. This paper seeks, through careful analysis of Nazi primary source materials, to establish an “Intentionalist” argument in favor of Hitler being directly responsible for the premeditation and implementation of the infamous Nazi attempt to systematically annihilate the entirety of Europe’s Jewish population.

Recommended Citation

Sweeney, Kevin P. (2012) "We Will Never Speak of It: Evidence of Hitler's Direct Responsibility for the Premeditation and Implementation of the Nazi Final Solution," Constructing the Past: Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/vol13/iss1/7