AskHistorians Podcast 057 - Intentionalism and Functionalism in the Holocaust

Commiespaceinvader explores the academic debate over the causes and the development of the Holocaust. We discuss the early steps taken by the Nazis to make Jewish life untenable within Germany, ghettoization, the Madagascar Plan, and finally, the transition to mass murder. These actions are viewed through the lens of the intentionalism and functionalism debate, which has at its core the question of not just of why the Holocaust came about, but also the question of assigning culpability for its development. (73min)