The rational, bureaucratic calculation was in the service of the extermination, not the cause of it. The cause of the extermination was the Nazis' extreme hatred and fear of Jews and corresponding belief that they should be removed from Europe. A belief that was so strong that accomplishing that goal was more important than winning the war.
--- On Wed, 7/29/09, Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
> This is exactly backwards. What made the Holocaust
> possible was the rational, bureaucratic calculation.
> If the Nazis had been "overwhelmed" by passion and emotion,
> they wouldn't have been able to effectively plan the deaths
> of millions of people.
>
> Miles
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