Goldhagen claims anti-Semitism alone explains individual perpetrator motives, not the Holocaust’s occurrence.

Evidence

In clarifying his position, Goldhagen has noted that he does not view eliminationist anti-Semitism as a necessary and sufficient global explanation for the occurrence of the Holocaust. The Holocaust, he points out, was contingent upon “the facts that the Nazis gained power, that they crushed internal opposition, that they conquered Europe, that they created the institutions of killing and organized the slaughter,” and other historical events (Goldhagen, 1998, p. 140). Instead, his proposal is that eliminationist anti-Semitism is a necessary and sufficient global explanation for why individual Germans who found themselves in the midst of those historical circumstances became Holocaust perpetrators. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 380

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharpens precisely what Goldhagen actually claims vs. what critics attribute to him — a monocausal account of individual perpetrator motivation, not of the event itself.
• XREF: connects to: Goldhagen rejected conformity explanations of Nazi perpetrators as illogical — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 324; Goldhagen claimed anti-Semitism alone but sufficiently explains the Holocaust at every level — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 314; Goldhagen argued antisemitic belief, not social pressure or conformity, drove perpetrator behavior. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 896 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Goldhagen claimed anti-Semitism alone but sufficiently explains the Holocaust at every level #complicates (0.90) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 314
• Goldhagen argued antisemitic belief, not social pressure or conformity, drove perpetrator behavior. #expands (0.82) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 896
• Antisemitism alone cannot explain or produce genocide. #contradicts (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 455
• Goldhagen’s theory reduces genocide to individual anti-Semitic attitudes driving behavior #expands (0.78) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 312
• Antisemitic beliefs did not predict who would refuse to participate in the Holocaust #complicates (0.75)