When
Hitler and his National Socialist party came into power in January 1933, a period of persecution began for the German Jews (approximately 1% of the population). This persecution would develop into an effort
to eliminate all the Jews in almost all of Europe. To a large extent, Hitler and the Nazis succeeded in executing this plan. During the Second World War six million European Jews were systematically murdered. The ideology of the
NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party) was a combination of conservative and radical ideas. Nationalism was the most important idea. The National Socialist propaganda's main focus was Germany and the German people, a mythical
unit, connected through blood ties. From the 1920s, the party's radical and aggressive character won over many soldiers who were frustrated by Germany's defeat in the First World War (1914-1918).
Nazi propaganda
was characterised by fierce opposition to communism, internationally oriented socialism, liberalism, and parliamentary democracy.
