Herrenvolk

Herrenvolk

1) Definition

Herrenvolk literally translates into 'master race' and refers to the Nazi ideology of the superiority of the 'Aryan' race. Hitler believed that people could be divided into two groups - the Aryans and the non-Aryans (which are the Jews) - and that ideally, the Aryans were destined to rule the world as the 'master race'. Thus, all the other races - Jews, colored people, Slavs, etc. - were inferior and needed to be excluded from the Aryan society the Nazi government was forming. Hitler even claimed that one of the reasons that Germany lost WWI was that the German race had been weakened through mixing of the Aryan and non-Aryan races. Therefore, an important ideal that continued throughout the period under Nazi rule in Germany was the purity of the Aryan race.

2) Significance

A large majority of the German population was disillusioned when Germany lost WWI. Later on, in the early 1930s when Germany's economy began experiencing high unemployment and deflation, dissatisfaction and frustration also grew among the German public. Thus, with Herrenvolk, Hitler offered the German people something (someone) to blame all the humiliation and economic problems on - the Jews, the non-Aryans. In a sense, Hitler used the concept of Herrenvolk to rebuild the nationalistic pride of Germany, appealing to many of the German population. In this sense, Herrenvolk also supports the intentionalist point of view, where Hitler effectively used an ideal or policy that appealed to the public and contributed to his rise.