Case One: German Delegitimizing Beliefs About Jews—1933–1945

Abstract

This chapter analyzes a particular example of group beliefs: Germans’ delegitimizing beliefs about Jews from 1933 to 1945. There is no doubt that the analysis of a nation’s group beliefs is a presumptuous task. An analysis of small-group group beliefs is much easier to perform. But this is precisely the reason I decided to illustrate group beliefs within a societal framework. A convincing case of group beliefs in a large group can be more easily generalized to small groups. Nations, like small groups, have group beliefs, which, as will be described, define their identity and affect their behavior. Specifically, I would like to propose that during the Nazi regime delegitimizing beliefs were widely shared by Germans and defined their “groupness,” that is, these beliefs served as group beliefs. In presenting this case, this chapter will first define the concept of delegitimization.