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Alfred Rosenberg styled himself as the chief Nazi philosopher. . Hitler felt some loyalty to him because he was an early NAZI member, but had little respect for him. Which is why he chose him to lead the Party while he was jailed. He did not have to worry about being replaced. Rosenberg's best known book was The Myth of the Twentieth Century which postulasted the existence of two opposing races: the Aryan race which created all values and culture, and the Jewish race which was ace of cultural corruption. Hitler dismissed his books as writings no one could understand, but appreciate the justification for acting against the Jews. Hitler during the War appointed him Reichminister for the Eastern Occupied Territories. It proved to be a powerless appointment. Himmler had control of the police ad Göring controlled the economy. Rosenberg was seen as a weakling and sloppy administrator, disliked by alkmost all the other top NAZIs. Ironically, Rosenberg was right about the best NAZI policy for the East. He wanted to asppeal to anti-Bolshevik, nationalists elements who were prepasred to receive the Germans as liberators and fight with them again Staln. Hitler had no time for such notions, especially the idea of arming Slavs. He, Himmler, and Göring wanted to expolit the East as rapidly and ruthlessly as possible. Great crimes were commited in the East. But Rosenberg without control over the police or para-military formations was not responsible for the attricu\ities. His writings, however, helped lay the ideological foundation of the Holocaust.
Alfred's father was a cobbler in Estonia, at the time aovince of the Tsarist Empire.
Alfred Rosenberg is often described as the NAZI phiolospher. He was born in Estonia of ethnic German parents. Estonia was at the time part of the Russian Empire.
Rosenberg as a youth studied first at the Riga Technical Institute. There he joined a pro-German student group. He studied architecture in Moscow. He was there when the Revolution broke out. He supported the Whites, but when Bolsheviks seized control he wisely fled to Germany (1918).
He settled in Munich and brought with him a hatred of the Bolsheviks who he associated with Jews. Germany was soon in chaos itself with the Communists seizing power in Munich and being put down with the help of the Frei Korps. Like many Germans he saw a malevolent Jewish influence in both the Versailles Peace Treaty and the new Socialist Government of the Republic. This was the same time Adolf Hitler was entering right-wing German politics.
Rosenberg, Ernst Röhm, and Rudolf Hess were some of the earliest NAZI Party members. Hitler after meeting him in Munich saw him as an intelectual. Rosenberg first major assignment given to him by Hitler was to edit the party newspaper, Völkischer Beobachter His thought was heavily influenced by English racist Houston Stewart Chamberlain. He was also impressed with the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,. Apparently he believed it was real. It was in fact a 19th-century forgery by the Tsarist secret police describing an international Jewish plot for world domination. Hitler felt some loyalty to him because he was an early NAZI member, but had little respect for him. Which is why he chose him to lead the Party while he was jailed. Given Roisenberg's incopetance, he did not have to worry about being replaced.
Alfred Rosenberg styled himself as the chief Nazi philosopher. He isperhaps better described as a theirtician. His first major book was In Der Zukunftsweg einer deutschen Aussenpolitik (The Future Direction of a German Foreign Policy) (1927). Written 2 years after Mein Kampf, he echoed Hitler's call for Lebensraum in the East, but more openly called for the conquest of Poland and the Soviet Union.
Rosenberg founded the Militant League for German Culture (1929). His best known book was Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts (The Myth of the 20th Century) (1930) which postulasted the existence of two opposing races: the Aryan race which created all values and culture, and the Jewish race which was race of cultural corruption. Hitler dismissed his books as writings no one could understand, but appreciated the intelectual justification for acting against the Jews. It was a pean for German racial purity, but written so poorly that Hitler could not even finish it. Rosenberg argued that Germans had descended from an ancient Nordic race of people. He explained that they were forged by their environment--the pure, cold, semi-Arctic environment. The Germans, as the modern representatives of this superior race, were destined to dominate Europe. He saw the natural enemies of the Germans to be Russian Tartars and Semites. His greatest venom was directed at the Jews, but other enemies were the the Latin peoples, and Christianity, particularly the Catholic Church. Rosenberg also denounced Christianity. He formulated a new religion "of the blood" that would renounce Christian priciples like love, humility, and charity. Rosenberg wrote, "The general ideas of the Roman and of the Protestant churches are negative Christianity and do not, therefore, accord with our (German) soul." ["Churchmen ..."] Central to the new German religion would be the doctrine of racial superiority and ideal of race purity.
Hitler dismissed the book as 'ilogical rubish'. Goebels dismissed his work as 'ideological belch' He did influence Himmler at an early stage, especially the idea of turning Nordic supremecy into a religion with a mission to purify German of Jews and other alien influences.
Of course there were some problems with NAZI policy as they tried to appeal to Semites (the Arabs) and their main ally was the very Lain Italians. But it was niot translated into English until the 1980s so very few people outside Germanty read it. His overall message, however, provided an ideological structure to the Aryan (Nordic) New Order and a judstification for Hitler’s violent orientation.
The relationship between Rosenberg and Himmler is not well documented. It is believed that Rosenberg helped give Himmler's anti-Semitism an intelectual dimension.
Rosenberg had little involvement in Hitler decesion to launch World war II. He did introduce Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian Fascist, to Hitler to discuss a German coup d’etat in Norway. Germany invaded Norway (April 1940). After the German invasion and occupation of France (June 1940), Rosenberg oversaw the looting of French art treasures and transport to the Reich.
Hitler gave him the job of collecting musical instruments and music sciores for a unibersity to be built in Hitler's home town of Linz, Austria (1940). He had authority to loot Jewish property in Germany and occupied countries.
Hitler after the onset of Barbarossa, appointed him to head the Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete (Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories). Here he ran head on into Himmler who saw the East as SS territory. Rosenberg found it difficult to enforce his orders as he did not have a large, disciplined police force at his disposal and Hitler generally did not take him seriously or back him. Rosenberg's appointment proved to be a largely powerless appointment. Himmler had control of the police ad Göring controlled the economy. Rosenberg was seen as a weakling and sloppy administrator, disliked by alkmost all the other top NAZIs. Ironically, Rosenberg was right about the best NAZI policy for the East. He wanted to appeal to anti-Bolshevik, nationalists elements who were prepared to receive the Germans as liberators and fight with them again Staln. Hitler had no time for such notions, especially the idea of arming Slavs. He, Himmler, and Göring were determined to first eliminate the Jews and then expolit the Slavs as rapidly and ruthlessly as possible.
The relationship between Rosenberg and Himmler is not well documented. It is believed that Rosenberg helped give Himmler's anti-Semitism an intelectual dimension.
It is not believed that Rosenberg helped plan the the actual Holocaust, but Himler appears to have informed him of what the SS was doing at an early phase after he was appointed East Minister. It was with Barbsrossa that SS Einsatzgruppen first began killing Jews in large numbers. The SS took 13,000 Jews out of the Minsk ghetto k (modern Belarus) and ordered them to lie down in freshly dug trenches so they could be shot. This was before the death camps were operatiional in occupied Poland. The killing was to make space for the first deportations of Reich Jews to the East (November 14, 1941). This was just one of the murderous SS Einsatzgruppen operations in the East that commenced with Barbarossa 5 months earlier. The next day he phoned Hitler's "Wolf's Lair" headquarters in East Prussia and spoke with chief-of-staff, Martin Bormann. He then met with Rosenberg who had just been appointed East Minister for 4 hours (November 15). There is no doubt Himmler informed Riosenberg that the mass killing of Jews was underway. We do not know how much Rosenberg knew before this, but he appears to have been fully brirfed by Himmler at this time because of his appointment as Reichsminister for the East. The next day both men traveled to the Wolf's Lair to have supper with Hitler (November 16). Rosenberg then told German journalists that the occupied Soviet territories "are called upon to solve a question confronting the peoples of Europe: that is the Jewish question. It can only be solved through the biological elimination of the entire Jewry in Europe." (November 17). [Traynor]
The Allies arrested him after the War. They tried him and the other top NAZIs at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Great crimes were commited in the East. But Rosenberg without control over the police or para-military formations was not for the most psrt responsible for the large-scale attrocities. His writings, however, helped lay the ideological foundation of the Holocaust. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity and hanged (October 1946).
Rosenberg, Alfred. Blut und Ehre (1934–41.
Traynor, Ian. "Hangman for Hitler," The Guardian (May 8, 1999).
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