# Does the Nazi Holocaust stand alone?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-nazi-holocaust-stand-alone/70704>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 30, 2001, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-nazi-holocaust-stand-alone/70704 "2001-06-30T06:19:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2001, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-nazi-holocaust-stand-alone/70704/41 "2001-07-22T12:11:51Z")

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This point is rather negated, though, by the fact that Article 22 of the [Weimar Constitution](http://www.stabi.hs-bremerhaven.de/mondwurf/englisch/primaer/weimar/weimar_vv.htm) stated that members of Parliament would be elected in “general, equal, immediate and **secret** ” elections ( **emphasis** added). Article 17 had similar provisions for the election of state parliament members. If I had a secret ballot, whatever I might say to the Party thugs who were hanging around outside the polling station, I damned sure wouldn’t vote for them in the privacy of the voting booth, _especially_ if they had “beat[en] Republicans at rallies, kill[ed] Libertarian candidates, and firebomb[ed] newspapers that endorsed Democrats”.

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**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-nazi-holocaust-stand-alone/70704/42 "2001-07-24T14:14:02Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dave Swaney \*  
> \*\*It’s true that the Nazis “won” the election with 40% of the vote, but even that needs some qualification.
> 
> Imagine if the Reform party over the next three years recruited ten thousand thugs for essentially a private army, and then proceeded to beat Republicans at rallies, kill Libertarian candidates, and firebomb newspapers that endorsed Democrats.
> 
> People might get the idea that to vote another way would be to put your personal neck in great danger. \*\*

This is true, but my understanding is that the Nazis don’t really stand out in this regard, in that I believe at least the communists and the socialists also had thugs on the streets, although I don’t know how their numbers compare to the SA. In any case, though, the idea that the SA were instrumental in the NSDAP success in those final general elections doesn’t seem all that likely to me, considering how they had had similar numbers of SA in previous elections without similar success and their fortunes appeared to be heading downhill as of a month prior to Hitler ascending to the chancellorship. A book I recommend on this is “Hitler’s Thirty Days to Power” by Henry Ashby Turner, which argues how incredibly avoidable/improbable Hitler’s victory was.

I have to agree that the Holocaust stands out due to how easily we can relate to those involved on both sides. What I’ve often been curious about is why Nazi Germany is also considered to be so unique. It seems that whenever using Nazi Germany as an example or in an argument that its mere mention really cranks up the rhetoric, while mention of Stalinist Russia or Maoist China (two regimes that I consider to be more evil than Nazi Germany) doesn’t even come close. Is it due completely to the Holocaust and its near-sacred place in our thoughts?

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