Nazis blaming the Jews for starting WW2--Did they actually believe it?

Yes, it’s certainly difficult to imagine a bunch of right-wing demagogues rousing the rabble against a convenient “other” with insane conspiracy theories, isn’t it? Thank goodness we live in saner times.

I think you missed an I. Fiendish Astronaut asked about World War I not World War II.

The Nazis probably did blame the Jews for starting the Great War. Heck, they blamed them for everything else. And World War I really was started by a secret organization, albeit one which apparently had no Jewish members. But the Nazis would just say, “Of course there were no known Jewish members. The Jews controlled the Black Hand secretly.”

Well, we’ve cut back on the genocide, so that’s progress.

Of course this reminds me of an old joke (I copy from Wikipedia):

You’re joking, but that was actually argued in trials (of Jewish MP for instance) under the Vichy regime.

Did millions of the R&F? Yes.
Did Hitler? Maybe yes, maybe no.
Did the people at the top? Oh hell no. Cynics, using the nation.