Were there any opponents to the persecution of Jewish people among the Nazi Party?

by Colossal_Cake

I want to state first off, just in the interest of being totally clear, that this isn't an attempt at Nazi apologia or anything. The question just kind of occured to me while I was writing, and none of my attempts at googling the question really turned up any results. So, yeah I guess I'm just curious if there are any documented incidents of members of the Nazi party who didn't necessarily agree with the party's anti-semitic programs?

LeighSabio

The Nazi party platform was explicitly anti-Semitic from the beginning. Two points of its twenty five point platform, written in 1920, read:

"4. Only members of the nation may be citizens of the State. Only those of German blood, whatever their creed, may be members of the nation. Accordingly, no Jew may be a member of the nation."

and

"24. We demand freedom for all religious denominations in the State, provided they do not threaten its existence nor offend the moral feelings of the German race.

The Party, as such, stands for positive Christianity, but does not commit itself to any particular denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialist spirit within and without us, and is convinced that our nation can achieve permanent health only from within on the basis of the principle: The common interest before self-interest."

Here is an archive containing examples of Nazi propaganda during their rise to power, showing that it was largely explicitly anti-Semitic:

https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/pre1933.htm

However, while the Nazi party was explicitly anti-Semitic, individual exceptions did exist. One early Nazi, Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, was opposed to genocide of any race. However, he died in 1923 in the Beer Hall Putsch. Ironically, Hitler tried to use his legacy to justify genocide, painting him and the Nazis who died along with him in the Putsch as martyrs and dedicating Mein Kampf to them.

After the Nazis cemented their power, their anti-Semitic propaganda and platform were codified into law. Pretty much anyone who had the least bit of control over the Nazi agenda was on board with their anti-Semitism. However, since Nazi Germany was a single-party dictatorship, it became highly desirable for the average person to become a member. Membership in the Hitler Youth was mandatory for children. Hence, there were many party members who joined for social reasons rather than ideological ones.

A lot of these "nominal Nazis" were still supportive of or willfully blind to evidence of atrocities against Jews, such as the disappearances of their Jewish neighbors, or the presence of concentration camps near their towns, but some went beyond being only nominal Nazis to actively trying to sabotage Nazi atrocities. Oskar Schindler was the most famous example. There was also the example of Hans Munch, an employee of Josef Mengele who designed purposely lengthy and harmless experiments in order to keep his subjects safe from more harmful ones:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hans-m-uuml-nch