Did Hitler ever express or respond to criticisms about the immorality of the Holocaust?

by steadyachiever
Yamureska

Not “Immorality” per se, but when The Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, the “Jewish Question” was high on the agenda.

In 1943, Hitler had pushed Miklos Horthy to intensify the Persecution of Jews. Horthy and the Hungarians had, in fact, been persecuting the Jews, but at their own pace and initiative (i.e. some Hungarian Jews had been spared), and Horthy refused what he saw as Hitler imposing on his Sovereignty. When the Nazis got wind of Hungary planning to abandon the War, the Nazis invaded and themselves ramped up the Genocide against the Jews, culminating in the Hungarian Aktion of July-August 1944, where Eichmann deported some 500000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz.

To answer your question, Hitler had a meeting with the Hungarian Prime Minister, Dome Sztojay, who was formerly the Ambassador to Berlin. Hitler basically complained to Sztojay about Horthy’s resistance to the Final Solution, and blamed the Jews for Allied Bombings against Hungary (he believed that they were behind the US/UK). Hitler talked about how Horthy had refused to kill Hungary’s Jews because of their role in the economy, and then explained to Sztojay that “removing” the Jews would give new opportunities for Hungarians. Finally, when Sztojay tried to defend Horthy’s reluctance, Hitler justified himself by playing Victim and insisting that the Allies (and by extension, “the Jews”) had pushed him to war.

Hope this helps. This is from Saul Friedlander, Nazi Germany and the Jews, the Years of Extermination.