Who is Responsible for the Holocaust?

In this episode, we examine the complex question of responsibility for the Holocaust, beginning with Adolf Hitler’s central role in shaping the vision, rhetoric, and authorisation for genocide, and moving through the actions of key Nazi leaders whose initiatives, rivalries, and bureaucratic efficiency turned ideology into systematic murder. We explore the varied forms of responsibility among ordinary people—those who participated, those who enabled events through silence or compliance, and those who resisted or attempted to help—while also considering the wider international context that allowed persecution and genocide to unfold with limited intervention. Finally, we highlight the many forms of resistance, from armed uprisings to acts of cultural, spiritual, and everyday defiance, revealing how choices, structures, and circumstances intersected in one of history’s darkest chapters.