What role did antisemitism play in Adolf Hitler’s political ideology?

Antisemitism was fundamental to Adolf Hitler’s political ideology and the platform of the Nazi Party. Hitler transformed traditional religious and political antisemitism into a virulent form of racial ideology that defined Jewish people as Untermenschen (subhumans) and a biological threat to the German people.12

In his manifesto, Mein Kampf, Hitler characterized Jews as a "parasitic" race struggling for world domination. He argued that the elimination of the Jewish people was essential for the "purification" and salvation of the German Aryan race. By framing Jewishness as a biological trait rather than a religious one, Hitler moved beyond calls for expulsion or conversion, ultimately advocating for the systematic, state-sponsored murder of all Jewish people—a policy that culminated in the Holocaust.132

Hitler also utilized antisemitism as a unifying propaganda tool, identifying Jews with both Bolshevism and a cosmic evil to consolidate power and suppress political opposition. This state-sanctioned hatred was institutionalized through propaganda, education, and eventually, the implementation of the "final solution."24