The People’s Community in the Context of Racially Determined Nazi Social Policy

Introduction . The article is devoted to the study of Nazi social policy as a tool for eliminating class conflicts through the creation of a racially homogeneous people’s community, designed to become a pillar of the regime. The purpose of the study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the racial aspects of Nazi social policy. Materials and Methods . The authors relied mainly on publications in periodicals of the Third Reich; issues of the Imperial Legislative Gazette; documents published abroad; works of foreign scientists which are not translated into Russian, with the exception of Evans’ monograph. The article is based on an interdisciplinary approach; theoretically, the authors are guided by the theory of totalitarianism, which retains significant potential when addressing Nazi issues. A special role in solving the problem was played by the method of system analysis, which made it possible to reveal the essential aspects and the priority role of a racially oriented social policy designed to unite the German population of the Third Reich in the ranks of the people’s community. Results . The racial aspect of Nazi social policy was its basic element. The social security system and socially oriented programs were designed exclusively for racially “full-fledged” compatriots. “The people’s community” included “the production community”, corporate organizations of the small and middle urban bourgeoisie, “the Imperial Food Estate”, and the bureaucratic corps. The exclusion of the Jewish population from the number of recipients of state social support, along with other forms of discrimination, was a prelude to “the final solution of the Jewish question”. Discussion and Conclusion . Without being implemented in practice, the thesis about the people’s community had a serious propaganda effect. In the pre-war years, the Nazis attempted to create a specific version of a totalitarian-social state in which the principle of racial discrimination acted as one of the fundamental ones. Systemic social policy based on racial theory allowed the Nazis to create an effective mechanism for preventing social conflicts and achieve consolidation around the regime of most of German society.