While this may surprise many, there is actually an old dispute between historians over the intentionality of the Holocaust. In academic circles, it is called the Intentionalism vs. Functionalism debate. Intentionalists simply argue the Nazis intended to annihilate the Jews all along consistent with their oft-repeated statements, and finally took seriously their plans to do so from 1938 onwards. Functionalists, on the other hand, strongly argue that in spite of the earlier violent shrills of Nazis rhetoric against the Jews, the Holocaust itself occurred in a rather ad hoc manner based largely on differing and evolving circumstances that became increasingly...