There are two unsolvable problems in using anti-Semitism to explain the Holocaust: First, there is no strong anti-Semitism in Germany. Before the Holocaust, Jews generally believed that Germany was a paradise of religious and ethnic equality. German hatred of Jews was not deep-rooted; although anti-Jewish public riots broke out in other European countries, they did not occur in Germany. Research by historians shows that during the Weimar Republic, the Germans may have been less disgusted with Jews than the French; even during the Holocaust, public anti-Semitism did not become a positive force.

There is another unsolvable problem in using anti-Semitism to explain the Holocaust: we cannot use universal things to explain unique things, which is logically unworkable. Anti-Semitism has been a common phenomenon for thousands of years, but the Holocaust has no precedent. In Bauman's view, the Holocaust was unique in every aspect, and anti-Semitism, which is permanent and pervasive, cannot adequately explain the uniqueness of the Holocaust. Therefore, Bauman points out, it is futile to generally describe the unique Holocaust event as "the peak of anti-Semitic hatred", "the most violent anti-Semitism" or "an outbreak of anti-Semitic public hatred". It lacks a solid historical foundation and realistic foundation. Anti-Semitism alone cannot adequately explain the Holocaust.

The Holocaust is not an extreme social phenomenon, nor is it carried out by cruel individuals. Bauman pointed out that the Holocaust was not a crime committed by morally defective individuals such as so-called born criminals, sadists, psychos, or social heretics. It turns out that only 10% of Nazis could be considered "abnormal"; the others did not always behave appropriately, but at least their actions were understandable in the eyes of the prisoners.