Molly Kirby Mrs. Geidel AP English Comp 10 (Period 3) 9 Sept. 2015 Ignorance is Bliss Proselytism, or the act of forcing beliefs onto others in an attempt to convert them, is exceptionally prominent during teenage years, but continues to prevail as the years advance. Propaganda used before the Holocaust convinced teenagers to join auxiliary groups like the Student’s League and Hitler Youth. Hitler convinced adults to join auxiliary groups as well, apart from the main Nazi party. Behaviors established as the norm in such groups were spread throughout all of Germany and eventually became common conduct. Each account in Voices of the Holocaust supports the idea that the Holocaust was caused by the Nazi party’s overall ignorance due to wrongful …show more content…
In Arnold Geier’s autobiography, Broken Glass, Broken Lives, Geier explains how his grandfather and father avoided their capture by the SA, a large group of people dedicated to Hitler’s cause. Geier’s entire family was Jewish, and they were in a constant state of fear due to the inevitable danger they faced every day. On November 8, 1938, Geier’s grandfather was informed of the arrival of the SA and planned to leave with Geier’s father shortly after to stay with friends and associates. The night of November 9, 1938, was the Night of Broken Glass. Members of the SA displayed their nationalism and dedication to the Nazi party by destroying Jewish shops and painting violent phrases on the walls (Geier 34-35). The SA consisted primarily of men whose sole purpose was street-fighting and spreading propaganda. They visibly displayed the absent-minded, harmful ideology that became common to them during the Holocaust. While Geier’s grandfather …show more content…
John Roth tells the story of a German journalist’s broken glasses in Fritz Gerlich’s Spectacles, in which Gerlich meets Hitler himself, and Hitler makes promises regarding his leadership that he does not keep. As a journalist, it was easy for Gerlich’s opposition of Hitler to be publicly displayed in the Munich Post. He exposed the Nazis and their motives for about 12 years (Roth 49). Gerlich was a German man that realized what the true purpose of “the Final Solution to the Jewish Question” was. He was not going to partake in the implementation of the answer of the Jewish Question, but instead presented to people through media that the Final Solution was in the wrong. Straying from the group did have its consequences, as Gerlich was detected by the Nazis when he published an article in July of 1932 (51). Gerlich was taken by storm troopers from his office, then beaten and sent to Dachau, a German concentration camp. He remained imprisoned there for more than a year, and his wife was informed shortly after that he was killed, receiving no written message but her husband’s broken spectacles. Gerlich’s spectacles could be interpreted as a metaphor for the time in his career he spent divulging the Nazis’ intentions; Gerlich’s unbroken glasses represented his clear vision of the time period, and how he could detect what was wrong while the Nazis found no fault in their actions. The cracks in the glass represented the flawed
Jewish people were not the only people affected by Hitler during World War II. Germans were also greatly affected and influenced by the Nazi propaganda. Hitler spread his message by integrating propaganda into schools to influence and manipulate children. The Peoples Radio was another tool used by the Nazis to spread their ideas. Those who did not conform to Hitler’s ideology were persecuted and punished severely. In the The Boy Who Dared, author Susan Campbell Bartoletti introduces several fictional characters to demonstrate how easily the Germans were manipulated into supporting Hitler’s ideology about Germany and its future.
Kershaw later depicts a comment made by Hitler discussing the dire need to deport German Jews, away from the ‘Procterate,’ calling them “dangerous ‘fifth columnists’” that threatened the integrity of Germany. In 1941, Hitler discusses, more fervently his anger towards the Jews, claiming them to responsible for the deaths caused by the First World War: “this criminal race has the two million dead of the World War on its conscience…don’t anyone tell me we can’t send them into the marshes (Morast)!” (Kershaw 30). These recorded comments illustrate the deep rooted hatred and resentment Hitler held for the Jewish population that proved ultimately dangerous. Though these anti-Semitic remarks and beliefs existed among the entirety of the Nazi Political party, it didn’t become a nationwide prejudice until Hitler established such ideologies through the use of oral performance and
The setting was perfect as the people of Germany were primed and ready for any leader that would tickle their ears with what they were wanting to hear. World War I was over (#4) and the people of Germany were in an economic depression that crippled the country. The German mark had lost so much value that it took a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread. A good portion of the youth in Germany were raised in fatherless homes. In an article written by Dr. Alice Hamilton, she says this about Hitler's youth: "They were children during the years of the war when the food blockade kept them half starved, when fathers were away at the front and mothers distracted with the effort to keep their families fed. They came to manhood in a country which seemed to have no use for them. Even compulsory military training was no more and there was nothing to take its place" (Perry et. al 358). Hitler, being the sleazy opportunist that he was, capitalized on this state of affairs. In ways that were not politically correct, he was able to influence this segment of the population and hold them in allegiance to his agenda. "Hitler made each insignificant, poverty stricken, jobless youth of the slums feel himself as of the great of the earth, since the youth was a German, a Nordic, far superior to the successful Jew who was driven out of office and counting house to make place for the youth and his like" (Perry et. al 359). The following is an example of how Hitler coerced and manipulated people and how we as managers and leaders can learn from his mistakes. This essay will also address how we can effectively influence people and earn their loyalty. In order to effectively influence peopl...
As blatantly demonstrated in the past, Hitler had an undeniable hatred for the Jews. There were many forms of intentionalism displayed illustrating this hostility. These actions are believed to be in response to occurrences during World War I. In 1918, Hitler was stricken with mustard gas and partially blinded, while in the Hospital, Hitler was reached with the news of Germany’s withdrawal from the War. The armistice induced Hitler’s fury and lead to his Back Stabbing Theory. The Back Stabbing Myth was, to the anti-Semitic, a theory based on the belief that the German Army could have won World War I, but the civilians (Jews) called off the war; embarrassing the German Military. Soon followed was Hitler’s involvement in politics, h...
Although first impressions of the German soldiers were reassuring to Wiesel and many Jews at first, shortly after they had arrived the Jew’s freedoms were taken without any warning. German soldiers took the Jew’s rights one at a time. First, Jews were not allowed to leave there house for three days. Then, they were no longer allowed to keep their gold, jewels, or valuable items. Wiesel explains, “Everything had to be handed over to the authorities, under penalty of death. My father went down to the cellar and buried out savings” (8). Next, they were forced to wear the yellow star. Eventually, Jews were not allowed to go into restaurants or cafes, to travel the railway, attend synagogue, or go into the street after six o’clock. The last step was that two ghettos were formed in the town of Sighet. It was like they were dogs in a fenced crate, not allowed to go anywhere or do anything. When the Jews started to question Wiesel’s father during the development of these rules, he reassured every one, and acted like it was no big deal. Wiesel’s father settled and acknowledged the situation claiming, “The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…” (Wiesel 9). None of the Jews including Wiesel’s fami...
The Youth was an important asset to Hitler’s as they would complete his 1,000 year and help the Nazis last forever. Kids were taught what Hitler wanted them to know and not what he wanted them to know so once after a few generations,
What possible reason can someone have for supporting or participating in the genocide and murder of millions of innocent people? During the period of the holocaust, the German peoples participation or indifference’s towards state sponsored genocide and murder could have been an effect of racism, national pride, and peer pressure.
German children would grow up under the impression that the Holocaust was “sins of their Fathers” and would be expected to deny the existence of the event. Studies show that most German children did not in fact think anything of the lack of Jewish in their environment due to the denial by their own people5. During the time of the Holocaust, the media and education was very meticulously manipulated to where it wasn’t as obvious as to what was taking place. German schools would educated pupils in a way that portrayed Hitler as good and Jews as different. Hitler also would found something known as the Hitler youth program in which the German children would attend in order to have early learning and military training. Youth were taught at a young age to respect the government and the leader, and would not be allowed to complete any action or thought that could conclude mistrust or suspicion to authority. The kids would live a life of mistrust and oblivious thinking due to events of the Holocaust, these practices have been passed down to further generations as
The Holocaust was a terrible time in history; many innocent people were killed, all because of their faith. The book Night by Ellie Wiesel portrays the vigorous journey Wiesel and his family undergo throughout this torturous time. The holocaust wasn’t just genocide against the Jews; it was also a long process of dehumanizing them too. Their valuables were taken and their heads were shaved stripping them of their identity.
During the years 1933 to 1945 was the twelve years of the Third Reich, a regime that changed history and the world forever; Hitler youth, a branch of the Nazi Party, was officially formed in 1926, but did not become popular until Hitler’s term of service. This gave its members excitement and a chance to revolt against parents and schoolteachers. Millions of boys and girls who belonged to this group wore the name proudly. At a time when the Fatherland, Germany, was suffering from a inadequate, rickety government, high-unemployment, and prevalent poverty, the Nazi Party promised young Germans a great future within the country- if they become loyal members of Hitler’s’ Youth. These children lived by the motto “For the flag we are ready to die.” Melita Mashmann, a fifteen-year old member of the girls’ branc...
On April 1, 1933, the Nazis started their first action against the Jews by announcing a boycott of all Jewish- run businesses. About five months later, the Nuremberg Laws were issued on September 15, 1935. These excluded Jews from public life and also took away their citizenship as well. On November 9-10, 1938; burning of synagogues and destroying of Jewish business took place. Jews were physically attacked and about 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. This night was also known as “Kristallnacht” or “Night of Broken Glass”. Also on November 9th Hershel Grynszpan, a 17 year old Jewish boy, shot Ernest vom Rath because he was departed from his family. Rath was the third secretary in the Ger...
Throughout the memoir, Wiesel demonstrates how oppression and dehumanization can affect one’s identity by describing the actions of the Nazis and how it changed the Jewish people’s outlook on life. Wiesel’s identity transformed dramatically throughout the narrative. “How old he had grown the night before! His body was completely twisted, shriveled up into itself. His eyes were petrified, his lips withered, decayed.
This declaration was as surprising as the justification behind it, for on page 81, that neighbor explains, “‘I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.’” This moment was something I could only describe as shocking, as it was the truth, or a crooked version of it. Hitler promised to exterminate the Jewish people
“ Hitler used propaganda and manufacturing enemies such as Jews and five million other people to prepare the country for war.” (Jewish Virtual Library), This piece of evidence shows Hitler’s attempt of genocide toward the Jewish race a...
Jewish youth in Nazi Germany suffered greatly after January 1933 when the Nazis came into power. Some rich Jewish families could afford to leave Germany but many could not. Hitler had made plain his hatred for Jews in Mein Kampf, ?If you cut even cautiously into such a sore, you find like a maggot in a rotting body, often dazzled by the sudden light ? a Jew.? Hitler blamed Jews for all the misfortunes that had fallen Germany. Children at schools were taught specifically anti-Semitic ideas. Jewish students were openly ridiculed by teachers and the bullying of Jews in the playground went unpunished. Hitler believed that if the Jewish children responded by not wanting ...