Anti-Semitism In Ww2

The motive of this investigation is to analyze the extent of which the Volksgemeinschaft policy affected the rising of German anti-Semitism. The policy arose from the yearning of a society in which there would be less to no differences in class and more unification within the people. The Volkgemeinschaft itself can be defined as a “people’s community.” One of the aspects to consider when analyzing the importance of the Volksgemeinschaft is the terrific and grand impact it had on millions of people. Many people in recent years, as well as in previous years have had numerous unanswered questions about this policy, and this researcher intends to answer a major and essential question; the effect of the policy on German anti-Semitism. Some of the ways in which this investigator plans to analyze and answer this inquiry include collecting information from various reputable internet sites, as well as books such as Michael Wildt’s “Hitler 's Volksgemeinschaft and the Dynamics of Racial Exclusion,” and newspaper articles regarding the policy. The parameter to this investigation will be within the time frame of 1919 and 1939 during which we can see the various changes in German society taking place.

One event that encouraged Anti-Semitism and increased tensions leading up to Kristallnacht and beyond was the announcement of the Nuremberg Laws in September of 1935. This set of laws created by the Nazi party made sharp distinctions between the rights and privileges of Germans and Jews (Sigward 291). This redefined citizenship in the Third Reich and laid the groundwork for a racial state. For example, the Reich of Citizenship Law stripped Jews of their citizenship, claiming they didn’t have “German blood” (Sigward 291). Those of Jewish descent were denied the right to vote and the ability to obtain a valid passport or visa to leave the country. This law completely dehumanized Jews living in Germany and made them stateless, which caused those of the Aryan race or pure German descent to feel superior. In the Nuremburg Laws, Article 5 of the First Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law defined a Jew as a descendant of three or more Jewish grandparents or two Jewish parents (Sigward 293). These laws lead to the Jews being persecuted for who they were, rather than the faith they believed during previous years. As a result of these laws being carried out, German nationalism and Anti-Semitism across the Reich increased drastically .

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” (Uschman 94)That quote is from a nazi war camp survivor, his words echo the attitude of the era, the same attitude that allowed something as awful as the Holocaust to occur with little resistance. However, even after hitler's final solution was thwarted people still suffered. People were left poor,scared, and traumatized. It left governments scrambling to recover control and strength. The stories you don't get to see. Even today the Holocaust still impacts us in one way or another.

“Was German ‘Eliminationist Anti-Semitism” Responsible for the Holocaust?” is a fascinating and somewhat discouraging debate that explores the question of whether German anti-Semitism, instilled within citizens outside of the Nazi Party, played a vast role in the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust . Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of “The Paradigm Challenged,” believes that it did; and argues quite convincingly that ordinary German citizens were duplicitous either by their actions or inactions due to the deep-seeded nature of anti-Semitic sentiment in the country. On the other hand, Christopher R. Browning, who has extensively researched the Holocaust, argues that the arguments of Goldhagen leaves out significant dynamics which were prevalent throughout most of Western and Eastern Europe during this period of history.

World War II is recognized universally as a time of extreme anti-Semitism and hatred in Europe. However, while this was happening, the United States also harbored anti-Semitism: while the Third Reich was assembling Jews into concentration camps, the U.S. was denying Europeans Jewish refugees entry and asylum from the horrors of the Nazi regime. Despite the fact that this was almost 80 years ago, it may appear as though nothing has changed in the United States; although Americans in the 21st century may accept Jews more than they did during World War II, they still express prejudice against Jews through stereotypes, microaggressions,

“Never again!” might be the only international promise U.S. has made globally. Unfortunately, we have broken that promise. Communities and leaders all over the world vowed never again would we let such atrocities like the Holocaust ever happen again. Easier said than done, the US sat back and watched the people of Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia suffer in their own country. Their own leaders strip all of their civil liberties and puts all their lives in danger everyday. Millions and millions of people lose their loved ones, live their lives in terror, and are robbed of the human rights that we, as Americans, are blessed with. The US spends 700 billion on military spending, and we still have not used the power we have for good. We realize how important our freedom is to us, and it important we help other countries when in need.

Jews are a standout amongst the most stereotyped religious social orders ever, with the media every now and again utilizing negative pictures at whatever point they write about Judaism and the Jewish race. History demonstrates that Jews were constrained from their country and turned into an itinerant individuals, spreading all through Europe. Regarded as untouchables in Europe, local people were suspicious of the Jews and made numerous myths and pessimistic generalizations about them which are propagated today. Numerous limitations on callings were put on the Jewish individuals in the medieval times. The Catholic Church and numerous Christians accepted that loaning cash for premium was a wrongdoing and was prohibited. This pushed Jews into cash giving and rent gathering sort occupations which the congregation saw as second rate. This prompted the generalization that Jews are ravenous, shabby, mean and even degenerate.

Through out history there’s a ground breaking event that forces society to reform its beliefs. The Holocaust was one of these events, refugees were persecuted in a number of ways and society had a choice to help, become isolated, or to confirm any persecution as ok or right. In every choice our society has depicted that there's a right and a wrong decision to everything; it was wrong for U.S legislation to not give their best efforts to help refugees of the Holocaust it lead to future prejudices and the suffering of millions.

The United States’ response to the Holocaust is a much-discussed and very sensitive subject for a variety of groups close to or related to the situation. The opinions on the subject are diverse and far-reaching, and the analyzations and comparison of some of these can lead to a greater understanding of not only the happenings of the Holocaust itself but also the social reactions to the event by the many groups involved. Four sources I intend to compare include Martin Gilbert’s Auschwitz and the Allies, David Wyman’s The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945, W.D. Rubinstein’s The Myth of Rescue: Why the Democracies Could Not Have Saved the Jews from the Nazis, and Peter Novick’s The Holocaust in American Life, because I believe that these four sources make up a diverse and widespread selection from which nearly all opinions, or the most conflicting ones, can be observed and interpreted. The first work uses an investigatory style that proposes pieces of evidence from the period shortly before the Holocaust that could have allowed the allies further and more prudent action. Similarly, the second work argues that there is substantial evidence that the United States and the rest of the allies could certainly have saved thousands of lives with earlier and more aggressive action, but argues from a more opinion and theoretical style that focuses less on

The 1930s, commonly called “The Thirties” was the best and worst decade. It was the home of swing music, butterfly sleeves, and Roosevelt’s presidency. The 1930s also saw lots of new technologies in the radio and film fields. But amongst the great times, there was lots of tragedy. The Dust Bowl, the Ku Klux Klan, and the start of the Great Depression are just to name a few of the many disasters in the 1930s. In the midst of this, the United States and Germany had very many legislative problems. Both countries had objectives of making their societies better by “removing the inferior”. This is when Nazi Germany and America started creating laws to target Jews and Blacks.

Currently America honors those murdered by the Nazis with museums, monuments, and even a remembrance day. However during the Holocaust, under the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, America was reluctant to save the Jews from Europe. Six million Jews were systematically murdered through mass shootings, gas chambers, and in death marches. We might expect that as a model democracy, America would have made a great effort to rescue these Jews but that was sadly not what occurred. Due to America’s tradition of isolationism and a singular focus on achieving military victory, Roosevelt's attention to Jewish refugees in Europe during World War II can most accurately be characterized as a mix of missed opportunities and limited achievements.

In the years of the Second World War, American leaders were aware of the plan of the Germans to exterminate all the Jews in Europe, yet they did not act to save them. The attitude in society and the state of the economy in the years leading up to the war made for conditions that did not make saving them likely.

Hitler and the Nazis implemented the “Final Solution” starting in 1940 and went all the way through to the end of the war in 1945 (“The Holocaust”). Millions of people’s lives were lost in the one year that the “Final Solution” commenced. Furthermore, the camps were not liberated until Soviet troops marched through German occupied Poland; giving the Nazis time to evacuate the camps (“Auschwitz). France and Britain have been allies with the United States since World War I; both countries declared war before the “Final Solution” was undergoing its terrible impact on the world. The United States could have saved millions of lives by joining in with our allies and could have possibly reduced the number of people murdered by the “Final Solution” and Hitler's desire for purity. Second, back in the United States, word has gotten around about the Holocaust, and the millions of people who were dying under Nazi influence. During the war, the United States were not focused on saving the people, but on winning the war. During very late 1941-1945 the United States should have shifted half of their focus from winning the war to helping the people in the camps (“The Holocaust”).

When war broke out, there was no way the world could possibly know the severity it would have taken on the people of the world. Fortunately one country saw and understood that Germany and its allies would have to be stopped. America’s Involvement in World War II not only contributed in the downfall of the insane Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich, but also came at the best time and moment. If the United States entered the war any earlier the consequences would probably have been worse.

Before the nineteenth century anti-Semitism was largely religious, based on the belief that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. It was expressed later in the Middle Ages by persecutions and expulsions, economic restrictions and personal restrictions. After Jewish emancipation during the enlightenment, or later, religious anti-Semitism was slowly replaced in the nineteenth century by racial prejudice, stemming from the idea of Jews as a distinct race. In Germany theories of Aryan racial superiority and charges of Jewish domination in the economy and politics in addition with other anti-Jewish propaganda led to the rise of anti-Semitism. This growth in anti-Semitic belief led to Adolf Hitler's rise to power and eventual