Fear Of Jews In The Storyteller By Jodi Picoult

There have been countless atrocities committed throughout history. Most of these atrocities are justified and developed from ideas and false realities. The most infamous atrocity of all history, the holocaust is no exception. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany from 1933 until his suicide at the end of WWII, was directly responsible for the deaths of over 12 million people. Alan Bullock in his book Hitler a Study in Tyranny dispels any notion that any of Hitler’s ideas were original. Bullock proposes that Hitler and his rise to power was a product of other political ideas and a knack for exploiting the timing of events to extend his influence. According to Bullock Hitler’s coming to power was the product the political ideals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries which he was exposed to, the world post-WWI, and a knack for exposition events to his favor. He used his gifts of using propaganda and his organizational skills to use politics as a means to achieving power.

The tragic events that occurred during world war two and the holocaust were not only horrific but also morally wrong. The Jewish culture was targeted for mass genocide, by the hand of a mad-man bent on world domination, and the only way to prevent another incident like this from happening again, is to thoroughly educate the public. The actions and events that Hitler and his followers proposed not only helped the world realize the extent of his destruction but also how horrible it would be if the events were to happen again. The aftermath of the war and holocaust left half of Europe in ruins, and more than six million Jews, Homosexuals, Gypsies, and Africans dead, not including

“How can this happen?” one might ask. In Germany specifically, a variety of brainwashing tools were utilized. Early on in school, children were taught the ideology of the Nazi party. Additionally, “throughout the Second World War children played war games... None of us cried and we won” (Stargardt, 39). Children became so desensitized to war and brutality that when such events actually occurred, emotion and rationale became separate. Furthermore, the concept of the “master race,” certain people are better than others, was ingrained into their subconscious. Adults experienced similar techniques, albeit in a different environment. Individuals in the police battalion were also directly involved with some of the atrocities committed. For these men, “there was to be continuing ideological training during the war, with planned daily, weekly, and monthly instruction of the men in police battalions. The daily instruction informed the men of political and military developments. The weekly instruction was intended to shape their ideological views and build their character” (Godhagen, 184). As shown above, both children and adults were similarly trained to view the outside world the way the party wanted them to. In effect, the brainwashing was so severe that it seemed to change individual’s sense of morality. One woman in Lower’s

Horror struck on January 30, 1933, when Germany assigned Adolf Hitler as their chancellor. Once Hitler had finally reached power he set out to complete one goal, create a Greater Germany free from the Jews (“The reasons for the Holocaust,” 2009). This tragedy is known today as, “The Holocaust,” that explains the terrors of our histories past. The face of the Holocaust, master of death, and leader of Germany; Adolf Hitler the most deceitful, powerful, well spoken, and intelligent person that acted as the key to this mass murder. According to a research study at the University of South Florida, nearly eleven million people were targeted and killed. This disaster is a genocide that was meant to ethnically cleanse Germany of the Jews. Although Jewish people were the main target they were not the only ones targeted; gypsies, African Americans, homosexuals, socialists, political enemies, communists, and the mentally disabled were killed (Simpson, 2012, p. 113). The word to describe this hatred for Jewish people is known as antisemitism. It was brought about when German philosophers denounced that “Jewish spirit is alien to Germandom” (“Antisemitism”) which states that a Jew is non-German. Many people notice the horrible things the Germans did, but most don’t truly understand why the Holocaust occurred. To truly understand the Holocaust, you must first know the Nazis motivations. Their motivations fell into two categories including cultural explanations that focused on ideology and

The Holocaust was one of, if not the worst mass murder in history. The Nazis did one of the most horrifying things you could think of, killing so many innocent people. Many different groups of people other than jews were also victims of this tragic event. Some of those other groups were: LGBTQ individuals, the physically and mentally disabled, slavs, and members of opposing political groups. These groups of people were ripped from their homes and put into concentration camps. The Nazis would either separate them from their family or they would keep them together and they would have to watch the Nazis torture their family and friends. During this very tragic point in history, more than six million Jewish lives were taken, in total there were over 12 million victims of the Holocaust. Not only did this affect the survivors it also affected families of the victims, survivors and anybody else that was connected through this tragedy. The Nazis, came to “power” in January 1933, which was during a time Germany was going through an economic hardship. They believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, were "inferior.” Adolf Hitler played a very big factor in everything that went down. Adolf Hitler was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party and was also known as the dictator of the Holocaust. The Nazis did have others that were Hitler’s “army” and they took orders from Hitler to do awful things to the victims and they were commonly known as

The Nazis weren’t the only people who treated Jews like inferior beings; anybody who has the power can treat anything lower than themselves. “…a present whose abnormality suddenly becomes routine.”(Langer 6). The gypsy considered himself as the superior of the group so he could strike anybody he wants (Wiesel 39). When the gypsy’s life becomes too important for him, he has adopted to the way of the Nazis. As the Allied forces advanced, the Nazis led death marches as their last resort because they had concerns about their own lives. “...life becomes too much for man and death assuming the throne in the human imagination” (Langer 6). S.S made Jews run for hundreds of miles nonstop (Wiesel 85). They, the SS, were frightened that their cruel ways dug up, decided they had to bury the evidence which explained that they could not believe what the inhumane actions they engaged in with other people. People had the potential to manipulate other people in mass numbers but the second they think for themselves, they will find out what is right and what is not.

In the book Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning tackles the question of why German citizens engaged in nefarious behavior that led to the deaths of millions of Jewish and other minorities throughout Europe. The question of what drove Germans to commit acts of genocide has been investigated by numerous historians, but unfortunately, no overarching answer for the crimes has yet been decided upon. However, certain theories are more popular than others. Daniel Goldhagen in his book, Hitler’s Willing Executioners, has expounded that the nature of the German culture before the Second World War was deeply embedded in anti-Semitic fervor, which in turn, acted as the catalyst for the events that would unfold into the Holocaust. It is at this

A common misconception about the Holocaust is that the world was naïve of the atrocities happening under the Nazi’s rule. The horrors of the Holocaust were not left undocumented. Unfortunately, many saw these malicious acts as insignificant to the global population; people only start sympathizing when the hindrance affects them. Hitler, with the help of his many allies, achieved to murder millions of innocent men, women, and children. After spending this semester studying the Holocaust, I have realized that the Nazis’ greatest ally was neither an individual nor a country; Hitler’s greatest ally was indifference.

Certain everyday decisions we make can define a whole generation. Our instincts are not always right and can lead us to commit horrible mistakes. This is what Hitler did. His sudden impulse to hate Jews, discriminate them from others, and murder them gave birth to the Holocaust. Yet, no one did anything to stop this cycle of prejudice, discrimination, and murder from occurring. Many innocent Jews were forced to labor until death unless they died of disease too soon. Some kept hope for the future, while some gave up and didn't resist oppression in any way. These things would never have occurred if Hitler and the Nazis didn't have prejudice towards Jews, and didn't take any action to it. Prejudice is what ultimately lead

“From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.” -Wiesel. The Holocaust, the killing of ;Jews, homosexuals, other races, and prisoners of war had horrible conditions that people went through, and how much hatred one person could have. The Holocaust was the mass murder of more than 6 million Jews, the Nazis killed more 11 Million people. One thing that I learned is that Hitler thought the Jews were the ones who caused World War I. He thought that if he killed people who he thought caused World War I, there would be more money to go around Europe.

“The Holocaust did not happen suddenly, it was the end of a long process of anti-Semitism. The Nazis had come to power in 1933, and used propaganda and terror to enforce their anti-Semitic policies. Laws were passed by the Nazis called the Nuremberg Laws. These laws took away all the human rights of Jews.” This quote means that it took time for it to take place, and start to “work”. Hitler controlled the genocide. His goal was to exterminate everyone that wasn’t like him. Other countries got involved because Hitler would invade them and take over their armies. Countries also got involved because they wanted to help the Jews, and everyone else that was being affected. The war went on for 6 years, but the Holocaust went on for 12 years(1933-1945). This means that about 1 million people died every year. Many people died during the Holocaust. “Jews: up to 6 million, Soviet civilians: around 7 million (including 1.3 Soviet Jewish civilians, who are included in the 6 million figure for Jews), Soviet prisoners of war: around 3 million (including about 50,000 Jewish soldiers), Serb civilians (on the territory of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina): 312,000, People with disabilities living in institutions: up to 250,000, Roma (Gypsies): 196,000–220,000, Jehovah's Witnesses: Around 1,900, Homosexuals: hundreds, possibly thousands (possibly also counted in part under the 70,000 repeat criminal offenders and so-called

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing” -Simon Wiesenthal (Simon Wiesenthal Quote). During the Holocaust, an estimated eleven million people died agonizing deaths from methods such as gas chambers, scientific experiments, beatings, and malnutrition (Concentration Camps 1933-1939). This staggering number is almost as much as the current population of the state of Ohio (United States). The big question is, why did the

The world today is still uncertain about the major cause of the Holocaust. Many people have a wide range of opinions on this traumatic topic leaving the identity of those responsible unknown. The real question is who had most to do with being responsible for the holocaust out of the Nazis and the German people. The German’s were said to be manipulated by Hitler’s powerful speeches and propaganda which he used to make himself appear powerful, making the German’s feel as though they had no choice but to elect him as their leader. The Germans worshipped Hitler and demonstrated acts of love and support by celebrating and voting for him. The Germans didn’t hesitate to stop their beloved leader from ordering the Nazi party to wipe out the entire

The Holocaust is most well-known for the organized and inhumane extermination of more than six million Jews. The death total of the Jews is this most staggering; however, other groups such as Gypsies, Poles, Russians, political groups, Jehovah’s witnesses, and homosexuals were targeted as well (Holocaust Encyclopedia: Introduction to the Holocaust). The initial idea of persecuting select groups of people began with Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. In January 1930, Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany after winning over its people with powerful and moving speeches. From this point forward, it was a goal for both Hitler and his Nazi Party to rid the world of deemed “inferior” groups of people (Holocaust Encyclopedia: Timeline

Many religious conflicts are built from bigotry; however, only few will forever have an imprint on the world’s history. While some may leave a smear on the world’s past, some – like the homicide of Semitic people – may leave a scar. The Holocaust, closely tied to World War II, was a devastating and systematic persecution of millions of Jews by the Nazi regime and allies. Hitler, an anti-Semitic leader of the Nazis, believed that the Jewish race made the Aryan race impure. The Nazis did all in their power to annihilate the followers of Judaism, while the Jews attempted to rebel, rioted against the government, and united as one. Furthermore, the genocide had many social science factors that caused the opposition between the Jews and Nazis.