Hitler's Savagery

In The Perils of Obedience, Stanley Milgram introduces us to his experimental studies on the conflict between one’s own conscience and obedience to authority. From these experiments, Milgram discovered that a lot of people will obey a figure in authority; irrespective of the task given - even if it goes against their own moral belief and values. Milgram’s decision to conduct these experiments was to investigate the role of Adolf Eichmann (who played a major part in the Holocaust) and ascertain if his actions were based on the fact that he was just following orders; as most Germans accused of being guilty for war crimes commonly explained that they were only being obedient to persons in higher authority.

After Germany’s humiliating defeat in World War I, Germans had little faith in their government, and in the early 1930s following the stock market crash in New York, Germany was economically struggling . Millions of people were out of work due to the world wide catastrophe making it an opportune time for Hitler and the Nazis to rise into power. Hitler, who was a powerful and spellbinding speaker, attracted Germans desperate for change. He promised to make Germany a better country and promised the disenchanted, a better life. Nazis appealed especially to the youth, unemployed, and members of the lower to middle class. Hitler’s rise to power seemed instantaneous. Before the economic depression, Nazis were virtually unknown, winning less than 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag, which was the German Parliament. However, in the 1924 elections, the Nazis won a whopping 33 percent of the votes which was more than any other party. In January of 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the head of German Government . The Germans were convinced that they had found a savior for the Nation. The timing of his rise made it very easy for Hitler to gain power in a democratic government because people were hopeless and wanted a fast solution to the deficit. He promised things like a stronger economy, prosperity, and anything that they desired . He focused on first getting noticed and then grew from there. He didn’t say anything but what the people wanted to hear. Getting the people of Germany to trust him was how he started to gain so much control. Unfortunately, Hitler’s charm and persuasion was not the sole reason why Hitler gained so much power in a democratic

Christopher R. Browning’s book, Ordinary Men, is a microhistory of the Holocaust that focuses in on the Reserve Police Battalion 101. The books main purpose is to persuade the reader how ordinary middle-aged men could become the professional killers leading to horrible massacres. In the preface to his book, Browning makes the following comment about the men of the Reserve Police Battalion 101, “Never before had I encountered the issue of choice so dramatically framed by the course of events” (Browning, xvi.). This statement helps label some of Browning’s finding in his book. Although the men were given a choice to opt out of the killings during the Holocaust, the overwhelming majority chose to follow orders and commit crimes against

Literature for many years has described human nature as being evil once they fear something or are in a chaotic situation. In William Golding?s novel ?Lord of the Flies? which describes horrific exploits of a group of young boys who make a transition from civilized to barbaric. Golding

With Germans of all outlooks desperately seeking solutions for the nation's problems, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party began their climb to power. 'Hitler was gifted with effective political talents. He offered an explanation for Germany's defeat, and a vision of Germany's future destiny, that played upon the fears, prejudices, and hopes of many Germans. He promised to rebuild Germany's power and restore its prosperity' (Isaacman, 16). This won the support of many Germans. Hitler was such an effective speaker that anything he said was believed even if it was not true.

The day was January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany (World War II in Europe). As Berlin celebrated proudly the night of, the rest of the world had little idea of the tragic consequences that lie ahead. Within months, Hitler and the new Nazi regime obtained power all over the country (The Holocaust Explained). Unlike the people of The Road and other societies where this occurred, it was not the German people themselves that suffered. Unless, of course, that German happened to be Jewish.

WW2 took the lives of more than 72.4 million people, ("11 Facts About the Holocaust.") and killed more than two-thirds of all the people living in Europe at the time, ("World War 2 Statistics."). As part of their service to their country, the Nazis were commanded to perform horrific actions any reasonable person would question. These tortures included, “putting people’s hands in boiling water until the skin and fingernails came off...pulling teeth and cutting and twisting off the ears; running electric current through the victims…” ("Nazi Torture and Medical Experimentation.") “Prisoners were submerged in ice water to see the effects of hypothermia, injected with chemicals and poisons to test their effectiveness, sterilized, vivisected, and operated on without anesthetic,” (Smallwood). When many of these prominent Nazi soldiers were put on trial in Nuremberg, Germany, they argued they were serving their country, following orders from their superior. Here, we confront the thought-provoking question of whether it is just to obey your superior or serve your nation while breaking the moral code of humanity. These Nazis committed acts and imposed punishments upon their prisoners, that many have labeled as sinister, inhumane, unjust, and gruesome. But can we blame them for following the demands of their superiors and their country? Is it

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.

The Holocaust: A genocide in which six million Jews died, still remembered today as the single most grotesque massacre in human history. For most, the concept of Hitler’s rise to power, the building of his strength, and the process by which his orders were carried out remains an unimaginable concept. In the mind, laws of morality don’t bend. In looking at the Holocaust, one has to wonder how so many managed to break the rules of humanity so quickly. The easiest answer questions the existence of ethical laws at all. Although others consider the vast majority who did not fall victim to Hitler’s power to simply be better people, a consensus of Germany pre-war reveals that they were not miniature bigots.

The inconceivable events that unfolded between the years of 1941 and 1945 have left a deep and permanent scar on the world. The systematic murder and attempted genocide that resulted in the death of six million European Jews has unquestionably been the greatest human tragedy to strike modern civilization. This act of savagery and brutality by the notorious National Socialist Party stands as a representation of man’s ability for evil. Crime of this enormity attracts exhaustive debate regarding how such wrongdoing

Even though Germany was left in a period of struggle and economic weakness after WW1, Adolf Hitler would take a stand by creating a party that would help refine the structure of the economy. This party, when abbreviated, was called Nazi, would also create harsh laws and unrelentless punishment. Due to the Nazi party’s quick growth, there was an immediate impact on lifestyle and politics for the people of Germany. The long term impact brought forth by the consequences or legacy of the Nazi party included a population decrease and an increase in deaths. To make both of these impacts, Hitler had to overcome many hard challenges.

Most people could never imagine killing millions of people due to hatred of their beliefs, but as we know it has occurred throughout the history of our world. In April of 1933 the beginning of a tragic incident known as the Holocaust broke out. It was now either life or death for all Jew’s in Germany. Families were torn apart, lives were taken, homes were destroyed, and now they would be controlled by one single man with a group of Nazi soldiers. Hitler was the one who lead this action due to believing that their race was subordinate and thinking that they were an alien threat to German racial purity. With his soldiers by his side, they took the lives of many Jew’s and tried changing everything about them. Many of these people suffered in ghettos and concentration camps. They lived their lives not knowing if they would be here the next day. THESIS:

The conflict between the Allies and the Axis was a horrific and deadly one, which consisted of genocide and mass bombings. Innocent citizens were killed with the estimated sixty million casualties, which lead to the question as to the morality of the different actors—Germany, Japan, England and America— in WWII. In order to truly assess their guilt, meaning their moral innocence, each country will be measured upon the morality of their intent and execution of the different controversial mass killings that Germany (the Holocaust), Japan (Nanking), and the Allied forces (Dresden and Hiroshima) took part in. This hierarchy of evil can be judged upon how Japan’s tyranny and the Allies’ area bombing compare to the genocide performed by Germany. Similarly, these countries will be judged on the whether these different acts were premeditated versus in response to another act, as well as the proportionality to which these acts were carried out. This measurement of evil places each party on an overall scale, which depicts the total guilt that each country or countries deserve. WWII exemplifies that while war is an unavoidable aspect of human nature, there is no such thing as a just war. Similarly, while there is a definite hierarchy of morality between the different actors of WWII, each of the countries at play are immoral in their intent and execution of the attacks on opposing countries.

Stanley Milgram’s experiment revealed that average citizens feel pressured to conform, when faced with individuals of higher authority. Citizens will conform even when faced with individual morality. Take for example the Nazis. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the Nazi Party, grew into a mass movement and ruled Germany through totalitarian means from 1933 to 1945. (2) Hitler believed that German people were the purest of the Aryan race, and were therefore the master

When Sigmund Freud began exploring how he could apply his knowledge to historical figures he studied Leonardo Di Vinci and explored possible events that affected his adult life. Historians in late 1950s would attempt to follow Freud’s study in exploring the minds of historical figures and groups of people. When psychoanalyzing their subjects, historians would attempt to get into the minds of their subjects and understand what has caused them to act in the ways of they did. Some of the common subjects explored would be the European and Salem witch trials as well as the actions of members of the S.S. and German armies under Adolf Hitler. Writings like “The Ledged of Hitler’s Childhood” by Erik H. Erikson and Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion