The Importance Of Resistance In Nazi Germany

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.

This is saying that the government should only interfere with a person’s freedom if it endangers the society of France. The purpose of this is to write down the natural rights the 3rd estate wants the King and government to protect. Politics in France were just one cause that started the French

France had a general distrust of Germany. There was a great fear that if more serious measures to stop Germany were not made then the next generation would be seeking a war of revenge. The French public opinion earnestly desired a just peace, and would not take up arms again until compelled by a clear threat.3 This pacifism played an extremely important role in French policy. "Whether from ignorance or misunderstanding, many of the French people were apathetic, or just did not care enough to want action."4 The people were divided into two forces, the Left and Right, the Right favoring

Victor Frankl once said, “Any person, regardless of the circumstances, can decide what shall become of them – mentally and spiritually.” This is true for Oskar Schindler and Amon Goeth, who both had very different reactions to World War II. Human goodness is when one sees the truth, accepts it, and makes rational decisions based on the truth. Human evil is irrational decision-making, and when a person sees and understands the truth but choses to defy it. In Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, philosophers Kant and Rahner would agree that Schindler is a representation of human goodness, and Goeth represents human evil.

When Adolf Hitler first came to power in pre-WWII Germany, all of Germany was ready for a new Fuhrer to lead them into success and overcome the recent depression. Among his supporters was Adolf Eichmann, who began as just another German citizen, but transformed into something even he could not have imagined. “On trial are his deeds, not the sufferings of the Jews, not the German people or mankind, not even anti-Semitism and racism” (Arendt 5). Eichmann was tried for crimes against humanity, but before deciding for oneself whether he was guilty of this charge, we must question whether he was acting out of service to his country or out of his own self-interest. After reading deeper into the results and proceedings of the trial, it is only logical for one to conclude that although he may have joined forces with the Nazi party as a patriot, his motives for continuing to assist in carrying out genocide on an unimaginable scale was largely self-interest.

While this was going on in France, the army was trying to make France’s government better, but while doing it, the rights of the people were violated. From Louis XVI’s unfair treatment to the citizens, it caused them to revolt. Since the citizens did not agree with the authority, they were not treated right for speaking out. The rights they deserve were not given to them. For example, “People here fiercely fought against the military draft called levée en masse and against laws that tried to abolish Christianity in France.” (Doc C). They were not given the right for freedom of

Germany was believed to be the cause of World War one, which made other European countries want to severely hurt Germany’s military and economy so that Germany couldn’t achieve future aggressions. The peace treaty called the Treaty of Versailles did just that. On June 28, 1919, the major powers in Europe, other than Germany, negotiated Germany’s punishment for the war. Germany’s military was limited to 100,000 men, they lost many of their colonies, they were forced to disarm their troops from the Rhineland, and worst of all they were forced to pay for all of the destruction caused by the war, which totaled to about 40 billion dollars. The Treaty of Versailles crushed Germany; they were weak and desperate, until Nazi Germany came to power.

Hook: Why would it be right for someone to oppress and even almost kill off half the country because of a disagreement? Hitler’s idea was that he could rule the world and oppress and most likely kill anyone who opposed him. This soon led to rebellions starting against Hitler and his Nazi empire. As soon as German people and others around the world hear about what Hitler is doing, soon people oppose Hitler and rebel against him.

Sticking by something you believe in does not necessarily mean that you have to fight everyone who disagrees with you. You can silently protest without fighting or getting rough, and that is exactly what non-violent resistance is. Non-violent resistance can cause change because it makes people aware of the problem, which in turns makes them motivated to support the cause, and there is always people willing to stand by each other no matter the outcome.

Resisting oppression is a person resisting evil, resisting authority, saying no to something even though they know the ghastly consequences. Some are too afraid. Others, the best ones, resist it without thinking, without a single doubt in their mind. They know what is right, and follow their heart. Those like Liesel, who stood with max. The Steiner family who denied letting the Gestapo take Rudy. Then Hans, who gave bread to a dead man. They did, and said everything without thinking.

People generally will step-out of moral bounds given no control is present residing over them, leading to these acts of terror and violence. Aron further simplifies this saying without something to stop someone, they can do whatever they want, “There is no moral leader present to role model resistance,” (Aron). Countless number of texts and historical events show this, specifically the Milgram experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram in Yale University. Milgram asked for multiple people to participate in this for a reward in which they would require a teacher and a learner to work with each other. One would submit answers, and if wrong, the teacher would give the correct one and shock them for a certain voltage.

Some resistance groups made it far in the Holocaust, some didn't make it through the terror. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is an example of this, they may not have made it through, but they kept fighting for almost a month. It was nearly impossible to beat the odds, but this did not stop

Peaceful resistance is a major part of American history, from the American Revolution to the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement to the Travel Ban protests of today. These instances of peaceful resistance shape American society for the better, as the voices of minorities are heard and unjust laws are ended. Peaceful resistance does positively impact a free society, as supported by Henry Thoreau, demonstrated by the 1960 Civil Rights Movement, and anticipated by protests of today.

Starving. You are starving. According to Germany during the Great Depression you would have been out of work and hungry for many years now. You take your trillion marks down to the corner store, wait in line, claw and fight your way for the last couple of items and then find out when you get to the cashier that due to the ever growing inflation your trillions of marks won’t be enough for a single loaf of bread, as is life in Germany in the late 20’s and early 30’s. According to Commanding Heights: The German Inflation most people especially the young have grown up in these terrible conditions were it was more cost effective to take the German marks and burn and use them as wallpaper than as actual money. Around this time you hear about a

In the case of Adolf Eichmann, the person in charge of planning the collection, transportation and extermination of hundreds of thousands of people, he stated that, “ The orders were, for me, the highest thing in my life and I had to obey them without question.” He had a role in the murders of thousands and thousands of people, yet he justifies it by saying that he was simply obeying orders. Eichmann was not a psychopath by any means in fact, he was described as very average and declared sane by six different psychiatrists. Authority had and