For most of the 19th and 20th century race was a constant influential factor in society. Many countries used so called, theories of race, to justify persecution and discrimination within the country. These began to create the ideas of a superior white race and how these races were allowed to dominate due to social standard and strong genes. The most remembered occurrence in history in adapting these theories and aspects was in Nazi Germany and the persecution of the Jews. Social Darwinism, eugenics and scientific racism were but a few of the contributes towards “The Final Solution” in 1933.
THEORIES ON RACE IN THE 19TH CENTURY
In the 19th century, many countries across the world began to develop scientific theories on race and further racial superiority. An American scientist named Samuel Morton studied these theories and further investigated on multiple racial groups. He directly linked the brain size to intelligence,
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In 1937, the Aryanization program was initiated which forced Jews to sell out their businesses to the government. This left thousands of Jews unemployed and looking for new home in other countries. Towards the end of 1918 Europe had 9.5 million Jews living within its borders, by the end of World War 2, there were only 3.5 million. Most had immigrated to other countries but most were murdered by the Nazis. During World War 2, for the first time in history the government had hunted and murdered people solely based on their race. Too much surprise, many Jews had actually fought in the war and were horrified to return home to Germany with the deaths of their families. Many years after the war, there were massive changes on a global level. Due to such radical change, people wanted to resort to simpler times and beliefs of where it was once again the Germans being victims of the
“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.
The Holocaust which was one of many of the controversial events that have happened in the history of our world demonstrated a significant amount of cruelty and dehumanization. Because of such a controversial event, many have suffered through physical and unfortunately psychological upheaval and distress. With previous knowledge and novels’ read on the Holocaust, it came to be known that the event was triggered through obedience and conformity due to the not specifically the Germans’ beliefs of anti-Semitic and propaganda, but more of leader Adolf Hitler. The time of the Holocaust was used to dehumanize which enhanced the understanding of mental health and human psychology. During the Holocaust, many psychological principles affected individuals forever. The principles include groupthink and of course knowing the outcome of the event. Such principles sooner explain the reality of life because it stresses how individuals react due to their past experiences like the Holocaust and most importantly how traumatic events build them as who they are today. Innocent Jews went through starvation, terrible working conditions, and the elimination of race through torture such as gas chambers. Furthermore, the history of this controversial event is now being used to be alert of the health and wellness of those who have gone through such events that sooner change their behavior and mentality for the better or even worse.
Racism is the belief centralized in the idea that a certain race is considered to be superior or inferior to another. It is a belief that labels a person’s worth, social, and moral traits based on his/her inherent nationality or biological features (Anti-Defamation League). This mentality has been around for centuries and still exists today. There are several theories about how such came about and why it continues to thrive. Racism can only be thoroughly studied by tracing its roots and history. Knowing the relevant events prior to and after the peak of a racist manifestation in the society during a certain period of time is one of the keys in understanding the nature of racism. It is important to note that the attempt to understand the nature of racism is not necessarily equivalent to the attempt to justify it. The main purpose of racism studies should be directed towards the attempt to lessen, if not eradicate such mentality. The Holocaust, the infamous racist manifestation which took place in Germany is a great example of what happens when racism is not stopped or prevented. Taking such infamous racist events in history under an extensive look, reveals some of the major arguments/concepts/causes of racism that could lead to understanding racism as a whole and thereby help address this issue in the modern-day society. Extreme ethnocentrism, rivalry for supremacy, and people lacking information are some of the causes of racism deemed to be important in studying
If one hates someone or something that means they have an intense dislike towards them. Sometimes this hate can be so large it can be an influence for mass destruction. We have learned, or even have seen examples of hate turning into something bigger throughout our history. These examples include the multiple wars, terrorist’s attacks, and genocides. Many of these incidents were drove by hate, and did not end well. What drives this hate? How can people turn on one another with just feeling hate towards them? The Holocaust being one of the many genocides in our history was indeed influenced by an intense dislike. That intense dislike was towards certain types of people it ended up taking multiple lives.
At the end of WWI in 1918, Germany’s economy was in ruins. There were very few jobs, and bitterness began to take over the country. According to the text, “Hitler, a rising politician, offered Germany a scapegoat: Jewish people. Hitler said that Jewish people were to blame for Germany’s problems. He believed that Jews did not deserve to live.” (7) This was the birth of Antisemitism--prejudice against Jewish people. Europe’s Jewish people have always been persecuted due to their “different customs and beliefs that many viewed with suspicion.”(7) Hitler simply reignited the flames, and a violent hatred was born.
When the war ended in 1945, millions of Jews had perished. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime had almost entirely wiped out a single race of people in what would become known as the Holocaust. However, the Jews were not the only people who had been stripped of their dignity and killed. There were other groups who the Nazi’s persecuted against. The Roma, homosexuals, the mentally and physically disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Political Prisoners were all systematically gathered up and killed. When the Holocaust gets mentioned, many don't talk about the other millions of innocent people who were murdered alongside the Jews. Many don't see these people as victims at all. The number of people murdered during the Holocaust reaches close to eleven million people. “Contragenics” is the term used to talk about all of the groups who were murdered under the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. These innocent lives were lost in the Holocaust, and while history hasn’t forgotten, humanity has.
During this time the Jews were not expecting for what came, and was very unprepared for the step by step process that happened to make them disappear (Boag). “Up until the nationwide anti-Jewish violence of 1938, known as Kristallnacht, many Jews in Germany expected to be able to hold out against Nazi-sponsored persecution,” (“Holocaust Memorial Council”). The Jewish people of Germany looked at themselves to be German and did many things to prove it, like fight for their country in World War I (“Holocaust Memorial Council”). More than 10,000 Jewish people died fighting for their country in World War I, and many others that didn’t die were congratulated for the work they did by receiving a medal (“Holocaust Memorial Council”).
To begin, there were many political laws implemented against Jews. In the earlier years of World War II, the Nazis declared their goal to segregate Jews from the “Aryan” society.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]”- Ephesians 6:12. This verse from a book of the Bible holds true in the event of the Holocaust. Dehumanization is the process in which the Nazis reduced the people of Jewish religion to nearly nothing just because the Nazis viewed the Jewish people as a nuisance. The horrendous effect of this process reduced the Jews not only in number, but also in spirit through many different unethicical actions. This helped the Nazis in many different ways. The German persecution of the Jewish as well as many other groups, had a generarion gapping effect on the people of
Nazism developed several theories concerning races. The Nazis claimed to scientifically measure a strict hierarchy of human race. Once firmly in power, Hitler’s plans for the ending of the struggle between the Aryan race and the “inferior races” was set to work. These races feared as a biological threat to the master race purity. At the bottom of this hierarchy were “parasitic” races which were perceived to be dangerous to society. Hitler’s Nazi theory also claimed that his Aryan race is superior to all other races, that a
When the infamous Hitler began his reign in Germany in 1933, 530,000 Jews were settled in his land. In a matter of years the amount of Jews greatly decreased. After World War II, only 15,000 Jews remained. This small population of Jews was a result of inhumane killings and also the fleeing of
In the beginning, Germany as a whole was in a state of depression. Money had become worthless and there was no true hope for the citizens of Germany until Adolf Hitler came into power. Adolf Hitler was able to obtain power with the help of the Nazi party through promises and ideas that gave aspiration to the people of Germany. As a result, after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, along with the Nazi party, they began implementing anti-Jewish legislation. These anti-Jewish legislations would restrict Jewish people of many things and excluded them from German life. Because of this, Hitler and the Nazi regime was able to spread fear, especially towards the Jewish communities in Germany. As a result, to achieve their final solution, the Nazi regime created the ghettos and concentration camps where Jews would be sent. The ghettos and concentration camps would be what the Nazis used to control the Jewish population. The concentration camps were the most horrific aspect of the Holocaust. The Jews were forced to strip naked and do hard labor with little food and medical care. The crematorium and the gas chambers became the most inhumane way to massacre vast amounts of people. In the end, when the Holocaust ended in May 8, 1945, the deaths of the Jewish people in Europe had accumulated to a tragic, 6 million. To this day, the Holocaust, referred to as the greatest sin against humanity, remains the most traumatic and heart-breaking event in
From 1933 through 1945 was a period of history called the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, people were being killed for their looks, race, and disability. About 11 million people were killed in brutal and tragic ways. Adolf Hitler, the leader, wanted to create a pure race. Racism helped Hitler organize the population into the way he wanted. He wanted people to support the cause of making a pure race. If people opposed, they would be persecuted. Racism allowed Hitler to influence the German people into following his leadership even if it meant genocide.
The holocaust was a time when six million jews were killed by the Natzi’s because they considered themselves a surperior race and the jewish an inferior race(www.ushmm.org). The Germans had killed 1.5 million children out of the 6 million during the holocaust (www.wikipedia.org). It was the deadliest genocide by the Germans to the Jews(www.wikipedia.org). To Natzi Party leader Adolf Hitler, jews were an “alien” threat to German Racial Purity and Community(history.com.) It’s Important to understand that the Holocaust and the mass murdering didn’t occur all at once, It was carefully planned. It started with laws that required the jewish to be separated from the general population. Concentration Camps were also created).Concentration camps are
An abstract is a brief summary—usually about 100 to 120 words—written by the essay writer that describes the main idea, and sometimes the purpose, of the paper. When you begin your research, many scholarly articles may include an abstract. These brief summaries can help readers decide if the article is worth reading or if addresses the research question, not just the topic, one is investigating.