Holocaust Blog #1

Essential Question: How can something like the Holocaust happen?

Many people wonder how an event as horrific as the Holocaust could happen in a modernized country in Europe during the 20th century. These people overestimate the will of the bystanders. The Holocaust mainly happened because of immense propaganda, bystanders, and the brainwashing of an entire generation.

Artifact #1: (Propaganda) - The Poisonous Mushroom

Propaganda played a large part in creating the Holocaust. Hitler was able to transform the minds of regular people and children with propaganda posters and books from him that made it seem like the Jews were vermin. The book The Poisonous Mushroom by Julius Streicher's Der Stürmer-Verlag was written for children and families, instilling an abundance of stereotypes into its pages. The book warns against the Jewish people and compares them to vermin which need to be eliminated. This book was marketed towards children to start them off right away. The children may read this book, and later when they join Hitler Youth, which was required by German law, they would accept the genocide.

Artifact #2: (Poetry) - First They Came

This poem by Martin Niemoller highlights many reasons why the Holocaust happened. Many people just thought that it did not affect them. Niemoller was a German priest who was bystander at the beginning of the Holocaust, until he started speaking up against it and was thrown in a concentration camp himself. “First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-because I was not a Jew” Many bystanders felt this way. They would do nothing because they did not want to risk their own lives or their families lives to help. “And then they came for me-And there was no one left to speak out for me”

Artifact #3: (Hitler Youth) - Knife

Hitler Youth was the brainwashing of an entire generation of German children. During the time Hitler was in power, they had to join Hitler Youth camps starting at the age of 10 where anti-semintist ideas would be grounded into their heads. The children would also learn how to be soldiers and nurses so they could help out Germany in the war. These kids were brainwashed through school, propaganda, Hitler Youth, and probably parents that Jewish people were “vermin.” The knife itself makes it seem such as something a boy scout or a girl scout would have, and makes the whole concept seem innocent.