Anti-Semitism

992 Words2 Pages

Jews have been persecuted since the beginning of documented time.

This religious group has been poked, prodded, exiled, and in recent

years, massacred for their religious beliefs. This racial prejudice is

called anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is the vicious weapon of

propaganda used to break down the Jews psychologically before the

armies of Germany even began to annihilate this religious group during

World War Two (“anti-semitism” 47).

The NAZI Party led in this mass murdering of the Jewish people. The

head of the NAZI Party, Adolph Hitler, proclaimed that he was not a

racist, yet killed over six million defenseless people because of their

race. Hitler also declared, redundantly, in his speeches, that he did not

desire World War Two. These are some of his last words: “It is not true

that I, or anyone else in Germany wanted a war in 1939. It was wanted

and provoked exclusively by those international statesmen who either

were of Jewish origin, or worked for Jewish interests. This led to the

merciless opposition to the universal poisoner of all peoples,

International Jewery” (Rossel 10).

As one can see, anti-Semitism could not be stopped in the era of

World War Two, because Hitler outlawed any media that wasn’t showing

hatred toward the Jews. The only radio broadcasts were his hate filled

speeches and news reports that he approved. The only programs on

television also had to be approved by Hitler or someone under him. No

newspapers were allowed to say anything that, in any way, insulted a

Nazi, or any other German. If any Jew was caught insulting a German,

they were immediately executed or tortured until death. This fear that

had been provoked by the death, starvation, and abuse of the

Holocaust, was another type of propaganda brought about by the Nazis

(Zeman 26).

Another reason that Jews were hated was jealousy. They were

believed to be God’s chosen people. Hitler took advantage of this, and

used it as another opening for propaganda. Soon, the Jews were

blamed for the death of Christ and said to have brought all of the pain

and suffering on the world. It was said that God was punishing the Jews,

and the rest of the world, for not receiving Him, and once the Jews were

gone, the Garden of Eden would thrive again. This ridiculous theory was

later declared unchristian by the Second Vatican Council (Roth 47).

Anti-Semitism was...

... middle of paper ...

...s of the Jewish people.” They did not take these books to read

them, they made the people come outside and watch them burn. This

was frightening because, “Wherever they burn books, they will also, in

the end, burn helpless human beings.” That was said by Heinrich Heine,

a survivor of one of the concentration camps in Nazi Germany

(“anti-Semitism” 1).

The Holocaust--the merciless massacre of over eleven million defenseless,

innocent people, six million of which were Jewish--can be directly linked to the

hatred and racism brought about by Nazi propaganda. The people of Germany

let their minds be controlled and learned to despise the Jews. Hate is a powerful

weapon that has the power to kill without mercy (Holocaust no pagination).

WORKS CITED:

“Anti-Semitism.” Murray, John Courtney Sr. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge .1991.

Roth, John K. and Berenbaum, Michael. The Holocaust Religious and Philosophical

Implications. New York: Pragon House 1981.

Rossel, Seymore. The Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts, 1981.

The Holocaust . Director Tad Ve’Shem. Video. Parade Video.

Zeman, Z.A.B. Nazi Propaganda. London: Oxford university Press, Incorperated, 1973.

Open Document