Indifference toward the Holocaust

859 Words2 Pages

When people first hear about the Holocaust, they are so surprised to hear how horrible and sick the whole time period was for Jews. Everyone is really shocked to know that so many horrible and hateful things could be done. The idea that countries were taken over, families and children were torn apart and people were tortured and murdered, is unbelievable. Propaganda and psychological conditioning played a large role in the genocide and overall indifference towards Jews during the holocaust. Not only was Hitler and his troops able to control armies, but he was able to influence other countries through precise planning and strategic moves.
The Holocaust occurred over an extended period of time, causing irreversible physical and mental abuse. It happened over many years as part of a deliberate step by step process masterminded by Hitler. One of the first things that people began to see and eventually believe was propaganda. The idea of propaganda was to get people to believe something by showing illustrations that share ideas. Generally those ideas were negative or misleading, and if someone is exposed to propaganda enough, then they are more likely to begin to believe it. Hitler knew that using propaganda would be a way to influence the people of Germany into believing that Jews were horrible and needed to die. Hitler’s mean tactics not only diminished the Jews, but also kept people in fear of their life and lives of their loved ones and therefore ready to obey his rules. When people are scared for their lives… they will do crazy things. According to A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust “Propaganda relies on emotion rather than on logic, concentrates on a few points which are presented in simple terms, and then hammers those points ...

... middle of paper ...

...ople don’t want to believe it’s happening. Some people now in days chose to not listen and ignore bad things that are happening to keep themselves at peace, and some just flat out don’t care. Genocides that are still occurring and many corrupt leaders use the same tactics as Hitler. Psychological conditioning makes people believe something when it’s actually wrong. Reinforcing negative thoughts and repeating over and over that what they are doing is okay, keeps these crimes of genocide alive. Indifference is ironically one of the worst emotions because it isn’t emotion. It’s the thought that people don’t matter. For many, Jews didn’t matter.

Works Cited

“Resisters.” A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust. University of South
Florida. 2005. Web. 28 Apr. 2008.

"Psychological Conditioning." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011.
Web. 8 May 2011.

Open Document