Arguing Cause Essay In January 1993, Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany and with this title came the harsh persecution and murder of 6,000,000 Jews and the destruction of 5,000 Jewish communities. These Jews were victims of Germany’s deliberate and systematic attempt to annihilate the entire Jewish population. In a time of economic hardship, after the loss of a large amount of territory in World War I, the Nazi party gained the advantage in the political system of Germany and used a vicious propaganda campaign against political opponents (Franklin). This government was soon consolidated and within a year of taking office, Hitler was in absolute control of Germany. With grassroots organization, a police infrastructure and secret police, the Nazis were blamed for Germany’s ills and terrorized, beaten, killed or sent to concentration camps in an effort to eliminate the race (Marrus). Many have questioned the motives of the Holocaust and tried to find a name to blame or an explanation for the actions the followers took who seemed to have no issues following their leader without questioning the actions they were being told to take. Naturally, people blame the key initiator and conceptualizer, Adolf Hitler (Marrus). Without hiding any hatred towards the Jews or showing any remorse or regret for his actions, Hitler lead a nation to believe that the Jews were a race of sin. Did one person shatter the ability of a world full of people to think for themselves? Was it the influence of religion, that was used in explanation and convincing, that made the murder of a race acceptable? Was it the fear of a leader who seemed to have unlimited power the cause of people becoming murders? What were the motivational factors of the Holocaust? What make it okay for a father to kill another man’s child because they were Jewish? Was the nation hurting so badly that it eased their pain to watch a race suffer to their deaths? To look back on the Holocaust, one must wonder how the events escaladed why they did. It makes one question why there was no one person, no one country and no combined effort that put a stop to the events that were taking place. What makes a nation, a region of the world, turn to one man and believe what he has to say? What makes it okay to kill? What influences people to forget the beliefs that they were taught as a child and act on the beliefs of a leader? Questions such as these have been studied for years. Research on new religious movements, the thoughts of those partaking in cult activity and the patterns of human behavior have been studied and analyzed. What does this understanding bring? It could help bring peace to nations of war. It could prevent groups from forming and causing damage, like acts of ritual murder, mass suicide and terrorist acts. Could events like Jonestown, Waco and September 11th been avoided? The past can only be studied. We cannot go back and reverse the groups, the logic, the actions of these people but we can study what the cause was. If we can understand the logic, can we prevent it in the future? There are different factors that are present in every case, but what makes people do wrong when they come together as a group of people and what makes that logic seem reasonable? People want to have a meaningful life. People want to serve God or humanity. People want to be taken care of, to feel protected and secure. People want to find a home. Research has been conducted and concludes these things are what lead people to try to better their lives. This search to better their own lives, to serve, to be taken care of, to find a home leaves people venerable (Zuesse). Groups have been shown to take advantage of just that. Alcoholics Anonymous provides a setting where venerable people can come and find a home. They can become a family who provide support to better their lives. They protect each other from judgment. Alcoholics Anonymous: a group providing good for a broken person. On the other hand, a prostitution rings give the ‘Pimp’ the power to give broken girls the ability to ‘serve humanity’. They are ‘cared’ for and ‘provided’ for by their Pimp. They find a family of sorts to be ‘supported’ by. Prostitution: a ‘family’ for girls who need to find home? Does the need for people to find a meaningful life erase morals, make torture acceptable and explain the ability for a world to murder a race? Leaders demand loyalty and suppress criticism, another theory presented and researched to explain people coming together with one intention, should it be right or wrong. Leaders have shown that there is a mindset of absolute power that is instilled, if a leader is given power without checks and balances. There are leaders who claim to have special knowledge that guides them and the power they hold. Research has proven that good leaders make people feel important and appreciated. The unnatural powers that some leaders claim to hold combined with the ability to make people feel important and appreciated has been proven a force strong enough to hold a group of followers together, following a corrupt leader (Tyrrell). Although unnatural powers cannot be proven as a cause of Hitler’s power and followers, a group in England was formed by a man named David Berg who was portrayed as a follower of God, who claimed to have direct communication with God. People began following Berg and all his decrees. His leadership led the group to change their names, unlinking everyone to their previous lives, move to rural areas with no neighbors and to partake in sexual activities, including sexually abusing the children of the group. One follower, who had been abused from the age of three by grown men of the group, was given the opportunity to escape the abuse and move away from the group but turned down the offer because “I was too scared to leave The Family, the only world I knew” (Jones). Fear kept the young girl from Berg’s group from leaving. Fear and intimidation have been researched and applied to situations and have been proven to play a role in the ability of a group to instill a certain mindset into its followers. Hitler ordered his police and secret police to kill, or send to a concentration camp, anyone who was helping a Jew in any way. This made those who were helping the Jewish race fearful for their lives (Franklin). Although fear, leadership and the need for a meaningful life have all been topics researched the sum of these combined early in life can be accounted for much of our behavior. Early on in life, our behavior patterns are established in the family. We comply with the way our family operates as a way to survive. Our leaders are our parents. Our group members are our siblings. We are taught to rely on our parents, our leaders, to teach us what we need to understand. We look to them to make decisions, we obey there authority and we don’t see ourselves as responsible for our actions (Tyrrell). These behaviors can be found in animals as well. In packs, animals are protected from predators. At times, the weak animal must be cast out to be eaten by the predators so the pack can live. As a group, the survival chances are much higher (Tyrrell). This can also be seen in people. There is an enormous power of the group. Watched and researched, studies have shown that if there is a mugging in the street, we are more likely to help if we are alone then when we are in a group. This is because if there are others around we look to others to determine how we are supposed to react. We watch and wait for someone else to take responsibility (Tyrrell). This study shows leaders are the people who detach themselves from this group and possess the ability to make a decision based on their individual judgment. Because they have stepped forward and lead the way they have exploited the group behavior and they may gain followers. People are fearful of individualistic views because of the embarrassment, and fear of being an outcast, that comes from thinking outside the box (Tyrrell). Without these individualistic thoughts there is no change or progress, good or bad. There have been many studies done, conducted in Germany, to examine why Germans let the mass murder of 6,000,000 Jews continue in their country. In the beginning of the study, one theory presented was the German people did not know of the events. This was proved false when the subjects were able to produce newspaper and artifacts that they had kept form the time period proving the public was aware of the cruelty. The Jewish race was being described as ‘internal enemies’. There were anti-Jewish programs on and anti-Jewish propaganda present everywhere. The concentration camps were described to the public as camps for “those with hydrocephalus, cross-eyed, deformed half-Jews and a whole series of racially inferior types” (Ezard).
The German people were aware of many of the event that were occurring and stood by to watch. The Germans were told the Jewish were an evil race. With programs, print and propaganda a nation was persuaded to believe that the Jewish race was unfit to live amongst the Germans (Ezard). We ask how this can happen, how a nation can believe something so wrong, but as a society we are very similar. We believe what are taught to believe without questioning the information presented. Our history books present one source of information and we memorize that. We dress the way that those who are leaders in the fashion world tell us to dress. We listen to talk shows and take in their opinionated facts as our own opinion. We hear about a diet that will help you drop pounds and try it because it is best to skinny and fit. We are who we are told to be. In one way or another, we are influenced by wanting to be a better person. We look to surround ourselves with those who will protect us and be a family. We look to our leader s to make the decisions we will live by and even if we disagree, we continue to go about our day. Our fears prevent us from speaking our mind and we follow the pack, because it is safer than standing independently. Our world is full of terrible events, happy celebrations and questionable judgment and we are taught to cry for the terrible events, celebrate the celebrations and to follow our leaders because they undoubtedly know better than us.

Work Cited
Ezard, John. "Germas Knew of Holocaust Horror about Death Camps." TheGuardian 16 Feb. 2001. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
Franklin, Joshua D. What Caused the Holocaust. N.p.: Ouchita Baptist University, 1998. Drury University. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
Jones, Celeste. "Enslaved by the Cult of Sex.For 25 Years." MailOnline 13 July 2007. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-468046/Enslaved-cult-sex--25- years.html>.
Marrus, Micheal. The Holocaust in History. New York: Meridan, 1989. Print.
"The Holocaust: An Introductory History." Jewish Virtual Library. Holocaust Memorial Center, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
Tyrrell, Ivan, and Joe Griffin. "Exploring the CULT in Culture." Human Givens 1.2. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
Zuesse, Eric. Why the Holocaust Happened: Its Religious Cause & Scholarly Cover Up. N.p.