...The Crucible and the Holocaust Deyang Hsu Throughout history, discriminatory accusations and persecutions have alway taken an undeniable role in our lives. No matter the scale of these accusations, they do mold our lives significantly. Similarly, these things can also cost the lives of people, and in a few cases; a really significant amount. The two most memorable crisis of discriminatory accusations which ultimately led to the ruin of a whole group or ethnicity of people are the Salem Witch Trials and The Holocaust. They’re intimately tied with each other; for that the true nature and starting points of them were the same- they all happened accompanied with having scapegoats, discrimination, and they ultimately all ended up in...
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...Hitler’s rise to power began at the end of World War I, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Germany agreed to abide by four main terms of the treaty including war guilt, reparations, military restrictions and loss of land and resources. Social unrest broke out within Germany and with all of this happening at the same time as the start of the Great Depression, Germany was vulnerable. Hitler saw this as a window of opportunity to gain the trust of German citizens, promising to restore Germany’s former prestige, as well as convenient scapegoats for all of Germany’s current problems; scapegoats fueled by Hitler’s anti-semitic views (Gendler & Hazard 2016). One of Hitler’s main beliefs was that Humans belonged to a hierarchy composed and ranked accordingly to race, in which the Aryan race sat the top, with Jews on the bottom. Once Hitler had come into power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933, he along with his Nazi Party took advantage of their powers, using the law, propaganda and indoctrination to pursue their anti-semitic views. From then on, life for Jews would become harder, as Germany was now under the Nazi...
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...The environment that one is in can affect how they view others in a variety of ways. Often, people turn to others for help, searching for someone they can trust during their hard time. Other times people keep to themselves, judging all around them, thinking everyone poses a threat. Both of these were depicted in Ruta Sepetys’ Between Shades of Gray, but what was shown in main character Lina most of all was the common trait of searching for someone to blame. In hard times, people often look for someone to bear the blame of their problems because if they feel like an event is the doing of someone else, and they take their anger or pain out on that person, it can make them feel better. Lina often did this in the story, the first major example...
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...At the end of World War One Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles which stated: “Germany was to admit war guilt and pay unprecedented reparations of 132 billion gold marks (Weiss, 1996, p. 218).” Along with Germany having to admit war guilt and pay reparations to other countries, Germany had to allow trading rights to the allies, their army was reduced to 100,000 men, the air force was abolished, the navy was reduced, their merchant fleet was confiscated, colonies and overseas investments were seized, and they were refused into the league of nations. The Treaty of Versailles left Germany suffering and in economic hardship. In 1934 Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and offered the individuals of Germany hope for the future. Adolf Hitler...
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...Hitlers Rise to Power, Fueled by The Treaty of Versailles By: Jacob Presley When the name Adolf Hitler is said many thoughts go through one's head. The thought of mass genocide, riveting speeches, political mastermind, and many more. Many people before Hitler had tried to take power and do very similar things throughout history. Hitler had one key factor on his side that set him aside from those before him, the right circumstances. After World War I, Germany was left in an a state as opposite as ideal that one could imagine. The Treaty of Versailles left Germany with heavy reparations to pay, an overwhelming shame in the country, and massive unemployment rates. Perfect conditions for a revolutionary like Hitler to start a radical change amongst the government. By looking at Hitler's actions after World War I and the punishments left to Germany by the Treaty of Versailles it can be seen how such a ruthless tyrant could be allowed to gain control over a world power. Hitler was a dispatch runner in World War I, where he ran messages between command posts. During his time in the Bavarian Regiment Hitler volunteered for dangerous missions even after near death experiences, seeming almost fearless. The even more unbelievable part is he almost always escaped without a scratch. Although on October 7, 1916 this luck ran out, Hitler was struck in the leg with a piece of shrapnel from an artillery shell. He was sent to Munich to heal and had only a few light duties to carry out while...
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...“We will not be led like sheep to slaughter”. This is a quote said by Abba Kovner in regard to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. According to, Jspace News, Kovner was a Jewish-Hebrew poet who used his voice to shed light on the details of the Holocaust, and he strived to make a difference for those being persecuted. The Holocaust may be the most famous instance of Jewish persecution, but it is not the only occurrence. Throughout history, Jews have been targeted as a popular scapegoat, which has led to their history of extreme persecution. The persecution of the Jews has occurred on many occasions. To start, persecution has always been a huge aspect of the history of Jews. Their persecution has affected the history and the development...
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...The Rwanda Genocide Xenophobia, the hatred or fear of certain targeted ‘outsiders,’ is one of the most destructive group phenomena in human history. Various incidents in our collective past portray how xenophobia has negatively impacted the lives of so many people. One of the most outright and horrific displays of this destructive force was seen in the German treatment of the Jewish race before and during the Second World War. These events were part of the holocaust, associated with the Nazi notions of racial superiority especially in contrast with their notion of Jewish inferiority. Racial superiority has caused much violence and many deaths for those who have been labeled by the ‘superior’ as ‘inferior.’ This violence has been spawned mostly by an extreme hatred for those viewed as different or inferior. Furthermore, such feelings of hatred have been translated into outright acts of violence against those viewed as inferior, and this at times often prompted retaliation against their oppressors, such as the case in Rwanda. With these premises, the world has been witness to various acts of violence, including the massacre of a significant number of people, all in the name of racial superiority. The concerned countries of the world have often refused to act in time to stop these events even though ample signs of trouble were apparent. Racial superiority has traditionally been an issue for various countries at one point or another in their history, but none worse than...
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...Neo-Nazism refers to any social or political movement to revive Nazism, which was a movement that reflected the beliefs of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party’s and of Nazi Germany from 1933 – 1945 serving as the Head of State, Chancellor of Germany, Head of Government and ruling as dictator. Although Hitler was raised in Austrian Catholic culture publicists Lanz von Liebenfels and politicians such as Karl Lueger and Georg Ritter von Schonerer influenced him, which formed his belief in the superiority of the “Aryan race”. Ideological Theory Hitler developed his political theories from the Austria-Hungary Empire, which is known as the Dual monarchy a multi-national Empire. Born a citizen of the Empire, he believed that the democracy was a destabilizing force because it placed the powers in the hands of ethnic minorities, which cause the Empire to become weak due to the ethnic, and linguist diversity. After the failure of World War I, Hitler gained popularity from the German Nationalists that were disgruntled from the lost war. Many Germans placed the blame of their defeat on the Jews and the communist, which became their ideal scapegoats to a German Nationalist ideology. Hitler’s Nazi theory claimed that the Aryan race is a master race, superior to all other races, that nationalism is the highest creation of race, and great nations (literally large nations) were the creation of great races. These nations developed...
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...The holocaust was organized by Adolf Hitler. He grew to become a power in Germany, started the Nazi race and army, had a view of a perfect race of blue eyed blonde haired people , used the Jewish people as a scapegoat and told all Germany that Jewish people were responsible for all their problems. They captured all the Jews, put them into concentration camps and then killed all of them, either by gas chamber, shootings and burned them all approximately 100's of thousands of Jews were victims. the liberation of Dachau, the first concentration camp the Nazis built and one of the last to be liberated. Although it was not one of the six death camps created specifically for mass murder, many thousands of people died there during the Third Reich. African-American soldiers from Headquarters and Services Co. of 183rd Engineers Combat Battalion, Third Army arrived at Buchenwald on April 17, 1945, too late to be given the honor of being liberators of Buchenwald. Among these soldiers was Leon Bass. Both Dr. Leon Bass and William A. Scott, III have been on the lecture circuit since 1968, telling their story of how black soldiers in the segregated U.S. Army “liberated” Buchenwald. Dr. Bass appeared in the Academy Award-nominated Documentary film entitled Liberators, Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II, which claimed that black troops liberated not only Buchenwald, but also Dachau. Those who liberated experienced a complete massacre. The things that they viewed are unimaginable and could...
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...Turning towards a wealthy minority such as the Jews in Germany or the Tutsi in Rwanda is simple, however, another important factor is the need to belong to a group during difficult times such as war, poverty, famine, economic difficulties, etc... Being part of a group provided the feeling of belonging and obtaining protection and power through the unity of a group, creating a majority over others. When leaders take advantage of a group, it can turn people into killers who experience happiness through belonging to a group that seeks to “purify” the nation from a perceived evil and want to change the miseries around them. Incidents of genocide are not unique to the modern era; like humans’ wish to improve their lives and societies. If a certain group is seen as standing between the population and its...
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...pogroms - example of anti-semitism in Western Europe. The first concentration camp for Jews was in London under the rule of Elizabeth I. * Linking of A race (Judaism) and an ideology (Communism) * Resentment against Jews: = SCAPEGOATS. 'November Criminals' / 'stab in the Back' - Treaty of Versailles - Ebert was Jewish - Hitler manipulated these events and portrayed the Jews as the plague of Society. * The Great Depression of the 1930's - provided the opportunity for extremist parties to rise to power. - Hitler also blamed this on the Jews. * Lebensraum (living space) ideology - dominant in Hitler's World View - tied in with the extermination of Jews. * The Chaotic nature of the Nazi party = Working towards the fuhrer - Gauleiter left to their own devices - implemented their own rules over their areas. SHORT TERM FACTORS OF THE FINAL SOLUTION * WORLD WAR TWO - Gave Hitler the opportunity to implement his ideology. could this Genocide occur without the war? = war is a catalyst for Genocide. * 'Working towards the Fuhrer' - locals helping to round up jews - local hostility - * Role of individuals - Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, Eichmann? * Entry of America in the War * Germany's defeat's in war If Germany had invaded...
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...Depression on Germany? [25 marks] German artist Lea Gruding recalls in her autobiography that the unemployed suffered massively during the great depression not only financially but mentally, having no job to go to anymore. This source was published in 1964, 35 years after the Great Depression making it a secondary source. Some may argue that due to it being a secondary source it is less reliable as it wasn’t written primarily at the time and could differ from the actual events that happened during the Depression. It also maybe exaggerated. Despite this however Gruding doesn’t use statistical evidence which means even though this source could be exaggerated it is not numerically exaggerated. This source on the other hand from historical knowledge is fairly accurate and so is useful because what happened in Germany during the time is represented accurately. It’s true the Weimar Republic was devastated by the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. The Crash had a devastating impact on the American economy but because America had propped up the Weimar Republic with huge loans in 1924 (the Dawes Plan) and in 1929 (the Young Plan), what happened to the American economy impacted the Weimar Republic’s economy and society due to them being so dependent on American loans (the USA was also Germany’s biggest trading partner which affected Germany massively). America now needed those loans back to assist her faltering economy. America gave Germany 90 days to...
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...Michael Bergin Professor Patricia Chappine GSS 2248 February 17, 2016 Nazi Rise to Power The Nazi party’s rapid rise to power did not go off without a hitch. After the hangover from WW1, the mood surrounding Germany was grim. Germany was slapped with international sanctions and forced to pay reparations to France and Britain for the huge costs of the war. The German people were looking for hope and a leader that could generate some real positive changes. In 1919, Adolf Hitler joined a small political party where he quickly rose to leadership through a number of emotional and captivating speeches. He “promoted a national sense of pride, militarism, and a concept of a radically “pure” Germany” (1). By the end of that year Hitler became the official Fuhrer of this small political party called the Nazi party which consisted of about 3,000 members. Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat for Germany’s economic issues while encouraging anti-Semitic views and behaviors. In 1923, any momentum the Nazi party possessed came to a halt in Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch. In an attempt to overthrow local authorities in Munich, Hitler was sentenced to jail and charged with high treason. As things were looking bleak for the Nazi’s Hitler utilized the courtroom as a platform for his greatest attribute, propaganda. He would rant for hours and hours against the Weimar government demanding change. Throughout his trail Hitler actually gained support for his cause. At the end of the day the right-wing...
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...up be coming the foundation on which America was built. Slave masters did many things to slaves that not only destroyed the sprit of the slaves but dehumanized them also. The transition from having indentured servants to mainly using black slaves made it apparently to anyone who a slave was or wasn’t. It also became law that freed slaves have a form indicating they were in fact free. Slaves were treated as cattle. Stripped naked and paraded in front of audiences so they could be bid on. They were beaten and constantly abused. Their identity was striped from them with name changes and families were torn apart constantly. The Jews were singled out by Adolf Hitler during before the start of World War II. They were scapegoats used by Hitler that sparked rebellion in Germany and ultimately started World War II. The Jews were stripped of everything they had. Under the control of Hitler, Jews were forced to wear the star of David on...
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...INTRODUCTION: In many, the ordinary citizens of Germany had a large responsibility to the Jewish people and therefore, some responsibility over the Jewish Holocaust. It may have been that without the participation of ordinary citizens, there never would have been a holocaust and Germany’s history would have been forever changed. However, without the dedication and ideologies of the Nazi Party, the holocaust may have never been invented. And without the Allies ‘by-stander’ position, the holocaust may have never been so successful in their mass murder. ORDINARY PEOPLE: When the ordinary citizens of Germany cast their votes to elect Hitler the Chancellor of Germany they were unknowingly signing the death sentence of between five to six million...
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