Could it be possible that the German people did not know about the mass ethnocide that was occurring during WWII? There are many answers to this question. For one, the German people could have just chosen to ignore the warning signs and suppress all the signals pointing towards the atrocious acts that were occurring. It is possible that they knew something was going on, but that it was a very limited knowledge. They could have chosen just to not even think about it, just telling themselves that they were doing their individual jobs, that that they did not know of anything outside of the small part that they contributed. However it is very unlikely that they had no idea, with the giant concentration camps that were in operation, especially with the terrible smell and giant plumes of black smoke that rose from Auschwitz. The Germans did however do a good job of creating the illusions of resettlement/relocation of Jews. I feel that it is completely unacceptable, however, that a entire nation could let something like this go on for as long as it did, killing millions of people.
Even for a long time after the war many Germans continued to deny that they knew about the wrong doing. The Holocaust was often not even taught in German schools. This is very dangerous because like Marx said history repeats itself, and if the world does not learn from their mistakes, it can happen again. George Bernard Shaw said "If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience." It can already be seen that without intervention, persecution of people will always occur. Throughout time different ethnic groups and people have been the target of genocide, and contemporary in our lifetime, we have seen these events in pl;aces like Rwanda and Sudan. We have to be proactive and keep our awarness of whats going on outside our country. We like to send troops and intervene in many situations were we are not wanted or needed, but I feel like many times America take the hands off approach when human rights violations are occuring. I think that sometime we need to forget our imperialistic agenda nad actually try to help people.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I would like to agree that they had limited knowledge of the concentration camps, but this is unlikely. I believe that they knew very well what was going on maybe not to the full extent, but I believe they knew they were in the concentration camps and being killed at random. Gossip spreads very quickly especially over something like this. The problem they had was not that they were indifferent to the situation, but they had no power to do anything about it. Most of the German men were off at war so the women and the few men that stayed were not enough to raise a rebellion. I think the reason that the Germans denied it so much was for a couple of reasons. First they did not want to look like they sat by and did nothing while 6 million Jews were killed and 5 million more other people were killed. Secondly, the Germans are very proud people, and they are very proud of strength. For them to admit they were powerless is very unlikely. They would never want to look weak even if they truly were.
ReplyDeleteI wish the Germans had no idea about the mass extermination, but with the size of the operation it seems highly unlikely. As you mentioned, the smell of Auschwitz combined with many other factors made it very difficult to hide. The Nazis tried to hide the horrendous activities that took place but it still seems unlikely that the common population in Germany was clueless. One possible reason why the Germans might have remained silent might have been because of the fear for their own lives. It was not only Jewish Europeans in these camps but also political criminals and the Germans probably feared for their own lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Beau and I wish I could say that the German people and the Polish people near camps like Auschwitz had no idea what was going on. The evidence seems to point to the fact that most people seemed to know that something was going on. The problem is that in a totalitarian fascist government even if you know siomething like this is occuring, fear of becoming a political prisoner would stop many people from acting against the extermination policies of the germans.
ReplyDeleteResearch now seems to indicate that Germans knew something about what was happening. On what authority and in how great a detail they knew and when they knew are still subject to varying levels of debate. As others have said, it is not just self-interested fear that kept greater action from being taken but also the sense of futility of such action. Before the Nazis went after the Jews, they imprisoned their political, social and cultural enemies, limiting the ability of opposition to unite around a leader or to organize meaningful resistance.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the memory of the event goes, Jeffrey Herf wrote an excellent book on this topic called Divided Memory that discusses how East and West Germany responded differently to the legacy of the Holocaust.
For me, some of the most poignant memorials are the Stolpersteine that are springing up throughout Germany. They are small plaques that are put into the ground outside the homes of those taken to camps by the Nazis. The plaques are raised just enough off the ground to catch your foot and your attention (the english translation is "stumbling stones".) Walking through Cologne last summer, it was hard to describe the feeling when you start to realize how many times you catch your foot on one.