Holocaust Thoughts

My thoughts on the Holocaust

“Thinking about all your learnt and read about the Holocaust...... How does a democratic and just society turn to one of hate and genocide? Write a paragraph or two explaining your thoughts.”

“Patriotism is a arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.” – George Jean Nathan
The above quote was delivered by George Jean Nathan, an American film critic who had passed away over 50 years ago. Although I only recently stumbled upon this quote, I’ve been thinking a lot of what the history of War has taught me.
Democracy in its own way is inefficient. It takes the combined answers of two sides and rules out the minority, thus, giving the majority complete power. I believe that this is a fair and just way to rule a country, but ultimately can lead you down the road of defeat. To be fair; every type of government will ultimately lead to downfall. A country’s future depends on its politicians. A group of educated individuals who have a direct say in the country’s future. A politician’s main weapon is to use what their country sees as justice. However, politics are fickle, the meaning of justice can change from one day to the next. Germany’s meaning of justice meant reclaiming what they had lost. However, Hitler did not have enough influence to do this. As a cheap trump card, he decided to target all of the country’s hate and darkness onto a single race. The Jewish people. With all the hate directed at them, Hitler brained washed the German race into believing that the Jews were the problem of it all. The people who stole your goods, ruined your business, caused all crimes. Overtime, the German people demanded more. To wipe the Jews off the face of the planet. This being the ultimate trump card for patriotism, Hitler seized the opportunity. Concentration camps were hastily ordered to be built, camps that were specifically built to exterminate the Jews. Over the course of 6 years, over 11 million Jews had been killed. Dealing a fatal blow to the race.

The people who enforced Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws were the soldiers, the SS. I do not believe for a millisecond that every soldier was so brainwashed to the point that they thought what they were doing to the Jews was actually right. Murder will always be considered “wrong”. Self defensive murder might be passed as a legitimate defense tool but ultimately the guilt will kill you from the inside out. To the SS, the greatest sin a soldier could commit was to let their personal emotions cloud their judgment of what is just. Their orders were clear: Stay loyal to your country, do as your told, and you’ll be fine. But what is your country really? One day, you may be ordered to infiltrate foreign territory. After the mission goes fubar, your country decides to desert you. Do you stay loyal to your nation, or do you betray them out of hatred? In the end, the only other human being a soldier can trust is himself. Stay true to himself and no one else. Do what they want, follow orders, but ultimately your commander in arms will always be yourself. The SS ruled this out completely. The feared Hitler’s power, but their fear was clouded by their conditioned hate for Jews.

In the end of the day, I do not think Germany after WWI was ever a democratic or just country. They were constantly clouded by corruption and cheap play.