The Holocaust; a term that defines the cruelty, mass destruction, the epitome way of racism that one man can accomplish with absolute power. Truly, the holocaust was a living nightmare for the Jews due to Hitler’s convincing ways in which Jews were a problem for Germany and must be taken care of. But is it true that it was only Jews who were the victims of the holocaust? The answer is no. Over 5-million non-Jewish victims were killed. Why isn’t the enormous quantity of non-Jews not even recognized? I believe that we were taught by the media that seems to focus on the 6 million to understand the other 5 million is important today.
A child of survivors’ talks about his parents’ stories of how their house was burned and his uncle shot in the head by a Nazi soldier because his own uncle’s family was hiding a Jewish woman. What shocked him the most, he said, “I realized that many people were not aware that millions of victims of the Holocaust were NOT Jewish. Outside the Polish community, I heard very little mention about the five million non-Jewish victims -- usually referred to as ‘the others’.” The Holocaust victims consisted in these groups: 3-million Polish Jews: 3-million Polish Christians, Catholics; and most of the remaining were from other countries such as Czechoslovakia, Russia, Holland, France, and Germany. Here are some statics that happened in Poland during the period of the Holocaust.
Non- Jew Victims in Poland Non-Jew Victims: Percentage of Killings: Doctors 45% Attorneys 57% Professors 40% Technicians 30% Clergy 18%
These doctors, Journalists, and so forth weren’t even Jews, they were only innocent people. Why did Hitler do this to people? Poland was the first target, a very weak and agricultural country. Hitler promised to the German populace that success and military action will put Germany in a position of power in Europe. As a result, Hitler thought the Germans as the Master Race that would control Europe. What about around Europe or even Germany? Well, there were some groups, religious groups, who refused to cooperate or didn’t believe in this Nazi ideas and practices. One group in particular, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hitler felt particularly threatened, because they refused to recognize any God other than Jehovah. They refused to sign documents of Nazi ideology and thousands were imprisoned as traitors. Other general groups such as the Roman Gypsies were chosen for annihilation just because for their race. Men and women of courage from all nations against the Nazis, Priests and Pastors died for their beliefs. Homosexuals from all over Europe were persecuted, tortured and executed. Nazis believed it was a waste of time and money to support the disabled. 
In the end, it comes to face our real fears though what if this happens again? In our modern times, our country is dealing with an economic crisis; what if it gets worse that it opens a door for a leader who promises relieve for power? Hitler sure proved with all these deaths that dictators maybe focused as Hitler, but go after anyone who challenges them. I truly believe that people don’t recognize that Holocaust wasn’t just Jews, rather than the vast number of religious, political, social groups persecuted by the Nazis and a warning to us all.
Its strange that when we think of the holocaust we tend to think of just the Jewish people.I think we do this because we knew that Hitler wanted the Jewish race gone. people also need to remember the 5-million non-Jewish people that suffered and died.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely make a valid point on how nearly just as many non-Jews died as actual Jews, but also I believe that we focus on the Jewish that died because it was the first labeled genodide, and that Hitler killed because of something as minor as a religion; not necessarily because the world was taught to focus on the Genocide through the media.
ReplyDeleteI think that the media focuses on the Jews instead of 'the others' because the Jews can be classified into one religion. All of the others were gypsies, homosexuals, and others that cannot be put into the same class like all the Jews that were murdered.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Ryan, however, do you think that perhaps the reason why the media focused on Jews instead of other groups was not necessarily because of religion, but because from the beginning they have been discriminated against? After all, their customs were probably unfamiliar to many Germans, and people always fear the unknown. However, if Hitler had created more propoganda centering on gypsies or homosexuals, perhaps the Holocaust would have been viewed as a massacre of those groups instead. I think ultimately it was Hitler's choice to publicize hatred against Jews, and it could have just as easily been any other group, religios or social.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with what everyone has said about how we often just think about the Jews when we think about the holocaust. Why is that? Well maybe because it was the biggest group to be killed rather than just small groups combined. Stalin killed many more people than Hitler how come they are not recognized either?
ReplyDeleteIn 1933, after the Nazis first started arresting some German JWs, the WatchTower Cult issued a public proclamation of appeasement which condemned an imagined partnership between "Jewish Big Business" and the governments of the United States and Great Britain, which supposedly oppressed and exploited other countries, including Germany. The WatchTower Cult's proclamation condemned the Americans and the British as "the most oppressive empire on earth".
ReplyDeleteA conciliatory letter also was sent to Hitler, which highlighted those areas in which the WatchTower Cult supported the new Nazi government. The letter even claimed that the U.S. Government had imprisoned the leaders of the WatchTower Cult during WW1 because they refused to print anti-German propaganda.
During the early years of World War 2, when Germany and Japan were having much success on the battlefields, the WatchTower Cult started teaching that the Bible prophesied that the Axis Powers would defeat and rule over the United States, Britain, and other Allies.
In the United States, JWs went to the homes of families of American service men and women and told those parents, siblings, and spouses that Germany was prophesied to win the war, and that in fighting against Hitler, American and British soldiers were fighting against God's will. A Jehovah's Witness named Taylor was arrested after going to two homes of dead servicemen and telling their families that their sons had died while opposing God's will. Don't believe this? Read 1943 U.S. Supreme Court case TAYLOR v. MISSISSIPPI. Remember the actual historical context the next time you read some liberal newspaper or book's account about how some poor innocent Jehovah's Witness was beaten during WW2 for doing nothing except preaching the Bible door-to-door.
While it is true that a small number of German and other European JWs suffered greatly during the early stages of the Holocaust, it is also true that during the latter stages of the Holocaust that imprisoned JWs became exemplary Nazi collaborators highly valued by the Nazis.
Over the decades, the WatchTower Cult itself has published numerous biographical stories in which imprisoned JWs are praised for having been given positions of authority and responsibility within the various Nazi concentration camps. Various Nazi officials are quoted praising those JWs for not only their work, but their work ethic and supportive attitudes.
In fact, one of Heinrich Himmler's deputies even sent Himmler a report suggesting that after Germany won the war that conquered non-Germanic christian countries be forced to convert to the Jehovah's Witness religion, so as to maintain a controlling religious element in those people's lives which would pose no threat to Nazi political control.