The Holocaust is among the darkest chapters in the history of mankind. It was the first time an entire people were systemically targeted, discriminated against, persecuted, and murdered for their religious persuasion.
But this genocide against
the Jewish people did not occur in a vacuum. The Holocaust was
the result of a prolonged and sinister campaign against the Jewish people.
While the shocking nature
of barbarism, violence, and mass murder causes the Holocaust
to be the focal point of historians, the sinister Nazi strategy that enable them to
systemically target an entire people without much resistance needs to be
studied.
A bit of history.
Following Germany's
humiliating defeat during World War 1 in 1914, the Germans were compelled to
sign the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty required Germany
to disarm, make considerable territorial surrender, and pay reparations
that were the equivalent of US$442 billion in 2022.
The treaty caused great resentment among Germans who felt that
the politicians had stabbed them in the back.
The Great
Depression in Germany during the 1930s added to the woes of an
already fragile nation. Unemployment was high and so was inflation which eroded
the purchasing power for regular people.
At such a juncture the people often look toward easy
scapegoats.
Despite the fact that Jews had integrated into German society,
many indigenous Germans perceived them as outsiders. There was resentment based
on antisemitism but it was seldom overt. In fact, the history of antisemitism
and persecuting of the Jewish people in Europe dates back to the medieval
Ages.
The Nazis under Hitler manage to channel all public resentment
towards the Jews, the inherent antisemitism made the feelings more potent.
A relentless and systemic campaign against the Jews is what
led to the Holocaust.
The following measures were applied:
Blaming their political opponents for the Reichstag
Fire
When the German parliament building caught
fire in 1933, the Nazis claimed it was a communist plot to overthrow the
government. The Nazi propaganda machinery was used to whip the nation into a
frenzy against the communists. They
abolished freedom of expression, assembly, privacy, and the press; legalized interception
of communications; and suspended the autonomy of federated states. 4000 people
were imprisoned.
The Nazis claimed that the communists were predominantly
Jewish. The fact that Karl Marx, Engels, and Rosa Luxemburg were Jewish made
their case easy.
Historians have claimed the fire was a false-flag operation by
the Nazis.
Gun Seizure
In 1931, the German Government discovered plans for a Nazi
takeover in which Jews would be denied food and persons refusing to surrender
their guns within 24 hours would be executed. In reaction, the government
authorized the registration of all
firearms and the confiscation thereof, for “public
safety.”
In 1933 when the Nazis seized power, they used the gun
registry to identify, disarm, and attack political opponents and Jews.
Constitutional rights were suspended, and mass searches for and seizures
of guns and dissident publications ensued.
The Nazis ensured that armed Jewish resistance against the
Nazis would be very difficult, almost impossible.
Demonization
The Nazi
propagandists falsely claimed that the Jews exploited the
misery of World War 1 to enrich themselves and that Jews dominated the
peace negotiations and caused the nation to "surrender" causing
permanent "enslavement."
Propaganda via mass media
Under the Nazis, the mainstream
media was co-opted and the dissenting press was shut down.
There was no difference between utterances from the Nazi regime and what
appeared in the print and on the radio. The movie
industry was also co-opted to make propaganda films, that
masquerade as regular films.
Newspapers such as Der Stürmer regularly carried cartoons with
unaesthetic caricatures of Jews. Filmmakers carried pro-Nazi messages while
they demeaned Jews in their
films.
Jewish classical composers, such as Mendelssohn and Mahler,
were banned while Wagner was promoted
It was a sinister strategy of propaganda and censorship to
brainwash a people against the Jews which would create grounds for persecution.
Co-opting Academia
Universities in Nazi Germany were
strictly controlled by Nazis. All Jewish faculty members were dismissed. The
Nazis recruited Professors and lecturers to indoctrinate students about Nazi
ideology while inculcating antisemitism. University curriculums were developed
to emphasize German achievements and
ignore or deride Jewish achievements.
Co-opting the Legal System
Judges were ordered to take an oath of loyalty
to Nazis and to adjudicate in favor of the Nazis. Lawyers were
mandated to join the Nazi Lawyers' Association, which meant they could be
controlled. “People’s Courts” were set up in 1934 to try those accused of
“crimes against the state”.
Institutionalizing Totalitarian
In Nazi Germany, any dissent against groupthink, even in
moderation was crushed with brute force.
Mere utterances or pledges of loyalty were not sufficient, the
Nazis wanted citizens to be true believers. The fear caused the citizenry to
compete against one another to demonstrate their belief. This even included
reporting those who were deemed, traitors.
Laws were
instituted that introduced “protective custody” for what Orwell
terms as thought crimes. Hence people could be arrested and interned despite
not breaking laws.
Books by Jewish authors or that didn’t adhere to the
groupthink were burned in public ceremonies.
These draconian measures caused a major deterrence in the
minds of any potential dissenters.
Race-Baiting
Adolf Hitler believed in the superiority of the ‘Aryan Master Race’.
This race-baiting was crucial for creating grounds for the Nuremberg Race Laws
that deprived Jews of German citizenship,
forbade marriage or
sexual relations between Jews and “citizens of German or kindred blood.”
Access restriction and boycotts of Jews
Special identity cards were issued to Jews and they were restricted
access to public places. Educational institutes were
restricted to Jewish students. Jewish Businesses were boycotted.
In Conclusion
The scale, the systemic persecution, and the genocide of the Jews
by the Nazis make it unique. Casual comparisons to any contemporary occurrences
are particularly insensitive to the millions of victims and trivialize its
graveness. The ‘word’ Nazi hence should never be used lightly.
However, occurrences in Germany that led to the Holocaust must
be remembered because a thorough knowledge of history is the only way to prevent
recurrences.
The citizen must therefore be vigilant when the powerful
attempt to demonize a group as ‘deplorable’ or blame them for problems by using
phrases such as ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’ or use pejorative epithets such
as ‘flyover country'.
When civil liberties encroached upon or access to public places
are restricted for ‘the greater good’ or protesting citizens are deemed
‘domestic terrorist’ or a break into a government building is called terrorism
the citizen must not take it lightly.
When politicians refer to confiscation of guns it must be
taken seriously.
When academia, the judiciary, the press, and the entertainment
industry relentlessly parrot the narrative of the groupthink the citizen must
be attentive.
When wokeness is used to shut down those who don’t subscribe
to the approved thoughts and vocabulary the citizen must fight back.
While the nation may be light years away from Nazi Germany, it
takes a few steps to begin a journey.
Being passive spectator results in the emboldening of totalitarians.
The citizen therefore must be attentive and fearless proponents for freedom.
This also appears on American Thinker
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