Hitler and Anti-Semitism vs. THE JEWS

During World War II, the Nazi (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei / National Socialist Workers party) regime of the German dictator Adolf Hitler murdered six million Jewish men, women, and children. According to Webster's dictionary a Jewish person is a person who is a member of a people now living in many countries of the world who trace their descent from the Israelites of the Bible, or from postexillic adherents of Judaism. By definition Jewish people had not committed any crime. "Yet to Hitler, and to many who carried out his orders, these people had been criminals since before birth. They were Jews." (Arnold, 11) The Jewish people of the world had no responsibility for the events that led to the demise of the Jewish people. The rise of anti-Semitism in Germany escalated to an event called Kristallnacht which should have been anticipated as a public proclamation of Hitler's desire to purge Europe of the Jews.

In 1933, the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and made anti-Semitism an official government policy. Hitler's attempt to purge Europe of the Jews is a continuation of racism and prejudice that have been present in the world for many hundreds of years:

Among those who have suffered most at the hands of prejudice are the Jews. Though small in number when compared to other groups, they constitute one of the most significant bodies of people in the world having made great contributions over the centuries to science, medicine, commerce, and the arts. (Dolan, 5)

Over the years other cultures and groups of people have felt threatened by the Jews and their accomplishments:

In great part, prejudice springs from fear: the fear that someone might be better then we are, might take a job we want, might somehow change for the worse our neighborhood, or might challenge our dearest beliefs-¯and even prove them wrong-¯with his or her beliefs. (Dolan, 9)

The Jews never intentionally wanted to threaten anyone; they just wanted to fulfill their religious beliefs. Their beliefs put great emphasis on education and personal success. This success in many cases led to financial success. Becoming happy with themselves based on what they pursued for their life is considered success. When the Jews are succeeding in the fields of law, finance, and medicine, most other religious groups may feel threatened because they may not be as focused in their pursuits and therefore not as successful.

By the time Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933 he began ranting against both the communists and the Jews, calling them dangers to the German state. "The Jews in particular felt his [Hitler's] wrath. He branded them cowards and shouted that they had avoided military service all the wayĆ¢ā‚¬Ā¦and warned that rich Jews would like nothing better than to take over economic and political control of the country." (Dolan, 60) Adolf Hitler's master plan to purge Europe of the Jews was completed by influencing the public to hate Jews. Hitler's influence was promoted toward men, women, and children of Germany. Hitler turned the German people against the Jews. Hitler used spoken and written attacks against the Jews, which wereout right lies. For example, Hitler stated that the Jews had avoided military service. The fact that 100,000 Jews had served in the German army during World War I was omitted by Hitler. Also overlooked were the 12,000 Jewish soldiers who died defending Germany in that conflict. During World War II the children of Germany were taught a poem to chant at Jews. "The rose is red, The violet's blue--, Everywhere you go, There comes a Jew." (Dinnerstein, 70) Among other techniques that Hitler used, he required all Jews to wear distinctive clothing. "Jews have frequently been required to wear distinctive clothing so that they would be easily identifiable in public." (Arnold, 34) Once people would see the Star of David on the sleeve of an innocent Jew he would be harassed and tantalized to the most extreme extent. "Harassment of the Jews has taken the form of legal and social restrictions as well as physical attacks on people and property." (Arnold, 16)

These attacks were forced upon the Jews by the German people. Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) was an event where the Germans (Nazi thugs) "smashed furniture, broke windows, set fires and rampaged through synagogues, homes, shops, banks, and offices." (Dolan ,67) During this terrible event many Jews who were trying to escape the terrible onslaught were shot. Others were trapped and burned when their homes were set on fire. Again persecution and hatred followed the people just because they were Jewish. Kristallnacht is most certainly an example of the attacks on the Jewish people and their property. Kristallnacht was a precursor to all the travesties that World War II had to offer to the Jewish people. More was yet to come. In fact Kristallnacht was a miniature version of the program that was known as "the final solution to the Jewish problem." This was "the program that would exterminate all of Europe's 9 to 10 million Jews." (Dolan, 68)

Hitler's program to exterminate the Jews consisted of three parts. First Nazi troops drove trucks into Jewish districts and loaded them with Jewish residents. The residents were fooled into going peaceably "by being told that they were being moved to a new area to be 'resettled' there." (Dolan, 68) Unfortunately, the trucks made their way to remote spots where the passengers were "ordered off, made to strip and herded into a great pit" where they were shot to death. The pit was then covered with dirt and limestone. In addition "gas vans" were used and finally, the third phase was the mass murder of Jews in gas chambers and concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau, Majdanek, Sachsenhausen and Treblinka. The concentration camp at Auschwitz alone was responsible for "the taking of 2 million Jewish lives." (Dolan, 70)

To this day the Nazi influence is still present, not just in Europe, but all over the world. Many groups of people advocate the persecution and killing of Jewish people. The KKK (Ku Klux Klan) is one such group. Their goal is to "suppress" the rights of blacks, Catholics, Jews and other groups. "Suppress" means killing, if necessary. The anti-Semitic tendencies are also showing up in schools. At Detroit Country Day school in one of the bathrooms the line, "Jews can't erase forever, they can be erased forever" appears. The memory left by Nazi persecution and Hitler's extermination still exist in the minds of the Jewish people who survived or whose children remember family stories. My Jewish Polish grandmother still refuses to buy any German automobile, she won't buy the German "Birkenstock" sandal, she won't go to a movie about Germany, or fly willingly on Lufthansa airplanes. The pain still resides.