Monday, April 4, 2011
Strategy
All too man times we question the power of opposition when it comes to the Nazi party or even more generally to the Holocaust. Why was there no fight for what was right? Why did it take so long before anyone realized the horrible damage and corruption that was sweeping Germany? The devastation caused the Nazis are so legitimized to the people. It was almost as if it was in the fine print that no one had read, yet their signatures of approval were the only things that were needed. Strategy is perhaps the strongest feature Nazi propaganda. Hitler spent much time make sure that ever move had a plan, a back up plan, and a general plan of action. The legality in the way that the Nazis had taken power, as well as how they conducted peaceful marches, speeches, etc allowed their followers to believe that they desired to continue in that direction. Most interesting from Allen's book, we learn that even when things began to turn for the worst it was quite gradual. The Nazi's were not just arresting people, they still followed their strategy of legitimacy and would plant guns in the home of unsuspecting people so that they could have a basis for why they were being arrested. Gradualism in terms of the devastation allowed people to believe that perhaps things would get better?, perhaps that citizen did have a gun?, perhaps things would never get as bad as they were actually going to? All along the strategy was going as planned, in amidst of thinking that there was rhyme and reason for the events going on, the people were being pushed further and further away from the capability of stopping the damage that was about to take place.
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Despite what we know now about the Nazi regime, it is highly unlikely that all of Germany knew what the Nazis were really up to. And although there was a high level of anti Semites throughout, Germany most certainly did not believe in the genocide of 6 million Jews. It is commonly known that the Nazis had complete and utter control over the news and propaganda, so it would make sense that they would cover up the death camps and the planted guns and false evidence, all of which is now accepted and known. Citizens of Germany did not know how severe the Nazis were taking their power. They knew they were at war, they knew Jews were being hazed, but it is fair to assume that they did not support the genocide. Let's take a look into the mind of the average Nazi soldier. They knew what kind of terror was going down, but do you think they would stand up to such a regime to defend the Jews? Absolutely not, that would almost be as bad as treason. If we look into the mind of the regular joe, they are blind from seeing what is actually happening hundreds of miles away at a highly secured death camp. The Nazis made their citizens believe that everything was fine and that they were doing what they could to get rid of the Jewish 'problem' in order to save Germany. I am not saying that the German people couldn't have done anything about the holocaust, but they maybe could have if they were aware of the mass murders.
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