The Holocaust was a period of time when Adolf Hitler spread his ideology. He formed a group called the Nazis which were Germans. They hated Jewish people and had the idea that Jewish people ought to die. 6 million Jewish people died during this period of time. The Holocaust started in 1933 and ended in 1945. Hitler had power over everyone. Adolf Hitler gained his power by promising that he was going to end reparations, create a German empire and by breaking the Versailles Treaty. He also used a lot of propaganda to gain power. He developed a lot of hate towards Jewish people. Members of the Nazi organization were responsible for the Holocaust because they followed Hitler’s will and manipulated people. German citizens were also responsible for …show more content…
Kristallnacht happened in 1938. This was when German mobs attacked Jewish synagogues and Jewish homes were destroyed and so were their businesses. Germans citizens were responsible for the Holocaust because no one did anything to stop this from happening nor did they try to help the Jewish people . This was a form of polarization because since they hated the Jewish people, they decided to destroy everything they had. In document #1, in 1938, Ernst Hiemer wrote a book for German children that talked about how Jewish people were being stereotyped as cheaters. He drew a picture that showed a Jewish man showing material to an Aryan woman trying to persuade her to buy it for a lot amount of money. The author of this was trying to communicate negative ideas about Jewish people because he has hatred towards Jewish people. The author and many other ordinary Germans were supporting the polarization of Jewish people by developing hate towards Jewish people (anti-semitism) among young adults. They were trying to brainwash Germans by trying to develop hate towards the Jewish at such an early age. This led them to support actions against Jewish people because they were teaching children to be racist towards the Jewish. Germans wanted their German children to also hate the Jewish people. Additionally, Document #5, written by Daniel Goldhagen in 1996, said that Germans had the ideology that all Jewish people had to be killed. Ordinary Germans were responsible for the Holocaust because they supported anti-semitism and didn’t say no to Hitler. No one tried resisting from the Nazis; they all supported actions against Jewish people. However, in document #7, by Yad Vashem, an organization that honors those killed in the Holocaust, said that many Germans saved Jewish lives by hiding them in their homes, faking identities, taking in children and helping Jewish people escape.