The Holocaust: The Effects Of Social Conditioning

The Holocaust. You have all heard this word before. It is an event widely acknowledged by almost all of humanity. Six million Jewish people were brutally murdered in a bloody genocide which is sure to go down in history. I reiterate, six million lives perished in a space of just six years. However a question remains to be unanswered; who is to blame? Many point their fingers toward one man; Adolf Hitler. However I, among others have taken a differing outlook on who is to blame, that outlook being that; the creation of history consists of a series of pathways, each leading to a different outcome. However regardless of which pathway is chosen the overall product of history will remain unchanged, as ensured by the effects of social conditioning.

To place this definition under a different light, I ask you to think of an apple hanging in a tree and ask yourself, why does it fall? Is it the weakening of the stem, its growing weight and the forces of gravity, or could it be the breeze which breaks its stem? However, regardless of the cause, the apple will inevitably fall. When applied to the events of the holocaust this analogy accurately explains the effects of social conditioning, as Germany experienced numerous events such as the treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression which inevitably lead to the horrors of 1939 to

The impact of these dark years on this country were so extreme that by the end of 1929, around 1.5 million German workers had lost their job. By 1933 unemployment in Germany had reached six million. While Germany had no shortage of food, people experienced immense trouble in obtaining it. Children suffered especially during this period, as thousands died of malnutrition and hunger related diseases as a result of the countries crippling economy. Adolf Hitler however found the complications of the great depression beneficial and even instrumental to his plans with his statement; “Never in my life have I been so well disposed and inwardly contented as in these days. For hard reality has opened the eyes of millions of Germans.” The severe conditions caused many German voters to turn to radical political parties, such as the Nazi Party as a last resort. While Jewish people maintained some element of economic prosperity over others, a general hatred was once again formed and they were blamed for the countries current issues. As proven by the quote above, regardless of how influential, Hitler was not the primary element to the cause of the Jewish holocaust. Instead it was the events leading up to this disaster that shaped the country to believe such atrocities were