Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Doreen Valmyr
Dr. Bunn
3 August 2017
The Holocaust was the systematic destruction of certain racial groups and ideologies that
were deemed inferior by the German populace. German authorities targeted Gypsies, disabled
individuals, Slavic people, communists, socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and Jews.
However, the priority of the Nazis attention was the extermination of the Jewish people. This
genocide, starting on January 30, 1933, and ending in May 8, 1945, included many German
individuals who blindly obeyed orders in order to escape harm and benefit themselves. Nearing
the end of the Holocaust, Germans and their collaborators killed approximately two out of every
three Jews, using methods such as starvation, disease, and maltreatment. Germans had motives to
obey blindly and benefit themselves, not thinking of how their own actions influenced other
individuals. They saw how the maltreatment of others would aid them in improving their own
lives. Germans were influenced to obey orders during this time due to employment opportunities,
materialistic gains, and fear of being cast out from the majority of society.
After Adolf Hitler came to power, there was a drastic improvement in the unemployment rate in
Germany, which compelled its people to misplace their loyalty and trust onto Hitler and follow
his principles. By 1936, Hitler’s plan to improve the standard of living for Germans had been
fulfilled (Dylan). Jews and other political prisoners were fired from their jobs in accordance with
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the “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.” For Germans, these
Obedience, and Opportunism”). The “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service”
stated, “...even where there would be no grounds for such action…, civil servants who are not of
Aryan descent are to be retired” (“Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service,
April 7, 1933”). According to this law, only those of Aryan descent could hold any positions in
businesses or other work related settings. The majority of Germans believed that the Nazi regime
would help take Germany out of its political turmoil. The number of available jobs increased
after Jews were denied the rights to hold those positions. Employment was a mean of survival
because Germans did not have to worry about the troubles of poverty and avoided situations in
which they worked by doing hard labor (“Causes and Motivations”). Germans obeyed because
being employed meant escaping doing labor and having a better standard of living, whereas
being unemployed meant not being able to take care of one’s self or family due to poverty.
Due to materialistic gains, Germans were influenced to blindly obey orders against the
favor of Jews. Jewish belongings were received and taken in many ways, such as discount
auctions and looting. Jewish assets in German occupied territories were looted after the owners
were thought to have moved away and were sold at large discounts at auctions. Some of these
Jewish properties included valuable treasures such as paintings, jewelry, and even homes (“The
as “The Night of Broken Glass,” occurred from November 9-10 of 1938. It was unplanned, but
was set off by the rage Germans had over the assassination of a German official in Paris at the
hands of a Jewish teenager. Joseph Goebbels, a German propaganda minister, along with other
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Nazi officials organized careful pogroms against any Jews who owned businesses. In a period of
two days, over 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed and looted, and dozens of Jewish
individuals were killed. Moreover, Jewish hospitals, schools, and homes were looted as police
and fire units stood by and watched (“The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students”). When a
Nazi official was asked about the widespread theft that occurred during Kristallnacht, he
responded by saying, “We began seizing goods from Jewish shops because sooner or later they
would have been nationalised [confiscated by the government] anyway.” This Nazi official
justified his actions by blaming the Jews for stealing what rightfully belonged to the Germans.
He said, “(Thus, the goods seized would be) used to compensate us for at least part of the
damage which the Jews have been doing for years to the German people” (“Opportunism during
Kristallnacht”). Materialistic gains taken by theft was not seen as a wrongdoing not only because
Jews had “disappeared,” but also because Germans believed that they were being compensated
for the criminality of the Jews. Therefore, it became justifiable to take back what had belonged to
them. Germans blindly obeyed authoritarian views due to the benefits they acquired from theft,
the belief that their own situations would be improved, and their desire for compensation.
Blind obedience was also provoked from the fear Germans had of being cast out from the
majority of society. Many people did not possess enough courage to follow their own paths.
Resisting would mean deserving the same treatment as Jews had received. While many Germans
might not have agreed with the laws that were passed, they did not want to be seen as outcasts or
inferior beings. Therefore, they were silent and accepted the inappropriate and undesirable
behaviors and treatments showed to Jews from authorities. A Holocaust survivor named Primo
Levi mentioned that during the Holocaust, he did not know about the events that were occurring.
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When asked why he thought many were unaware of the atrocities that occurred, Levi responded
with his own question, “How is it possible that the extermination of millions of human beings
could have been carried out in the heart of Europe without anyone’s knowledge?” (Levi). This
shows that some individuals chose to stray away from reality in order to feel as though they were
not part of it. By doing this, they became bystanders, who pretended not to know what was truly
happening, in order to lose involvement and accomplish their desire to belong. Theodore Haas, a
former prisoner of the Dachau concentration camp, stated, “This may stun some people, but not
all Germans hated Jews. My best and devoted friends in Germany were Christians” (Haas).
Many feared being cast out from society for demonstrating enough courage and standing up for
wrongdoings, or did not want to be involved in affairs that would intervene with their daily lives,
Through the perils of the Holocaust and its titanic atrocities, the German populace
showed nescience in the face of corruption. Reasons for their negligence of others’ mistreatment
included employment opportunities, materialistic gains, and fear of being cast out from the
majority of society. Opportunism was seen as a great advantage because it enabled Germans to
improve their standard of living, whether it was through employment or materialistic gains,
which could be sold for other items of value. Fear of being seen as inferiors also influenced blind
obedience, for Germans wanted to belong to the larger population. Due to their own selfish
desires, the German community committed inhumane acts by being silent and not acting when
others were desperate for aid. Humanity’s selfishness causes many individuals to commit
immoral acts for one’s own benefit, but many times, what is seen as beneficial to one, is
detrimental to another.
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Works Cited
www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust/ethical-leaders/background/causes-a
Dylan. "Trust and Fear: The Tools of Genocide for Hitler and the Holocaust." Philadelphia
2017.
“Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, April 7, 1933.” Yad Vashem: The
1 2017.
www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-7/opportunism-during-kri
“The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/decision-making-times-injustice/holocaust-bysta
www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/history-of-the-holocaust-shoah/the-nazi-regime.html.
"The Nazis in Power: Discrimination, Obedience, and Opportunism." Facing History and
Ourselves,
www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/decision-making-times-injustice/nazis-in-power-
Zelman, Aaron. “Full Interview with Holocaust Survivor, Theodore Haas.” Jews for the
28 July 2017.