Benjamin Glazer

CPMS101
February 16, 2020
Holocaust Museum Reflection

I have visited The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. before, but I have not been

within the past 5 years. This trip back to the museum was quite different from my first visit,

because I recently had the opportunity to visit Poland and see the concentration camps and gas

chambers first hand. After my visit to Poland last May, I better understand how easily

propaganda influences the masses, especially during times of war and hardship. It was similar to

a falling dominoes effect, where everyone begins to follow each other.

After seeing the horrific leftovers of the Holocaust throughout Poland and hearing

multiple accounts from survivors, including my grandparents’, I always struggled to understand

and accept how average citizens could turn on one another and easily execute their neighbors.

However, this trip to The Holocaust Museum helped me better understand how the propaganda

so easily persuaded people to follow in its messages of hate and calls to action. When people are

suffering and at their lowest, they will turn to any voice that promises a better future. Through

the elimination of books, and the Nazi’s full control over any form of media or print, people

could easily and only listen to a single voice in search of a better future, Hitler’s.

Hitler employed strong emotional tactics to attract followers. He especially targeted the

youth, knowing that they were the future and that children are easily impressionable. Since they

were the future of Hitler’s Germany, he ensured that they would be raised with the Nazi

influence in both school, sports, and everyday life. Anything that stood in the way of Hitler’s

image for a new Germany was quickly eliminated before it could have any effect in exposing the

true evils of his campaign. By the time his reign and power led to having his followers
imprisoning and executing Jews and other minorities, most of Nazi-controlled Europe believed

that by doing so, Hitler and his motives would lead Germany and its annexed territories towards

a prosperous future. This constant reminder and promise of a better future quickly turned Arians

against everyone else in Europe. Without the censorship of media and the persistent feeding of

propaganda to the masses, Hitler’s ideology would not have been as strong or successful.

Today, people have greater access to information, both facts and fiction. It is up to them

to be resourceful and fact check whether the sources and information are credible. With the

internet, you can find a plethora of both factual and fictional information within a matter of

seconds. Research and cross-referring information with different credible sources to find

similarities can indicate factual information. Although it is still easy for people today to just

believe the first thing they see on the internet, it is also just as easy to research and quickly find

truthful information and reputable sources.