7.06 Genocide

People believed what the Nazis said to them because they believed that they were actually helping fix Germany. In World War I, Germany had an embarassing defeat. The Nazis also made promises such as that they would restore the economy, and to end the political instability that they faced with others. Because of these things, ordinary people were more inclined to believe whatever they told them.

The biggest thing that fueled the hate that was seen throughout the Holocaust was propaganda that was being put out by the Nazis. It was being taught in schools, and those who opposed were arrested by the government. The propaganda put out by the Nazis was mostly used to influence people to not like Jews, as that was their target. People who were not antisemitic slowly became it after long exposure to this kind of propaganda.

Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was a night on November 9th, 1938 in which civilians and the SA went around destroying anything associated with the Jews. This was one of the first major events of the Holocaust, which resulted in nearly 100 deaths and countless amounts of destruction.

On May 20th, 1940, the notorious Auschwitz Concentration Camp was established in Southern Poland. Over 1.3 million people were sent to the camp, and over 1.2 million were killed there. It would become the most well-known of the concentration camps that existed during the Holocaust, as it was the most deadly to carry out the "final solution."

The worst part about the whole thing is when you look at the outcome of the entire thing. By May 1945, over 6 million people had been executed by the Nazis. Those at the camps were eventually liberated by other forces, but were in horrible shape due to the torture they endured while at the camps. The worl had never seen anything like this, and it sure would be remembered for the rest of time.

Obviously we can't go back in time to change the past, nor would that be the desired thing to do. We know what happened, so let's take what we know and use that to prevent things like that from happening again. If we don't remember it, then history will repeat itself. That is why history is important, and why it should be preserved. Like in today's world, statues and all sorts of things are being changed around and/or destroyed. Let's just accept the fact that bad things happened in the past, and use that to help prevent it from happening again. If we don't know what happened in the past, history will end up repeating itself. Even though a lot of terrible things have happened throughout history, in which I accept the fact, it is important that we know what happened, to help guide us in the future. Never forget what happened.