War and Genocide against the Jews in Europe - Essay Example

Introduction Genocide is a systematic obliteration of a significant race, ethnicity, national group or religion. The preamble to the ‘Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’ states that Genocide is a crime that pops-up under the roof of international law. It is believed by the historians that genocide initially emerged during 149-146 BC, at the end of the third Punic War. After its emergence, several incidents related to mass murders and torture of people of different races occurred in the world. The genocide against the European Jews happened due to administrative processes carried out by bureaucrats in several network offices spanning in the entire continent during World War II. After extensive research, it has been observed that the speech given by Hitler against the Jews on January 30, 1939 merely ignited the entire Holocaust movement but speech of Volkisch leader Hermann Ahlwardt inspired many people during 1895. Ahlwardt called Jews “predators and bacilli, who should be exterminated for the good of German people” (Dawidowicz 41) Apart from Hitler’s direct orders for the extermination of Jews from the German occupied Europe, several other factors influenced the genocide. First of all, the social factor motivated the Christians; as they had tremendous hatred against the Jews. The Christians claim that Jews had killed Jesus. Due to this factor, they did-not have any mercy and they did not take any actions against the genocide. Secondly, the political and anti-Semitism factors inspired people to believe that the Jews are an inferior race in the society and they should be wiped out. This factor influenced the German bureaucrats to participate in the massacre. Thirdly, the economic factor allowed the Nazi’s to conduct the genocide because they believed that Jews possessed too much wealth and power in the country and killing them would help the Germans to acquire free land and wealth. Thesis Statement The social, economical and political factors have strongly influenced genocide against the European Jews. Discussion Anti-Semitism has been one of the most important reasons behind the genocide conducted against the European Jews during the World War II. The development of the World War inspired the Germans to have control over the entire territory captured by them; due to this factor they initiated rapid military movements in the German occupied areas. Genocide is regarded as an unethical and barbarian activity by the entire world but there was little effort made by different countries to stop the genocide carried out by the German military forces. The European Jews were completely isolated from the rest part of the world during the progress of the World War II. The Germans got extra mileage to carry out the entire Holocaust because they did-not experience any obstacles from the rest part of the world. After detailed analysis some historians such as, Arnold Toynbee has been able to conclude that most part of the world did-not have any respect towards the Jews community because of their personal beliefs. The Christians believed that the Romans had killed Lord Jesus Christ and the Jews community supported the actions of the Romans (Crowe 17). Genocide against the Jews recorded mass killings of 5-6 million people in Europe because of the lack of interference of other communities. “It is significant that early Christians blamed the Jews for the crucifixion, which was actually practiced by the Romans during the period. The beliefs of the Christians have been supported by stating that the Jews mobs demanded Jesus’ death under the power of Roman governor Pontius Pilate” (Bergen 161). It has been observed that the convictions against the Jews society were not accurate but there are very few evidences in favor of them. The genocide of Europe was conducted by the German military forces under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and the Christian society isolated the Jews and left them to suffer under the brutal tortures of the Nazis. Adolf Hitler was obsessed with the idea of anti-Semitism and the Jews in his eyes appeared as harmful bacterium and wherever they take place, the host nation perishes off sooner or later (Hitler 453). The Jewish community wished to live peacefully in their own society. This nature of the people did-not allow them to indulge in the political matters of other communities. The other races had developed strong image in the society during the World War II. Thus, the Christian based countries and other parts of the world did not have too-much knowledge about the way the Holocaust was being driven and they did not show any interest to stop the Germans from performing the mass murders. Based on the reports, it has been observed that about two-third of the entire Jews population residing in Europe were killed by the German forces by the end of 1942. The influences of the social factors were in effect from a very long time and the Western society had tremendous hatred towards the community. The effect of the genocide could have been reduced with active participation of other countries in favor of the Jews residing in German occupied Europe. The political factors played a major role in the conduction of the genocide in Europe. Based on the documentations of John Cornwell, it has been recorded that the conflicts between the Russian and the German military forces affected the entire Europe including Poland. Prior to World War II, Hitler’s forces aimed at gaining more space to set-up their own military base and the Stalin’s forces had similar intensions. The Russian and German forces started to expand their territories and prepare themselves for the war. Several evidences have been documented related to the political factors that affected the European civilization. “People subject to Hitler’s or Stalin’s rule were repeatedly set against each other and were motivated to act on the instincts of their mutual dislikes. The entire society was set against each other before the beginning of the Holocaust” (Gross 53). Based on this evidence, it is clear that both the superpowers had the tendency to strengthen their own military powers and expand their armies. In order to develop strong military rule the German forces as well as the Russian forces started to remove the local population from their territories. The Jews feared the German forces more than the Soviet forces because of the statements given by Hitler against the race. Historical documentations state that “With regard to the Jewish Question the Fuehrer is determined to make a clean sweep” (Yahil 51). There were many political factors that influenced the genocide against the Jews in Europe. The German forces had the clear intention to kill every Jews and the Polis residing in their territory in order to acquire space for development of the wars. Since the Jews populations were higher compared to the other races therefore they had to suffer the most. Apart from the political factor, the anti-Semitism nature of Germans against the Jews community also influenced the occurrence of the genocide. The German bureaucrats showed special interest in the genocide because they saw the Jews as an inferior race and they wanted them to be abolished from the society permanently. Hitler’s message regarding the complete wipe-out of the Aryan race provided the required amount of courage to execute the genocide. The Jews and the Polis residing in Jedwabne and other parts of Europe became completely isolated from the rest part of the world. The German forces did-not face any difficulty to kill the anti-fascists in the towns. Initially the anti-fascists were targeted by the military forces however the German forces started to slaughter everyone by authorizing mass shootouts without any interruption from other civilizations. The German bureaucrats and the officials of the German forces followed the orders of Adolf Hitler and they installed methods for controlling the entire population based on fear and terror. The decisions of the Holocaust were made in the year 1939 based on that majority of people were killed in the years 1941 and 1942. Most of the Jewry residing in the German occupied territories was murdered and the military troops of Hitler were able to their base successfully in their property. The economic factors that influenced the genocide were related to the wealth possessed by the population of Europe. It has been stated by famous historians that “the majority of the population on Europe were wealthy” (Rosner and Theibault 35). The people of the society used to acquire huge properties including their own gardens and water reserves. The German forces had special interest to acquire the lands of Europe and Poland because they could be benefited with huge properties along with water supply. The Jewish capitalists had factories that could help the Germans to produce goods in order to fulfill their needs during the Wars. The German soldiers desired for labors to work in the factories, such as rubber factories. These evidences have been obtained from the experiences of some of the victims. “All the Jewish people were taken to work-camps, where they were allowed to work for the entire day without rest. Only the fit people were allowed to enter the work-camps, others were killed” (Levi 13). This proves that the Germans had some peculiar intentions towards the people of Europe. The Germans used to separate the sick and weak people from the healthy ones and later they killed. The healthy people were transported to various camps where they could act as labors and help the German soldiers to maintain their existence in the acquired territories. Auschwitz included some work-camps where people used to perform various tasks in order to help the Germans. The Germans used the people and their property to continue their stay in the territories. The German administration was definitely brutal for the people of Europe but they were very intelligent and they had a systematic approach towards the entire genocide movement. The Jews victims were numbered with tattoos by the Nazis in order to recognize them. They were transported to different camps for various purposes until the end of 1945. The Jews victims experienced a terrible life during their entire stay in the German blocks. From 1941 to 1945, the Jews were targeted by the Nazis and they were eventually tortured and murdered methodically due to various ethnic and political reasons. Many non-Jewish victims also became a part of the genocide including the Poles, Gypsies, Soviet Prisoner of wars and homosexuals. The initial experimentation on humans and whipping out an entire ethnic religion took place during the Herero and Namaqua genocide by the Germans. It is believed that the death camps of German South-West Africa were the inspiration of the genocide and the situations got worse after successful execution of Namaqua genocide. Based on the evidences obtained from modern theorists, it is possible to state that the main motive of the German regime was to have victory in the World War II (Lieberman 121). Hitler’s main objective behind the conduction of genocide was to maintain peace and discipline in the German territories of Europe. Emergence of the genocide helped the German forces to sustain the attacks during wars. The Nazi soldiers were also able to utilize the resources and the facilities of the Jewish people during emergency situations. Conclusion Based on the above analysis, it is possible to state that there were various factors that influenced the genocide against European Jews. The isolation of the Jews society from the rest part of the world was one of the major issues that helped the Germans to conduct the entire movement without interference. Racism was a factor that played an important role and motivated people but Hitler’s administration had some political reasons behind torturing and killing the Jewish population of Europe. Hitler wanted to acquire free land to set-up their military base and utilize the resources of the Jewish society for sustaining the military troops during intense war situations. The genocide was conducted by Hitler in order to exterminate the entire Aryan civilization from the world and establish their government in the acquired territories. The progression of World War II helped the Nazis to continue the exploitation without any disturbance from other parts of the world. Since the Jews were hated by most of the civilizations in the world they became the major victims during the wars. Therefore, it is clear that the political, social and economic factors influenced the decisions for conducting genocide against the Jews in Europe. Works Cited Bergen, L. Doris. War and Genocide: Race and Space. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. Print. Crowe, M. David. The Holocaust. : Roots, History, and Aftermath. London: Westview Press, 2008. Print. Dawidowicz, S. Lucy. The war against the Jews. New York: Open Road Media, 2010. Print. Gross, T. Jan. Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. London: Princeton University Press, 2012. Print. Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf. Bottom of the Hill: Germany, 1925. Print. Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. New York: CreateSpace, 2014. Print. Lieberman, Benjamin. The Holocaust and Genocides in Europe. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013. Print. Rosner, Lisa, and John Theibault. A short history of Europe, 1600-1815. London: M.E. Sharpe, 2000. Print. Yahil, Leni. The Holocaust. New York: Springer, 2012. Print. Read More