Day II - Father Manford’s lecture: Understanding the Importance of Perspective.
When hearing about the Holocaust, it’s quite easy to depict Hitler and the Nazi party, as the most hateful, crazy group of people on Earth. After walking through Auschwitz I and II I was nauseated as to how people thought of this. How did humans systematically, take horse stables, send them on transport, then have thousands of human beings to live in? Furthermore, with the goal of murdering these people after they were used to benefit their mass scheme. How did educators, doctors, scientist, architects, people at the time with the highest degrees of education meet and decide, “Okay, let's plan to wipe out the entire Jewish population.” It’s crazy to think that people with such high IQs, sat down in a room and decided to methodically bring about human persecution, as if they weren’t human.
Father Manford’s lecture shed light on something I didn’t think about at first, and that is perspective. Hitler was a person. Nazi Commanders, SS men, they were human beings too. These people had families, they didn’t descend from Satan, although they are thought of to be. To understand the Holocaust, it’s imperative to understand perspective. How did this happen? How did the Nazi ideology come about? How did the Nazi ideals spread? Father Manford gave insight as to why people followed.
After World War I, Germany was in a crisis because they were lost, and weak. In desperate times, people need something to believe in, to bring the “good times” back. People started saying, “We lost our German roots, we need to get back to our roots.” In nature, the strongest animal survives. In nature there is an ongoing fight for survival. To be strong, means to fight with all energy, and to destroy whatever is getting in the way of your life. Eventually after Hitler came to power, there was one leader, and the community rested their trust in Hitler. One must realize the German people were starting to be given hope. Of course there would be a following. A promise to make “Germany Great Again!” Does this phrase sound familiar?
It’s always easier to blame someone else, especially when people are victims. Germany was weak and was blamed for WWI. Hitler gave the community optimism by preaching strength. Hitler preached to be strong, you have to eliminate life unworthy of living. This in turn, will make the population better. This ideology was carried out into the SS. There are enemies against the state, and the SS must hate them. SS members showing they have human feelings, of any sort, lead to their death. Father Manford talks about, “SS went to arrest people in Germany for political opposition with prepared lists. This was to protect Germans. One of the SS men recognized his friend from school. His friend asked him, “Please let me say goodbye to my wife.” The SS men allowed him to. This man escaped. The next day this SS man was shot because he was a traitor. The system of terror was created.” Ultimately, the Nazis were perpetrators, but no one ever sees them as victims. Can perpetrators be victims? This sounds like a crazy thing to question because Nazis were murdering innocent people. However, they too were being murdered. Their lives were on the line too. This hateful ideology spread because people were desperate and needed something to believe in. I’m sure people knew this was wrong, but what if it came down to your family or someone else's family what would you do? Once, you're involved there is no way of getting out.
Father Manford discusses the reality of the situation that people need to see. Yes, the Nazis were people killing innocent people. But, when looking back he asks, “What would you do? How can you say what you would have done in that situation, you don’t know. You think you do… but you don’t.” This is why it is so crucial to have had people stand up from the beginning before this ideology spread.
When a society is taught to hate people for so long it will not change overnight. In 1946 after the war was over 37 Jews were brutally murdered on the street in Poland. Often times, when a dictator takes over and teaches people to hate- it has long lasting effects because people are brainwashed. Although the war was over, those feelings didn’t change over night.It is no surprise that after World War II, the surviving Jews of the Holocaust migrated and didn’t want to go back to Poland for numerous reasons. Most of their family had been killed, their houses had been destroyed, and there was still anti-Semitism after the war. Polish-Jews are essentially non-existent. Even to this day, there are synagogues in Poland, but very few and far between. Why would there be? There ancestors were killed.
It is important to continuously discuss and educate the public to enlighten them to end anti-Semitism once and for all. Like many things, change does not take place overnight.Changing your beliefs can be taught. But overriding the psychological motives for the spread of Nazism is not fully understanding it. Nazis were human beings, that exploited the most evil thinking. However, they were people. Who says this cannot happen again? They were humans, born with good and evil just like the rest of us.
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