During World War II, about 6,000,000 Jews were murdered in death camps across German occupied territory. Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka are well recorded in the annals of historical atrocities. What happened that allowed intelligent men to commit such heinous acts?
There were two things in Hitler's Germany that led to the Holocaust. The first was racial and ethnic prejudice, the second was uncritical obedience to der Fuhrer. The Germans believed they were "the Master Race," and they also believed that the Jews, nearly two-thousand years after the fact, were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.
Hitler, operating on this prejudice and using it as a pretext, ordered the concentration camps and the mass executions. The German military and the German people obeyed his orders uncritically. They just accepted as fact that their supreme leader knew what he was doing, that he was doing what was right, and complied with the orders.
Beyond the death camps, the Nazi's built an extremely efficient infrastructure that imposed the Nazi vision of order on the German society. A part of this infrastructure was the youth groups such as Hitler Youth. All young men and women were pretty much required to join, and were ostracized if they didn't. All members were conditioned to believe that Hitler was pretty much infallible; obedience was paramount, while critical thinking about those orders was discouraged, and questioning orders was unheard of. Mein Kampf became the political scriptures of the German people.
The atrocities of the holocaust were caused by ordinary people who uncritically acted on orders that played on their natural prejudices.
One would hope that the world would learn from this debacle. But, alas, people are basically lazy and don't want to engage their brains. As a result, there are groups and organizations today that follow, and in fact argue for, the Nazi model. Hitler was a politician and Mien Kampf was a political manifesto, but today's Nazi's are just as likely to be following a religious leader, and using a religious text. Some carry the religious idea into the political arena.
The obvious first group an American thinks of would be the radical element of Islam that follow Osama bin Laden or Iranian President Ahmadinejad, or the Islamic Imams. But we are looking at these groups from the outside. The assiduousness of Hitler's Nazis was that they seemed, from the inside, to be harmless, or even beneficial. Once the former Nazis were outside, even they could see, for the most part, that Hitler's policies were wrong.
Any group that relies on a single leader or text as infallible, or so divinely inspired that their policy and counsel should be followed without critical examination is such a group. Catholicism fits this mold (but Catholics have moved away from believing that the Pope is infallible in all things, they only believe he is infallible on issues of faith and morals...) The Bible thumping Protestants who believe the Bible to be infallible, inerrent, and the "word of God" who follows their pastors' interpretation of scripture and counsel uncritically is such a group. Hitler, after all, used the Jewish "responsibility" for the crucifixion as pretext for anti-Semitic purges.
In my experience, the closest mirror to Nazism extant today is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They believe their leader to be a "prophet of God, a seer and a revelator." While the church teaches members to "search, ponder and pray," it also teaches that God won't give different revelation to different individuals, so if the Prophet says one thing, and the seeming answer one comes up with from searching, pondering and praying are at variance, then clearly, one has become distant from the spirit and not received a true revelation, and therefor one should follow the Prophet's counsel (or the Bishop's or whatever leader has counseled).
Hitler Youth in Mormon land is calld "Mutual" or "Young Men's and Young Women's. All Mormons youth are expected to be actively involved, and the church actively pursues any that don't attend the weekly meetings. Parents are told that YM and YW attendance is more important than other family business. Where Hitler's youth wore the trademark "brown shirt," the Mormon youth were the trademark "white shirt and tie." These youth are taught to follow the prophet in all things, and are indoctrinated in LDS thinking from birth. Questioning is discouraged, and obedience is expected in all things.
The result is a 13,000,000 member strong group that unquestioningly and uncritically follows a single individual, and by extension, group of equally indoctrinated sub-leaders, in unthinkingly following various prejudices. In the late 19th century, they followed Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in to polygamy. Until the 1970's they denied blacks equal membership in the church (as sons of Ham/Cain in direct contradiction of one of their central articles of faith), and now they act against the LBGT community and operate one of the biggest baby-selling operations (adoption agency) in the country.
When Jesus said "feed my sheep," He did not mean to pull the wool over their eyes.
There were two things in Hitler's Germany that led to the Holocaust. The first was racial and ethnic prejudice, the second was uncritical obedience to der Fuhrer. The Germans believed they were "the Master Race," and they also believed that the Jews, nearly two-thousand years after the fact, were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.
Hitler, operating on this prejudice and using it as a pretext, ordered the concentration camps and the mass executions. The German military and the German people obeyed his orders uncritically. They just accepted as fact that their supreme leader knew what he was doing, that he was doing what was right, and complied with the orders.
Beyond the death camps, the Nazi's built an extremely efficient infrastructure that imposed the Nazi vision of order on the German society. A part of this infrastructure was the youth groups such as Hitler Youth. All young men and women were pretty much required to join, and were ostracized if they didn't. All members were conditioned to believe that Hitler was pretty much infallible; obedience was paramount, while critical thinking about those orders was discouraged, and questioning orders was unheard of. Mein Kampf became the political scriptures of the German people.
The atrocities of the holocaust were caused by ordinary people who uncritically acted on orders that played on their natural prejudices.
One would hope that the world would learn from this debacle. But, alas, people are basically lazy and don't want to engage their brains. As a result, there are groups and organizations today that follow, and in fact argue for, the Nazi model. Hitler was a politician and Mien Kampf was a political manifesto, but today's Nazi's are just as likely to be following a religious leader, and using a religious text. Some carry the religious idea into the political arena.
The obvious first group an American thinks of would be the radical element of Islam that follow Osama bin Laden or Iranian President Ahmadinejad, or the Islamic Imams. But we are looking at these groups from the outside. The assiduousness of Hitler's Nazis was that they seemed, from the inside, to be harmless, or even beneficial. Once the former Nazis were outside, even they could see, for the most part, that Hitler's policies were wrong.
Any group that relies on a single leader or text as infallible, or so divinely inspired that their policy and counsel should be followed without critical examination is such a group. Catholicism fits this mold (but Catholics have moved away from believing that the Pope is infallible in all things, they only believe he is infallible on issues of faith and morals...) The Bible thumping Protestants who believe the Bible to be infallible, inerrent, and the "word of God" who follows their pastors' interpretation of scripture and counsel uncritically is such a group. Hitler, after all, used the Jewish "responsibility" for the crucifixion as pretext for anti-Semitic purges.
In my experience, the closest mirror to Nazism extant today is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They believe their leader to be a "prophet of God, a seer and a revelator." While the church teaches members to "search, ponder and pray," it also teaches that God won't give different revelation to different individuals, so if the Prophet says one thing, and the seeming answer one comes up with from searching, pondering and praying are at variance, then clearly, one has become distant from the spirit and not received a true revelation, and therefor one should follow the Prophet's counsel (or the Bishop's or whatever leader has counseled).
Hitler Youth in Mormon land is calld "Mutual" or "Young Men's and Young Women's. All Mormons youth are expected to be actively involved, and the church actively pursues any that don't attend the weekly meetings. Parents are told that YM and YW attendance is more important than other family business. Where Hitler's youth wore the trademark "brown shirt," the Mormon youth were the trademark "white shirt and tie." These youth are taught to follow the prophet in all things, and are indoctrinated in LDS thinking from birth. Questioning is discouraged, and obedience is expected in all things.
The result is a 13,000,000 member strong group that unquestioningly and uncritically follows a single individual, and by extension, group of equally indoctrinated sub-leaders, in unthinkingly following various prejudices. In the late 19th century, they followed Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in to polygamy. Until the 1970's they denied blacks equal membership in the church (as sons of Ham/Cain in direct contradiction of one of their central articles of faith), and now they act against the LBGT community and operate one of the biggest baby-selling operations (adoption agency) in the country.
When Jesus said "feed my sheep," He did not mean to pull the wool over their eyes.
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