Humanities Prejudice And Persecution Coursework Essay

Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Did Nazi Propaganda make the German people prejudiced against the Jewish race? How successful were the policies of the Nazi government in establishing an anti- Semitic society? In this coursework I will be explaining why the Nazi’s hated the Jews. I will explain what propaganda is and if the Nazi propaganda makes the German people prejudiced against the Jewish race, and how successful the policies to establish an anti-Semitic were. The term prejudice means an attitude (about a person or group) that is formed without having all the facts. This usually involves disliking somebody, mostly because of their ethnicity, sexuality, religion etc. Prejudice attitudes are learned. For example children in Nazi Germany were taught to hate Jews, which is like anti- Semitic. Germans were influenced by the use of propaganda to prejudice them and make them discriminate against the Jews. The main reason for this was because of Adolf Hitler. The term discrimination means when treating someone in a different way, usually less well, because they belong to a particular group. The Nazi’s treated the Jews differently, due to their religion and they discriminated the Jews as they way they looked like. The term persecution is to treat an individual or group badly. Hitler persecuted the Jews as soon as he came to power in 1993. Adolf Hitler persecuted Jews in many different ways. The way that Hitler persecuted the Jews were: When Hitler seized power in 1933 he used his powers under the ‘enabling law’ to begin his attack on the Jews. In 1938 the attacks on the Jews became more violent with Himmler the head of the SS and the Gestapo launching Kristallnacht on 11th November 1938. By 1939, half of Germany’s 500,000 Jews had emigrated to escape Nazi persecution. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland which had a much larger population of 3 million Jews. In 1941, Germany invaded Russia which had a population of 5 million Jews. Himmler sent four special trained SS units called ‘Einsatzgruppen battalions’ into German occupied territory and shot at least 1 million Jews. Victims were taken to deserted areas where they were made to dig their own graves and shot. Nazi Propaganda: The Nazi’s propaganda in those days was seen as Anti Semitic. Propaganda was an organized way of media that convinced people this could be done by ideas, information, rumours or opinions. The major purpose for the Nazi’s propaganda was to make the German people prejudiced against the Jews race. Another purpose why propaganda was used was a ‘brainwashing’ of the public convincing them of an ideological viewpoint. The Nazi’s propaganda portrayed the Jews as: fat, greedy, lazy, people with big crooked noses, ugly, dark, hooded eyes, nasty, evil, disloyal, unclean, wealthy, powerful and sly. To do this the Nazi’s made sure that their propaganda’s were everywhere. They were more noticed on, for example; posters on windows, cars, walls and also the Nazi’s propaganda was broadcasted on television and films were also made to show the way Nazi’s prejudiced the Jews and was held on the radio. I will now be showing some propaganda posters, which shows positive posters and negative posters. image01.jpg ‘The External Jew’ Poster from a Museum. This propaganda shows a negative outlook about the Jews; it shows Jews being ugly with a crooked nose. The money portrays that Jews are selfish and are money grabbers in the German society. This poster explains the Jews being selfish as they have a lot of money. The whip in this poster indicates that Jews are trying to take control of the German society. This is a negative propaganda towards the Jews. A German Beer Mat This is a Negative propaganda, which shows a German beer mat with a Jew’s face on the mat. This beer mat that was created by the Germans and was put in all pubs. It also has a picture of a Jew showing a very ugly face. Jews are hated by the Germans. The Germans have created this image on the beer mat to show how much they hate the Jews and to show that they do not have any respect towards the Jews. This beer mat indicates ‘whoever buys from a Jew is a traitor to his people!’ People in pubs promote even more hatred against Jews. Anti- Semitic Propaganda in school An Anti-Semitic cartoon. From the German children’s book 1938 This is a negative propaganda which is taken from a German children’s book. This propaganda has both German children and Jewish children in a school. The stereotype here of the Jewish children is made to make them look horrible, dark and with big crooked noses. There is a distinct with the difference of Jews and Germans. Unlike the Jews the Germans stereotype was seen as clean and tidy and they are kept in a lighter area. From this propaganda you can clearly notify which children are Jewish or German as the stereotype comes in again. This propaganda is also to brainwash the German children. This poster explains Jews being kicked out of school, and is showing that without Jewish children the school is better. Showing the Ideal Aryan Family This propaganda is a Positive poster towards the Nazi’s. Because this is trying to promote the ‘Ideal Aryan Family’. We can see this is a positive propaganda as it shown by the fruit and flowers around the family. A fund raising poster for the Hitler Youth This is a Fund raising poster it shows a stunning Nazi girl. This is a positive propaganda towards the Germans. This poster indicates that Nazi’s are beautiful. They are pure good and generous. The tin displays the swastika, which is the Nazi symbol. Hitler posing with German children in 1936 This is a positive propaganda towards the Germans. This poster shows Hitler posing with 3 children from the Nazi Youth. They look extremely joyful as they are with who they believe was the ‘Saviour of Germany’. This poster explains Adolf Hitler is being seen as a father figure for the children. This also explains Hitler is trying to get their support for himself. A ‘Jew Free Area’ Sign This is a Jew Free area sign. From this sign, it shows that this leads to discrimination towards the Jews. This shows that Jews are restricted from going to swimming baths and public places. This propaganda was used to make the Jews jealous as they were unable to go to some places that had a sign like this. This shows Germans being good-looking and healthy, whereas in other propagandas it shows Jews being horrible and fat. In conclusion when the World War 1 had ended, Hitler convinced all the Germans that the Jews were scapegoats. The Nazi’s then used negative propagandas to discriminate the Jews every possible way. Hitler convinced all the Nazi’s about saying negative things about the Jews, Hitler brainwashed the Nazi’s which they began to hate the Jews. The Germans needed a saviour which Hitler came and took upon this role. Due to the fact that all the brainwashing Hitler started to do to the Germans so they were able to hate the Jews. The propagandas were so successful that it led to Hitler making the laws. By the propagandas being successful and the new laws made by Hitler this led the Jews dying in the holocaust. The holocaust is the name given to the slaughter of six million people, mostly Jews, during the Second War. Â