Analysis of the underlying social psychology of the Holocaust
Analysis of the underlying social psychology The hate and prejudice that began the Holocaust went hand in hand with a political agenda that was fueled by the frustration aggression theory.(1) Hitler blamed the Jews for the loss of World War I and thus, instead of targeting political aspects of the Jewish community, he displaced his aggression towards ALL Jews, even the helpless.This, combined with religious anti-Semitism prejudice that had been present in Germany for 1500 years and the theory of "eugenics", was the political and instrumental center of Hitler's political campaign.(5) He used a system of 'elimination of freedom', which he felt was necessary in the conditioning the German people to follow him. This meant that he would slowly change the rules, allowing him to gain more and more control over his people. New laws preventing rebellious attempts to overthrow his government and the elimination of non-supporters that would possibly dissent, (disagree with his plan)(1), gave Hitler complete control over what happened within the country's boundaries.(5) He further conditioned the Germans to accept the program for the 'final solution' of the Jews with the constant onslaught
They were also victims of cultural ethical relativism,(2) believing that if their government thought that this was ethically relative behavior in their culture, then they should comply. (1991) Philosophical Ethics, An introduction to Moral Philosophy, Second Edition. I now realize that stopping the thought was not enough. ' This reminds me of the rescuers and that one person can make a difference, and I intend to. These people also went through cognitive dissonance, just as the soldiers did. The 'ought' in the language of heroes is a part of self-assumed moral ideals beyond that of the everyday person and their actions are not guided self-advancement or public recognition. The German people that made up the bystanders in this tragedy may not have been guilty of cold- blooded murder, but they were not innocent either. I have made a promise to myself to work very hard to never be a victim of the bystander effect nor to succumb to the idiocy and shallowness of prejudice. A passage that I read once comes to mind: 'A single small pebble causes a ripple that will travel the length of the ocean. They were people that lived in an immoral society that acted according to the cultural relativism that was the norm at this time. I now know that these things must be purged in order to change our attitudes about the world around us if we are going to break free of the vicious cycle of prejudice. They were ordinary people who responded to extraordinary circumstances in a morally exemplary fashion.
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Acceptance Essays
