Holocaust: Sociological Causes Of Genocide

Mr. Bendig
History of the Holocaust
17 September 2013
Sociological Causes of Genocide It is hard to consider people who neglect to act in the face of extreme cruelty, especially those who witnessed the events of the Holocaust without intervening, as average humans. However, recent sociological experiments have revealed that most people will witness an emergency without intervening due to altruistic inertia or pluralistic ignorance. In the case of genocide, dehumanization is crucial to the ability of ordinary people to commit or observe unspeakable acts of violence against another. Genocides such as the Holocaust occur due to the nature of most people to be bystanders and the ability of the perpetrators to depict their victims as subhuman.
Altruistic inertia and pluralistic ignorance prevent people from intervening when faced with an emergency, or when witnessing an act of violence.
Altruistic inertia occurs when a group of people recognize the signs of trouble without taking action. “When study participants thought there were other witnesses to the emergency, they felt less personal responsibility to intervene” (Keltner 2). In this situation, everyone assumes someone else will help, and personal responsibility is thereby lessened. This was exemplified in Germany during the Holocaust. Millions of people witnessed the crimes committed against the Jews, yet individual and collective action against the Nazis was limited by altruistic inertia. People felt safer and less responsible by assuming others were taking action. Pluralistic ignorance is known as the human tendency to react to an emergency in the same manner as others nearby, and this also contributes to the diffusion of personal responsibility. “There are strong social norms that reinforce
pluralistic ignorance. It is somewhat embarrassing, after all, to be the one who loses his cool when no danger actually exists” (Keltner 2). Most people will not respond to a situation if they feel that they are the only one who perceives it as dangerous. They mistake the lack of action taken by others as evidence that there is no reason for them to take any action themselves. This is likely the main reason why the Germans did not speak out against Hitler and the purge of the Jews; they saw that no one else was protesting, so they did not feel the need to attempt to stop the murders. Altruistic inertia and pluralistic ignorance enable humans to ignore the signs of cruelty and remain voiceless in instances as minor as bullying, or as major as genocide. Dehumanization and propaganda also fueled the willingness of the German people to support and commit atrocities against the Jews.
German children were taught that they were superior to the Jews through school textbooks. “Hitler’s ‘final solution’ of genocide of all European Jews began by shaping the beliefs of children through the reading of assigned texts in which Jews are portrayed in a series of increasingly negative scenarios” (Zimbardo 1). This created a perception of Jews as an inferior, dirty race that plagued Germany. This image translated into the idea that the murder of the Jews was good for Germany, and morally inconsequential because the Jewish people were unfit to live. By introducing these ideals at a young age, the Nazis were able to cultivate a group of people with virtually no empathy for the Jews. The Nazis also utilized propaganda to portray the Jews as dangerous public enemies. “With public fear notched up and enemy threat imminent, reasonable people act irrationally, independent people act in mindless conformity, and peaceful people act as warriors” (Zimbardo 3). The citizens of Germany were subjected to images of the Jews as “the enemy” on posters, magazines, newspapers, and television. This altered the German citizens’ perception of Jews, and created public fear and hatred. The Jews were depicted as a threat to German ideals, and thereby justified their destruction. Dehumanization through school textbooks and propaganda can instill apathy in humans,
causing them to act violently against those who are shown to be less than human or public enemies. The effects of altruistic inertia, pluralistic ignorance, and dehumanization were exemplified in Germany during the Holocaust. Average people, fueled by fear and hate, stood by and allowed the Jews to be murdered. They were reluctant to speak out against the genocide due to the lack of action taken by those around them and the negative images of Jews displayed by the German newspapers and magazines. This shows that humans are extremely vulnerable to social influences, and often will act similarly to those around them. This “group mentality” and the susceptibleness of humans to media influences such as propaganda prevent people from intervening in the case of genocide.

Works Cited
Keltner, Dacher and Marsh, Jason. We Are All Bystanders. GreaterGood. Fall/Winter 2006-07. Web. September 15, 2013
Zimbardo, Phillip. Dehumanization. The Lucifer Effect. 2006. Web. September 15, 2013