The Holocaust In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

During and before WW2, a great tragedy occurred: The Holocaust. The Holocaust was a systemised genocide orchestrated by the Nazis and targeted at the Jews, Roma, and other “Undesirables”. An interesting fact is that Germany was a diverse, scientifically advanced country, so how were the Nazi able to take over with all of their talk of “it was all the Jews’ fault” propaganda and racism? It’s an interesting collection of facts, but while researching them, I discovered something that made me sick. Genocides still happen to this day! There is only one way to prevent these genocides, and possible kept the holocaust from happening, is to be an ally to the persecuted and speak up, and never let someone think for you.

The Holocaust was the largest
genocide in history, so many people ask why did it happen, but the real cause runs much deeper than that, to the roots of anti-semitism. According to Yad Vashem, the Nazis exploited centuries of anti-semitism to gain popularity and support, as well as blame one group for all of the problems in Germany. The Nazis were obviously paying attention, because even in the 1920s, anti semitism was still strong. A prime example of this is in a story written by The Guardian, a quote states “There are always a great many Jews among the crowd on the Kurfürstendamm, and suddenly the students attacked individuals whose features were unmistakably Jewish, hustling them and striking them with their sticks.” This happened in 1921, well before the Nazi regime set in. But even before that, in the early middle ages, Jews in Germany were regularly persecuted. When the Nazis “Introduced” many of their anti-semitic ideas, people were drawn to them, because they had existed for centuries. What's more, those who didn’t support the Nazis didn't speak up, because they didn’t want to be punished.

Even those who were not anti-semitic or pro Nazi supported the party, because there families were starving or in bad shape, or just didn’t speak up until it was too late.
Markus Zusak's The Book Thief has a good example of this within it’s pages. Alex Steiner, a German shop owner, does not support the Nazis or Anti-Semitism, but still joins the party, so he can get more business, and therefore more food and money for his wife and kids. An even better example of this is derived from Yad Vashem: “the vast majority of people in Germany and occupied Europe were aware, to at least some extent, of how the Nazi regime was treating the Jews. Nevertheless, they took no active position on the matter. They did not openly persecute the Jews but they did not actively help them either. This was sometimes due to anti semitic sentiments but primarily because they felt that it was an assault not on them but on another', even if this other' was a neighbor, partner or acquaintance.”. To further this, a poem written by The Reverend Martin Niemöller, a pastor in the German Confessing Church who spent seven years in a concentration camp. He talks about his lack of resistin or speaking up, until it was too late. “First they came for the communists, and I did not speak
out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the labor leaders, and I did not speak out because I was not a labor leader.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”. The bulk of the German people, as well as the governments of other nations, tend to not speak up, because the genocide and death going on was not affecting them directly. The same can be said for the current time, where Genocides still happen, and people don’t speak up.

Even today, genocides still happen, and upstanders are still few are far between. An excellent example of this was in 1994, when 500,000–1,000,000 people were killed and raped. After a horrific event of this magnitude, you would expect that all nations would vow to stop genocide from happening, and send their armed forces to provide relief, but that's not what happened. After the genocide, only a medium amount of relief was provided, and a majority of it provided by responders who came on their own terms. Furthermore, the genocide could have been prevented in the first place by small response by the UN. If this sounds familiar, it's because it is very similar to what happened during the holocaust, only on a smaller scale. In an article written by USF (University of South Florida) “the Holocaust could have been avoided by the major powers before it ever happened -- in their own interest, not because of the Jews. In the end, all the major powers paid a terrible price for letting Nazi Germany expand during the 1930s. They could have stopped them at any point. They chose not to, because of ill-perceived self-interest”. Indeed, if any of the major power had made a stand, or a larger group of people had been upstanders, the holocaust could have been greatly reduced, or even never had happened, and the same goes for the Rwandan genocide and all of the post WW2 genocides.

All in all, the holocaust was an awful, horrific, mass murder, pushed forward using anti-semitic roots, people's desperation, and the confidence that not many people would act. All of those criteria were fulfilled, and over 5 million innocent lives were taken. Many people just went along with the changes, or even embraced them, hoping for a better life. There are countless memorials stating “never again” but on the contrary, genocide still happens, and the response is relatively similar, without many countries or people caring or reacting. A quote by George Santayana states “Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it” and while we remember the holocaust, we are letting countless smaller versions of it repeat and repeat. To keep this from happening, countries must react before the act is over, and more people should stand up and take action.