The Similarities Between Adolf Hitler And The Holocaust

Among all man-caused violent conflicts, atrocities and catastrophes, the two World Wars were the most disastrous and painful events human history had to suffer. In terms of casualties, World War II was more harmful, as it is estimated to have caused 50 to 80 million deaths. However, the Second World War is also more well-known because of one prominent and charismatic leader – Adolf Hitler – and the Holocaust, the biggest genocide in human history, which was the systematic extermination of many Jews living in Nazi Germany. Because of the persecutions and monstrosities suffered by the Jews particularly during War World II, the long history of discrimination against them – long before WWII – is often overlooked, or not taken into account when
As explained in the Encyclopedia Britannica, the fact that many Jews were bankers or into money loaning came from the fact that for hundreds of years in most places in Medieval Europe they were not allowed to pick up a lot of other professions that involved craftsmanship, like a tailor or a baker. They relied purely on trading and loaning money for their income. This contributed to the stereotype image of the ‘money hungry Jew’. Although, there was also a sense of truth in this stereotype, since many Jews, thanks to their history and profession, were pretty good with handling
His Nazi party was gaining more and more support. A brilliant propaganda machine did the rest. The Nazi propaganda was way ahead of its time. Joseph Goebels, a famous Nazi who later would become Minister of Propaganda, for example, founded a newspaper in Berlin called Der Angriff in 1927 to spread the Nazi ideology. In 1930, Goebels, who perfectly understood the power of the medium film, established the Nazi film department. Through the years the propaganda machine of the Nazis got better and better and had its peak after Hitler rose to power in 1933. The movie The Eternal Jew (Der Ewige Jude), directed by Fritz Hippler in 1940, is the most famous example of how the Jews were portrayed back then. Even though the film wasn’t made in the era between World War I and Hitler’s reign it is a great example of how many Germans, or Europeans for that matter, in those days thought about the Jews. More and more Jews in everyday life were feeling the effects of the growing hate towards them in Germany. Open discrimination, bullying and physical violence towards Jews was increasing as Hitler’s popularity grew