Witness and Host

Playing witness and host was one of the biggest issues of the lead up to the holocaust. By putting Hitler into office, the Germans knew the direction that they were going towards. The hate that Hitler and his party had for the Jews was undeniable, and would undoubtedly cause issues in the future. From Episode 1 of "A Warning from History", it was clear that there was a lot of unrest and struggle for the people of Germany, and that then made them desperate for a huge change. That need for change made Hitler seem like the perfect fit because he knew exactly what he wanted. The lead up to the Holocaust also was made possible by the amount of support and dedication that the German people grew to have for Hitler. He was such an influential man that by having so many people support him, he was able to manipulate concepts that would otherwise be seen as cruel. Because of the love that people felt for him, he was able to get people to do things like swear an oath to him rather than the country, and create propaganda that made everything seem perfect. People didn’t see Hitler’s actions as cruel any longer; they saw them as a step to freedom. As the war continued, the Nazis were gaining land and power, things that the Germans loved. Seeing that Hitler could be so successful made them continue to follow his lead without question. Though the Jews were being transported to ghettos and then the camps, the people of Germany were more intrigued by the fact that they were winning a war that they didn’t necessarily ask questions about what was going on. This support also continued when Hitler took over the rest of Poland. This much land with that many Jews was a huge success for him and Germany. By this time, the people of Germany were being so influenced by propaganda and Hitler himself that the “deportation” of Jews was okay to them. They knew generally what was going on in the camps but because it wasn’t happening to them, it was not a huge deal. Once the Nazis were losing control of the war and began to answer the Jewish Question, it became clear of the intentions of Hitler and that is when people were so much more aware of the extent of the horror. But, even with that, most still did not do anything about it. It is interesting how distant the German people were throughout this whole thing, but because the non Jews were not affected, it does make sense why most would try to stay away from the events.