A holocaust can be seen as a tragedy of the human kind in regard to the fact that it has proven of the vulnerability of man to the authoritative and often over utilized power of the totalitarian state and the fact that the accepted violence level today has increased in the society. While the legacy of the holocaust is believed to have emerged with the mass killing of the Jews by Hitler and Germany in general, the main legacy of the holocaust today can be seen as the prevention of holocaust. This is based on the fact that even today, individuals in many countries such as in Libya, Iraq and others have little or no control over their destiny. Holocaust has generally been viewed or defined as the genocide committed by the Nazi regime and the associated collaborators. The extent of the deaths caused by the holocaust is hard to tell but it is believed that close to eleven lives were lost by the tragic event that encompassed two main phases. These phases include that of the Nazi rise, period between the year 1933 and 1939 and the war period that took place between 1939 and 1945 and this is what is commonly referred to as the World War II.[1] As it turned out, holocaust involved the extermination of people especially through concentration camps and this was not based on who they were but what they were; Jews, handicaps, homosexuals among others. Thus holocaust was based on the religious beliefs of the people, political beliefs, failure to adopt the Aryan ideology and physical defects. In essence, the magnitude of the effects brought about by the holocaust can never be fully conveyed but the repetition of such a tragedy must be prevented under all costs.[2]
While it is simple to understand the legacy of the holocaust, the events and the factors that led to it are diverse. In analyzing the legacy of the holocaust, many factors have to be put in consideration as it was a combination of this factors that triggered it as opposed to an individual or one particular reason. The defeat of German in the First World War, racism, hard economic times, international indifference and other factors are responsible for the rise of the holocaust. Others would include the militaristic inclusiveness and the propaganda passed by the Nazi regime which was then manipulative. All this factors contributed to the materialization of the holocaust that left around eleven million people dead and others with bitter memories of suffering.[3] However, the legacy of the holocaust can be seen as arising from four distinct but broad factors which include the Hitler phenomenon, overt and latent anti Semitism, creation of a German totalitarian state, the aftermath of the World War I, and the paroxysmal violence of World War II and the creation of Hitler’s private army or the SS.
First and foremost, anti Semitism can be seen as part of the western civilization for many years and which started with the schism that existed between the Christianity and the Judaism and further reinforced by the teachings of the church. This is what has been closely related with the rise of uneducated corporal into the leadership position of a cultured and a powerful state like Germany. In this context, a closer analysis of the factor behind the rise of Hitler to the powerful leadership position will reveal that his notoriety was gained from his rhetoric anti Semitic which prompted him to use the confiscated properties of the Jews to back the German economic miracle as it is commonly known. In this regard, it is highly agreeable that without this anti Semitism, the Nazis would never have risen to power and consequently the occurrence of the Second World War would never have occurred or the bloodshed that occurred would have been avoided. On the other hand, this ethnic hatred was not and can not be seen as having being unique in Germany alone. It is a historical understanding that in other parts of the world, the Jews were been persecuted as scapegoats to other issues such as plagues among others. Jews crusades saw the killing of the Jews by Christians on the pretence of reclaiming the holy land as well as for the far fetched reason of sacrificing Christian babies. It is however important to note that the discrimination of the Jews by Hitler and his administration was the harshest of all other forms of discrimination towards the Jews.[4]
In addition, the creation of a totalitarian German state has been attributed to the eventuality of the legacy of holocaust. In this totalitarian state, the wishes of the various leaders were carried out blindly such as in the case of execution of six million people without the prior written order or a public discussion. Worthy noting here was the creation of the SS, the private army of Hitler, which later hijacked the Nazi and consequently presenting a state within a state.[5]
Moreover, the ending of the World War I left the German country with hard economic times characterized by the economic depression of the 1920. The results of this was a wide spread inflation and unemployment and weakened infrastructure in general. This saw the establishment of the Allies and the aftermath of this which was characterized by the guilt clause and the land seizures in the Versailles treaty led to social turmoil and the eventual rise of the Nazi to replace the democracy of the Weimar Republic.[6]
Still, the attack of Russia by Germany was short of all the accepted rules of War by then a factor that led to the increase in the brutality of the Second World War. Further more, the orders issued by Hitler later famously known as the Commissar orders provided the smokescreen that was used in the execution of the mass with Hitler believing that all the existing problems would be solved through war.
The establishment of Hitler’s private army, the SS, which was not originally supported by the German state saw to it that individual properties were plundered and profits been sought after from the extensive slave labor to support this army. The self supporting army through the violent taking of other people property and through forced slave labor provided itself with all the necessary firepower.
Having examined the probable causes of the holocaust, it is important to note that the legacy was not something that had to occur were it not for the option of the super powers and the rest of the world to look the other way and to pretend that it was not an issue of their concern. Had the Allies and the rest of the world decided to intervene, millions of deaths would have been prevented then. It is unfortunate that the aspects of the legacy are present in some parts of the world today. Fostering of democracy, free media and independent judicial systems are prerequisite factors necessary for the prevention of another legacy.[7]
Bibliography
Barnett Victoria. The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1935. The Christian Century, Vol.118, p.68
Baumann Paul. PIUS XII & THE HOLOCAUST: Sorting out a Tragic Legacy. Commonwealth, Vol.127, December, pp.7
Eric Lengenbacher. New Scholarship on Holocaust. German Politics and Society. Vol.23, 2005, pp.13
Jacobs Janet. Hidden Heritage: The Legacy of the Crypto-Jews. University of California, 2002, pp.16
Lehmann Sophia. “And Here (Their) Troubles Began”: The Legacy of the Holocaust in the Writing of Cynthia Ozick, Art Spiegelman, and Philip Roth. CLIO, Vol.28, 1998, pp.31
Nadell Pamela. After Such Knowledge: Memory, History, and the Legacy of the Holocaust. Biography, Vol.27, 2004, pp.25
Prince Robert. The Legacy of the Holocaust: Psychohistorical Themes in the Second Generation. UMI Research Press, 1985, pp.43
[1] Prince Robert. The Legacy of the Holocaust: Psychohistorical Themes in the Second Generation. UMI Research Press, 1985, pp.43
[2] Jacobs Janet. Hidden Heritage: The Legacy of the Crypto-Jews. University of California, 2002, pp.16
[3] Nadell Pamela. After Such Knowledge: Memory, History, and the Legacy of the Holocaust, Biography, Vol.27, 2004, pp.25
[4] Lehmann Sophia. “And Here (Their) Troubles Began”: The Legacy of the Holocaust in the Writing of Cynthia Ozick, Art Spiegelman, and Philip Roth, CLIO, Vol.28, 1998, pp.31
[5] Eric Lengenbacher. New Scholarship on Holocaust. German Politics and Society, Vol.23, 2005, pp.13
[6] Baumann Paul. PIUS XII & THE HOLOCAUST: Sorting out a Tragic Legacy. Commonwealth, Vol.127, December, pp.7
[7] Barnett Victoria. The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1935. The Christian Century, Vol.118, p.68
