Summary:
Why had the Holocaust happened? Five factors contributed to it -- desperation, indecision, ignorance, fear, and selfishness. Elie Wiesel's book Night captures a scene of the Holocaust and shows the role these five factors played.
In Elie Wiesel's Night, the readers caught a glimpse of a horrific and devastating event that had taken place behind closed doors. Millions of Jews were persecuted, and the sight of thousands of dead bodies piled on one another was both grueling and tragic.
Why had such a calamity happened? How could people not have known? And if they did know, why had they not cried out and tried to do something to stop it? People today still search for answers, and there are more than one theories. However, some factors are more important to others, and the dangerous ingredients had not only caused the Holocaust, but could also potentially spark another disaster of that kind.
The factors that led to the Holocaust and allowed the plan to become a reality include: desperation, indecision, ignorance, fear, and selfishness.
Desperation is what caused the Holocaust. After its crushing and humiliating defeat from World War I, the Germans found itself at the bottom of the world. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay a compensatory fee of $33 billion. In addition, Germany's trade industry became greatly limited, thus adding to the country's economic hardships. Desperate for strong leadership, The German people turned to whomever was the most powerful and had what it took to lead the nation back to prominence, as Germany once was. This allowed the Nazi Party to rapidly gain power, and by taking advantage of the chance, just as Napoleon had in his rise to power, Hitler granted himself the ultimate power.
After taking power, Hitler prepared to launch his plan, the "Final Solution", into action. However, it was not yet too late to halt him. The major powers, including the United States, Britain, and France, did not take any actions to prepare themselves in case of an attempt by Hitler to massacre the Jews. Even though Hitler had published an autobiography, Mein Kampf, in which he talked about annihilating the Jews, the rest of the world did not take him seriously. The League of Nations repeatedly backed down and gave into Hitler's requests, and amid the weak European powers appeasing to his demands, Hitler launched his great assault on the Jews. By the time the people realized that Hitler had been sincere in his promises of annihilation, it was far too late to prevent the bloodbath that lay ahead.
That does not, however, necessarily mean that there was nothing the condemned people could do to try to escape their fate. Many people, like Elie's family from Night, could've obtained papers to flee to Europe. But an overwhelming majority of the Jews chose not to escape. Why? There were several reasons for this. First, a lot of the Jewish people had spent their entire lives in the village they grew up in. To suddenly leave their homes, without knowing what will actually happen to them, is beyond what they can take. Second, many people were overly optimistic. They firmly believed that nothing would happen to them, and chose to ignore what was happening around them, instead magnifying the few bright rumors. And finally, many people had no idea whatsoever of what was happening. A lot of their knowledge came from news on the radio, and they were simply not aware of the imminent dangers. But whatever the reasons are, all of them revolved around a single feature - ignorance.
Of the many questions that are raised against the Holocaust, one of the more important issue is: Why did no one do something to stop it when the whole world became aware of the tragedy? The answer lies in a combined factor of fear and selfishness. A lot of people feared Hitler, and by then Hitler had gained enough power to obliterate anyone who stood in his one. Countries, like the United States and Great Britain, turned back the Jewish survivors who had managed to sneak out. They proclaimed that they did not have any problems, and did not want to start any. As one country put it, "We do not have any racial problems here, and we do not want to introduce one." Could you say that the countries were necessarily wrong in their actions? After all, they were trying to do what was the best for themselves. But while you can't pronounce them as evil or immoral, they are selfish in not offering to at least take in the few victims who had managed to escape from the grips of the Nazis.
These five factors created the Holocaust, made it happen, and prevented anyone from trying to stop it. The scariest part is, these harmful characteristics will never go away in us. Every human could become desperate, indecisive, ignorant, fearful, and selfish. If those traits had attributed to the cause of the Holocaust, and if such traits will always lurk within us generations after generations, then it is rightful to say that such tragedies such as the Jewish Holocaust could certainly happen again in the future, if not undetected in some parts of the world right at this moment. Although there are some things that we do not have the power to change, we could at least all give an effort to restrain them. When we are desperate, calm down and try to use common sense instead of turning to the best looking choice available. When something must be done, don't be indecisive, do the right thing! Keep up with what's happening in the world. Read the news, get involved. Don't be ignorant and shut out from the rest of the world. Reach out to others, and also reach within yourself to see what things you fear. Help others conquer their fears, and accept words of advice and accept the help of others to vanquish your fears. And last but not least, think about others. Don't just think about yourself, because when nobody has any concerns for people other than themselves, then our world may never have recuperated from all the difficulties it had overcome in the past.
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