The Price Paid for Being Different

"Once The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion has become the common property of a people, the Jewish menace may be considered as broken."

~ Adolf Hitler, Mien Kampf

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Before Hitler's takeover of Germany, more than 9 million Jews lived throughout every country of Europe; including the twenty-one countries that Germany would occupy during World War II. “By the end of the war, two out of every three of these Jews would be dead (European Jews).”

The reason...

Following Karl Lueger's example, Adolf Hitler blamed Jews for Germany's econimic issues and being what he termed "stabbed in the back" by the Treaty of Versailles at the close of World War I. He also believed Jews were conspiring to control the world. This irrationality was only fueled when he read The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion sometime in the 1920s. Unfortunately this book was published as propaganda and was used as a tool to spread hatred, mistrust, and cast Jews in a light that they were enemies of the state. As Anti-Semetism spread, proof that the Protocols was nothing more than fiction was largely ignored and other false works (including cartoons, school curriculum, pictures, etc.) were published to imply that Jews were the cause for world unrest and therefore should be separated from the rest of society and terminated without remorse.

For more information on this, visit our Psychology of Genocide page

Like all things, the Persecution of Jews and the atrocities of the Holocaust did not happen overnight. Rather, the murder of millions, the committing of unspeakable acts, and the mindset that it was acceptable was arrived at one step at a time.

"PUBLIC NOTICE! Mandated by the Fuhrer and by the order of the Gauleiter, all Jews will wear an identification armband on the right forearm displaying the star of David. The armband is to be made of white cloth, ten centimeters wide, and the blue star one centimeter thick and eight centimeters in diameter, which must be positioned in the center of the armband. This order is effective immediately. Jews found not wearing identification will be serverely punished!" ~ (Sterling)  

This was the first step, and it aided by the use of a card counting machine created by IBM. This card counting machine catagorized people according to age, gender, location, and, for the first time, race. This is how the SS and Gestapo always had the lists filled with names of Jews. It was a great tool in the hands of Nazis wanting to "weed out" the "undesirables". 

Jews were forced to wear gold Stars of David on their clothing and carry I.D. cards with them stamped with a large "J" to ensure there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the person was a Jew.

Here the Jewish Star of David can been seen sewn onto the sleeves of the girls' dresses.

The stars and I.D. cards not only meant they were of a certain faith, but also served as a forshadowing of what was to come. They singled them out. Soon other things would promote an attitude of "seperation". An attitude that led to actions. A curfew was instilled upon the Jews only, benches were set aside in parks for them as if they carried a disease and therefore should not touch what "normal" Germans touched, and raids were often conducted on Jewish owned shops. "Filthy Jew", "Dirty pig", or simply "Jew" was painted onto doors and windows as clear signs Germans should no longer shop at such establishments.

See our Psychology of Genocide page

"Shattered storefront of a Jewish-owned shop destroyed during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass").

Berlin, Germany, November 10, 1938 (Night of the Broken Glass)."

Slowly, bit by bit, their freedoms and rights were stripped from them until complete segregation was instilled. Then came the begining of one of the worst acts in history against a single group of people. Hitler decided Jews should no longer mingle with the rest of the German population, so they were moved to areas set aside for them where they could not disturb the rest of the population with their presence. They called these areas "Ghettos". They were nothing more than compounds, fenced in and guarded, with poor living conditions, and little food or water. As sickness ran rampant and many died of the conditions, the Jews asked themselves what could possibly be worse. Then they found out as they were shipped to Concentration Camps where they were literally sentenced to death, either slowly through grueling work with little food, or immediately by gassing, burning alive, or open air massacres.

Exiting Boxcars at Auschwitz-Birkenau 

Jews were not the only people shipped to the death camps. Gypsies, Homosexuals, and prisoners of war (see our Minorities Prejudice page and The Victims page) were also sent to their deaths in those places that were as close to Hell the Earth could create. This marked just how quickly and efficiently a label turned a person into an insignificant piece of meat whose life no longer mattered as anything more than a worker or something to kill in whatever way desired.

Return to Jews home page or continue on and read about Surviving a Real-life Nightmare.