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Gabrielle Hart

Miss Freyvogel

American History

January 2, 2017

Road to the Holocaust

My topic is the how World War I exasperated the antisemitism in Germany and how that

lead to the Holocaust. Europe was always a hotbed of anti-semitic thought, World War I did not

create hate for Jews it only made it worse. After World War I the Germans wanted to blame

someone for their lose. They could not seem to blame themselves and so they blamed the Jews.

The Jews back then in Germany were on average wealthy and did not seem to suffer like the

German people did during the war. This lead to the conclusion that the Jewish people were

tradiors to the German cause and therefore not really Germans. Another reason why World War I

lead to the Holocaust was because of the rise right wing politics. Right wingers always were

known for their anti-semitic thoughts and ideas. Because of the economic unrest in Germany

people wanted something new and so they turned to the radical right and people like Adolf

Hitler. The Jews were dehumanized and therefore it was easy for the German people to turn a

blind eye the murder of millions.

This was significant because we need to look into past to protect the future. Looking back

we cannot understand how it was possible for the German people to ignore the sufferings of

millions. It was a dangerous slope that the German people fell down. Hate and ignorance blinded

the German people into committing mass murder. We need to watch that the American people do

not slide down the same slippery slope that the Germans did. If one charismatic man like Adolf
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Hitler can persuade Germany down a road of hatred why could not it happen to America? The

Holocaust can also draw parallels to the pro-choice movement of today. Just like the Jews were

dehumanized so are the aborted children. “They are not people so it is ok to kill them,” is the line

that is spouted by politicians who want abortion to be legal.

I find this topic interesting because it shows about the human condition. Capable of so

much good, but then so much bad. The German people were not purely evil, but confused and

misguided. They lost the grace of God and turned against Catholic teachings and that lead the

murder of millions. It was a line that is easy to cross. World War I made hatred for Jews more

mainstream. The people who wanted the Holocaust were in the minority, but it still happened

because others closed their eyes. We must always be active and establish boundaries to stop

another Holocaust from happening in the future.

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Work Cited

“Aftermath of World War I and the Rise of Nazism, 1918–1933.” ​United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum​, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust/path-to-nazi-genocide/chapter-1/aft

ermath-of-world-war-i-and-the-rise-of-nazism-1918-1933.