The Man Behind the Curtain

The Man Behind the Curtain

In Night, the reader watches as the Nazis subject the Jewish people to countless horrors, but what is the determination behind this anger? It may be due in part to propaganda, or maybe its due in part to Germany being in a devastating depression before the war. But the drive behind all this anger goes back to Adolph Hitler himself. This essay will discuss Hitler as a symbol of anti- Semitism that drove Nazis to be so incredibly cruel to the Jewish people, and what allowed him to achieve such a feat.

A big part of Hitler's strategy to brain wash Germany was to start with the children through Hitler youth. In a 1935 speech Hitler says "He alone who, owns the youth, gains the future."(Brainy quote) By saying this he means that if you can control the young people of a country you can control the future of that country. In March 1922 the first Nazi party youth group was established, but then failed after Hitler's arrest on November 8th 1923. But the Nazi movement was far from over in 1924 Hitler was released and began rebuilding the party, then in 1926 Hitler Youth was formally established and Kurt Gruber put in charge (History place). The main role of Hitler Youth was to make the "perfect" German citizen, and to make a whole new generation of anti- Semites a quote from the Hitler youth hand book says: "Only racial comrades may be citizens. A racial comrade must be of German blood, without regard to religion. No Jew can be a racial comrade." (Calvin College) This quote is saying that to be a citizen in Germany you must not only be of the Arian race but also cannot be a Jew. Hitler youth managed to get their message every girl and boy by eliminating all other youth groups and in 1936 making attendance compulsory for all children 10-18 years old. These boys and girls were taught to be the model citizens (like Hitler); boys were being prepared for military service and girls were taught to be the next mothers of Germany. A few Hitler youth members functioned as HJ-Streifendienst (an internal police force) that would deal with unruly members and also turn in anyone who criticized Hitler or Nazism sometimes even their own family members (history place). All these facts show just how under Hitler's influence these boys and girls were but also how well Hitler's plan was working.

Next we look at Hitler's saturation of Germany with propaganda through posters, flyers, speeches, grand parades, and even just fear. One famous propaganda poster that promoted anti- Semitism is a depiction of a Jewish man hunched over with a whip in one hand and money in the other hand suggesting that all Jews are abnormal, greedy, slave drivers. This poster is a classic example of wide spread anti- Semitism in Germany and how Nazi's managed to make the general population hate the Jewish people as much as they did. This kind of propaganda would