The other interpretation was structuralism. Structuralists believe that Hitler was just as much to blame for the Holocaust as a whole string of other factors which will come out in this essay. Then again, historiography isn’t the only factor that must be taken into account when pinning blame for the Holocaust. It must be remembered that there are different types of responsibility too, and how these are analysed may
The Holocaust was the result of Hitler's long held grand design to peruse a programme of annihilation against the Jews'. How Valid is this assessment of the Holocaust The validity of statements such as this has sparked great debate among historians and academics alike. Centering around the ongoing discussion of whether the Nazi government were fulfilling a long standing scheme in eradicating European Jewry, or that the Holocaust was in fact the result of unplanned incidental events This clear divide in ideology stands between two groups Intentionalists and Structuralists. While extremities of each interpretation can vary among historians, the general principles of each argument remain compatible Intentionalits are those convinced that from a relatively early period his rise To power, Adolf Hitler had schemed to kill the Jewish population in Europe. Intentionalists believe that the eradication of the Jews and ultimately the holocaust was all part of Adolf Hitler’s grand design, and that he would stop at nothing until his design was completed.
The investigation will address the question from a positivist approach, analyzing various sources, including books, websites and documentaries. The two sources selected for evaluation, The Storm Of War by Andrew Roberts, and How Hitler could have won World War II: The Fatal Errors That Lead To Nazi defeat, by Alexander Bevin, will be evaluated for their origins, purposes, values and limitations. B: Summary of Evidence “The Stalingrad campaign in Russia in 1942 is one of the most poignant examples ever recorded of a ruler engineering his own destruction” (Bevin 145). The campaign started with Operation Blau. Blau was the next step in Operation Barbarossa, created to focus on the invasion of the Caucasus and Southern Russia in the summer and autumn months (Preston 132).
A metaphor connects one subject with another that may not be obviously related. When used correctly, it allows the writer to do this in a way that is both stylistically pleasing and concise. The following quotation has been edited and altered so that it includes a misused metaphor. It is from Pope John Paul II, discussing the Nazi Holocaust and the long-lasting impact it has had on Europe: Here, as at Auschwitz and many other places in Europe, we are overcome by the echo of the tears of so many. Men, women, and children cry out to us from the depths of the horror that they knew.
However, writers in the divided Germanys played this role differently. In the West the Gruppe 47 was one of the first groups to try and deal with the horrors of the war, Emmerich though does not feel that they properly dealt with the genocide of Jews, instead they talked about having weathered the war. The 68ers were some of the first to seriously deal with the actions of the Nazi generation; this was facilitated by the generational gap between them and their parents. These left leaning writers wanted a design for a “new man” who would be part of an ideological utopia. The author suggests that the lack of an ideological foundation in the BDR played a part in this, this is in contrast to the east where anti-fascism was the basis for foundation of the state, people became socialist in order to distance themselves from fascism.
Before delving into his arguments, Shepkaru repeated the most popular theories of modern historians like Robert Chazan, Jonathan Riley-Smith, and many others as to what were the root causes of the violence against the European Jews. Robert Chazan debates that the Crusaders were driven by “religious idealism” which was blended with a “distorted” version of Pope Urban II’s message; whereas, Jonathan Riley-Smith opines that the Crusaders were so blinded by “religious idealism” that they could not even identify the true enemy from a Muslim or Jew. Taken from Dana Munro and H.E.J Cowdrey, Shepkaru utilizes Pope Urban II’s speech as a backdrop for this scenario.
Dr. Oren Baruch Stier in his article “Holocaust Symbols: The Icons of Memory,” defines symbols this way “…are things that all human beings need. We need them as a way to relate to the events of the past.” Dr. Stier believes that symbols, both concrete, such as artifacts and abstract, swastikas and the like have important relevance to our generation. He maintains that whether symbols are exhibited in their original settings such as the Auschwitz death camp or in staged settings in museums, both should cause us to reminisce, and bring this enigmatic milestone to life. They are testimony to a horrific time and place in history where intolerance, hatred and prejudice met. That we employ these symbols in our awareness of our past indicates what they have come to communicate to us
The Origins of Genocide: Was the Nazi Holocaust Inevitable? One of the earliest and most persistent debates concerning the Holocaust involves causality: Was the Holocaust inevitable? Was there something particular about German psychological roots, society, or culture that allowed for the Holocaust? We live in a time of unparalleled instances of genocide and being aware of our own capacity for extraordinary atrocities, and the constructs that foster it, provides potential preventative measures. Ultimately, if human nature is the problem it may also be the solution.
On the one hand, postmodernism posits that experience and narrative are subjective, and, on the other, survivors of historical crimes of the 20th century claim only victims of these atrocities can discuss their meanings and implications”. The major concern with the portrayals is the subjectivity of it in which the war takes on a person’s own view of the events and the research. Although Atonement doesn’t go into great depths of the specific events of the war meaning that many of the key quotes are generalizations of the war environment rather than specific dated events. However Atonement does comment on how the events the characters are experiencing will be remembered which examines an interesting idea. Although fiction can be a means of remembering the past many precautions need to be taken which
Discussion and Analysis (Word count) ‘To what extent was Hannah Arendt correct in saying that human beings are conditioned to be evil by authority?’ Exploring the dispute between dispositional evil and conditioned/situational evil Introduction By introducing the various sources and theories regarding Arendt’s thesis in the literature review, it is now time to scrutinise each side of the argument. My personal line of thought identifies, specifically in the context of Eichmann and the Nazi bureaucrats during the Holocaust, with Arendt in saying that human beings can be conditioned to be evil by authority. The way this discussion will pan out is as follows: a judgement on the logical validity of each argument by assessing the strengths and weaknesses, followed by an introduction to my case for a particular argument similarly scrutinised. Once my point of view has been forwarded I will round up the discussion and see how credible my viewpoint is. Arendt and the Eichmann Trial: Evidence against the notion of Dispositional Evil (for the question) Whitfield outlines in his article that the psychological tests conducted on Eichmann during his trial ultimately failed to show an evil impulse or nature within him, furthering the feasibility of conditioned evil.