Similarities Between The Holocaust And “The Crucib

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Similarities Between The Holocaust and “The Crucible” The Holocaust and “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller are not so different. There are some striking points of similarity which link the two together and show how history can easily repeat itself. One of the major likenesses is the people who order the killings themselves. Adolf Hitler and Judge Danforth have a good amount in common. Both of them have no good reason for sentencing people to death but more just want it to happen because they have the power to do it as Giles Corey points out in “The Crucible”. “Say nothin' more, John. He's only playin' you! He means to hang us all! (Miller 91) It is clear that Danforth has an absolutely senseless reason for killing people because he chooses to believe that witchcraft is real like Hitler chooses to believe that Germans are a superior race and Jews cause all of the worlds problems. Judge Danforth just needs someone to confess themselves of witchcraft so that he and the court may look good to the public. Jews and witchcraft are easy things to blame problems on if you can convince people to believe they are causing them. Scapegoats such as Jewish people and Witchcraft are a lot easier to see as the cause of issues in life than facing real problems such as sickness or political strife. Hitler captured people in his speeches with his promises of a better Germany, but he also taught his hatred of Jews in the process. “It was Hitler’s belief that the Jews had too much money, land and the power of the press.” (library.thinkquest.org) Hitler caused mass hysteria against Jews by creating this frame of mind that they were the cause of all things bad just like Abigail and her posse did to Salem. Unfortunately, the people who are completely innocent in these cases get punished the most. In both the Salem witch trials and the Holocaust many people were killed who were not
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