Using skillful propaganda, the Nazis brought German anti-Semitism to a fever pitch.

by Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

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Anti-Semitic Cartoon

Anti-Semitic Cartoon
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

Hitler played heavily on the anti-Semitism already rooted within his people. He resurrected ideas that a previous king of Germany, Frederick the Great, had introduced. There were distinct categories of human beings. Essentially, the Germans were Aryans, and everyone else was sub-human. Hitler took these ideas and embellished them. He blamed the Jews for "two great wounds upon humanity: "Circumcision of the Body and Conscience of the Soul."

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Degrading Jews

Jews Forced To Carry Anti-Jewish Signs
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

The Jews were accountable for that.

As Hitler gained popularity, his hatred of Jews spread and became a rallying cry.

The Nazi propaganda paper, Der Sturmer, revived the "Blood Libels." The church would warn their constituents: "Watch your children 6-7 weeks before Passover… Everyone knows that just before Passover Jews need the blood of a Christian child, maybe, to mix in with their Matzah."

The attitude taught to the children was, "Just as one poisonous mushroom can poison a whole family, one Jew can poison a whole town or a whole country!"

Read the complete story from "The Toadstool," a Nazi children's book.

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Nazi Rally With Signs: "The Jews Are Our Misfortune!"
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

Der Sturmer was running contests encouraging German children to write in. One little girl wrote, "People are so bothered by the way we’re treating the Jews. They can’t understand it, because they are God’s creatures. But cockroaches are also God’s creatures, and we destroy them."

Words can create an attitude. If a person says something loud enough and often enough, he creates a climate. And under that climate, all sorts of things can happen.

Published: Wednesday, December 31, 1969
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Visitor Comments: 80

(79) Anonymous, March 11, 2011 4:56 PM

wow!!!!!!!!!!

(78) josh sorensen, March 3, 2011 4:08 PM

damn thats somthing.

whoa. the holocaust is pretty much the worlds largest mass murder and if that is so then Adolf Hitler was the worlds worse mass murderer.makes freddy ofr jason look like pest control. but all of the people in the holocaust have had extemely bad pasts, hitler was beatn and the germans had just been saved from the worst depression ever. abd if the man that saved them asked them to kill jews they would.

austin, October 13, 2011 6:46 PM

omg

wow the holocaust was really something bad back in the days. i feel really bad for those who lost their parents or sons and daughters.

(77) Dean, January 20, 2011 4:30 AM

you must understand

after hitler came to power in 1933, the nazi party had gained a majority in the reichstag and the enabling act made it possible for hitler to spread such propaganda against the jews. children were taught in schools to despise the "juden" and to watch out for their deceit. we look back in disgust at the german people for loving hitler but wat you must understand is that they were in poor condition and hitler brougt them out of the muck. he basically had the nation by the heartstrings and the balls.

(76) Anonymous, January 13, 2011 9:51 PM

Do not think the little girl is disgusting. It is not her fault for being taught such views. If you grew up being taught as she I'm sure you'd be the same way. Its just pure ignorance.

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About the Author

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis studied biology and geology at Northern Illinois University. In addition, he spent time as a deep-sea diver in the oil fields in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway and has circumnavigated the seas of the world in a sailboat. Rabbi Ellis received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah where he is a senior lecturer at the Discovery and Essentials programs.

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky received his BS from Cornell with a major in Communication Arts and a minor in Archeology, and did post-graduate work at UCLA in the field of Desert Plants and Natural History. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked in the field of Urban Ecology including several years as a landscape designer in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Silinsky received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He currently teaches at the Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

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