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Doreen Valmyr

Dr. Bunn

History and Human Behavior

3 August 2017

The Holocaust: Factors of Unjustified Blind Obedience

The Holocaust was the systematic destruction of certain racial groups and ideologies that

were deemed inferior by the German populace. German authorities targeted Gypsies, disabled

individuals, Slavic people, communists, socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and Jews.

However, the priority of the Nazis attention was the extermination of the Jewish people. This

genocide, starting on January 30, 1933, and ending in May 8, 1945, included many German

individuals who blindly obeyed orders in order to escape harm and benefit themselves. Nearing

the end of the Holocaust, Germans and their collaborators killed approximately two out of every

three Jews, using methods such as starvation, disease, and maltreatment. Germans had motives to

obey blindly and benefit themselves, not thinking of how their own actions influenced other

individuals. They saw how the maltreatment of others would aid them in improving their own

lives. Germans were influenced to obey orders during this time due to employment opportunities,

materialistic gains, and fear of being cast out from the majority of society.

Employment opportunities were crucial in motivating many Germans to blindly obey.

After Adolf Hitler came to power, there was a drastic improvement in the unemployment rate in

Germany, which compelled its people to misplace their loyalty and trust onto Hitler and follow

his principles. By 1936, Hitler’s plan to improve the standard of living for Germans had been

fulfilled (Dylan). Jews and other political prisoners were fired from their jobs in accordance with
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the “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.” For Germans, these

discriminatory practices were seen as beneficial (“The Nazis in Power: Discrimination,

Obedience, and Opportunism”). The “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service”

stated, “...even where there would be no grounds for such action…, civil servants who are not of

Aryan descent are to be retired” (“Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service,

April 7, 1933”). According to this law, only those of Aryan descent could hold any positions in

businesses or other work related settings. The majority of Germans believed that the Nazi regime

would help take Germany out of its political turmoil. The number of available jobs increased

after Jews were denied the rights to hold those positions. Employment was a mean of survival

because Germans did not have to worry about the troubles of poverty and avoided situations in

which they worked by doing hard labor (“Causes and Motivations”). Germans obeyed because

being employed meant escaping doing labor and having a better standard of living, whereas

being unemployed meant not being able to take care of one’s self or family due to poverty.

Due to materialistic gains, Germans were influenced to blindly obey orders against the

favor of Jews. Jewish belongings were received and taken in many ways, such as discount

auctions and looting. Jewish assets in German occupied territories were looted after the owners

were thought to have moved away and were sold at large discounts at auctions. Some of these

Jewish properties included valuable treasures such as paintings, jewelry, and even homes (“The

Nazis in Power: Discrimination, Obedience, and Opportunism”). Kristallnacht, also remembered

as “The Night of Broken Glass,” occurred from November 9-10 of 1938. It was unplanned, but

was set off by the rage Germans had over the assassination of a German official in Paris at the

hands of a Jewish teenager. Joseph Goebbels, a German propaganda minister, along with other
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Nazi officials organized careful pogroms against any Jews who owned businesses. In a period of

two days, over 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed and looted, and dozens of Jewish

individuals were killed. Moreover, Jewish hospitals, schools, and homes were looted as police

and fire units stood by and watched (“The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students”). When a

Nazi official was asked about the widespread theft that occurred during Kristallnacht, he

responded by saying, “We began seizing goods from Jewish shops because sooner or later they

would have been nationalised [confiscated by the government] anyway.” This Nazi official

justified his actions by blaming the Jews for stealing what rightfully belonged to the Germans.

He said, “(Thus, the goods seized would be) used to compensate us for at least part of the

damage which the Jews have been doing for years to the German people” (“Opportunism during

Kristallnacht”). Materialistic gains taken by theft was not seen as a wrongdoing not only because

Jews had “disappeared,” but also because Germans believed that they were being compensated

for the criminality of the Jews. Therefore, it became justifiable to take back what had belonged to

them. Germans blindly obeyed authoritarian views due to the benefits they acquired from theft,

the belief that their own situations would be improved, and their desire for compensation.

Blind obedience was also provoked from the fear Germans had of being cast out from the

majority of society. ​Many people did not possess enough courage to follow their own paths. 

Resisting would mean deserving the same treatment as Jews had received. While many Germans 

might not have agreed with the laws that were passed, they did not want to be seen as outcasts or 

inferior beings. Therefore, they were silent and accepted the inappropriate and undesirable 

behaviors and treatments showed to Jews from authorities.​ A Holocaust survivor named Primo

Levi mentioned that during the Holocaust, he did not know about the events that were occurring.
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When asked why he thought many were unaware of the atrocities that occurred, Levi responded

with his own question, ​“How is it possible that the extermination of millions of human beings

could have been carried out in the heart of Europe without anyone’s knowledge?” (Levi). This

shows that ​some individuals chose to stray away from reality in order to feel as though they were

not part of it. By doing this, they became bystanders, who pretended not to know what was truly

happening, in order to lose involvement and accomplish their desire to belong. Theodore Haas, a

former prisoner of the Dachau concentration camp, stated, “This may stun some people, but not

all Germans hated Jews. My best and devoted friends in Germany were Christians” (Haas).

Many feared being cast out from society for demonstrating enough courage and standing up for

wrongdoings, or did not want to be involved in affairs that would intervene with their daily lives,

so they were induced to obey unjust regulations.

Through the perils of the Holocaust and its titanic atrocities, the German populace

showed nescience in the face of corruption. Reasons for their negligence of others’ mistreatment

included employment opportunities, materialistic gains, and fear of being cast out from the

majority of society. Opportunism was seen as a great advantage because it enabled Germans to

improve their standard of living, whether it was through employment or materialistic gains,

which could be sold for other items of value. Fear of being seen as inferiors also influenced blind

obedience, for Germans wanted to belong to the larger population. Due to their own selfish

desires, the German community committed inhumane acts by being silent and not acting when

others were desperate for aid. Humanity’s selfishness causes many individuals to commit

immoral acts for one’s own benefit, but many times, what is seen as beneficial to one, is

detrimental to another.
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Works Cited

"Causes and Motivations." ​United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,​

www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust/ethical-leaders/background/causes-a

nd-motivations. Accessed 19 July 2017.

Dylan. "Trust and Fear: The Tools of Genocide for Hitler and the Holocaust." ​Philadelphia

University: Germany 2012,​ 23 May 2012, Web. 25 July 2017.

www.wordpress.philau.edu/germany2012/2012/05/23/758/#comments. Accessed 25 July

2017.

"Introduction to the Holocaust." ​United States Holocaust Memorial Museum​,

www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143. Accessed 24 July 2017.

“Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, April 7, 1933.” ​Yad Vashem: The

World Holocaust Remembrance Center​,

www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%202146.pdf. Accessed August

1 2017.

“Opportunism during Kristallnacht.” ​Facing History and Ourselves,​

www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-7/opportunism-during-kri

stallnacht. Accessed 31 July 2017.

“The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students.” ​United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,​

www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007697. Accessed 31 July 2017.

"The Holocaust: Bystanders and Upstanders." ​Facing History and Ourselves​,

www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/decision-making-times-injustice/holocaust-bysta

nders-upstanders. Accessed 25 July 2017.

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"The Nazi Regime." ​Holocaust: A Call to Conscience,​

www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/history-of-the-holocaust-shoah/the-nazi-regime.html.

Accessed 25 July 2017.

"The Nazis in Power: Discrimination, Obedience, and Opportunism." ​Facing History and

Ourselves​,

www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/decision-making-times-injustice/nazis-in-power-

discrimination-obedience-opportunism. Accessed 20 July 2017.

Zelman, Aaron. “Full Interview with Holocaust Survivor, Theodore Haas.” ​Jews for the

Preservation of Firearms Ownership​, 1990, jpfo.org/filegen-n-z/survive.htm. Accessed

28 July 2017.