Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Behind the Aegis

(53,833 posts)
Wed Jan 27, 2016, 04:48 AM Jan 2016

Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration & Complicity In The Holocaust (Interactive online source)

Millions of ordinary people witnessed the crimes of the Holocaust—in the countryside and city squares, in stores and schools, in homes and workplaces. Across Europe, the Nazis found countless willing helpers who collaborated or were complicit in their crimes. What motives and pressures led so many individuals to abandon their fellow human beings? Why did others make the choice to help?

Some Were Neighbors, Workers, Teenagers, Policemen, Religious Leaders, Teachers, Friends

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration & Complicity In The Holocaust (Interactive online source) (Original Post) Behind the Aegis Jan 2016 OP
You are asking questions … NanceGreggs Jan 2016 #1
Message auto-removed Name removed Jan 2016 #2
Kick JustAnotherGen Jan 2016 #3
Cognitive/social framing, IMO. JudyM Jan 2016 #4
K&R. proverbialwisdom Jan 2016 #5

NanceGreggs

(27,813 posts)
1. You are asking questions …
Wed Jan 27, 2016, 05:24 AM
Jan 2016

… that will never be answered.

“What motives and pressures led so many individuals to abandon their fellow human beings? Why did others make the choice to help?”

We’ll never know.

What we DO know is this: Asking those questions causes all of us to do a little soul-searching. They prompt us to ask ourselves what we would have done – will do should such a circumstance present itself again in our lifetime.

I believe that ultimately, a lesson has been learned here. I believe that there are people the world over who have learned how easily they can be persuaded to abandon their humanity. I believe that when we ask ourselves “would I choose to help”, most of us say we would – and in the saying, we have already made our choice before the need to choose has even presented itself.

“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.” Anne Frank.

I’m with Anne on this one. The lessons of the Holocaust have been brutal, unflinching in their reality, unimaginable in their horror – but they have been learned by many nonetheless. What remains is the need to continue teaching those lessons, so that the phrase “never again” actually becomes the reality of NEVER AGAIN .


Response to Behind the Aegis (Original post)

JudyM

(29,122 posts)
4. Cognitive/social framing, IMO.
Wed Jan 27, 2016, 12:39 PM
Jan 2016

It's similar to when the circumstances and culture of an organization lead employees to go along with unethical business practices, essentially making unethical decisions themselves. Like the price calculus of deciding vs reengineering the Ford Pinto in favor of paying off the wrongful death claims that would result from future gas tank explosions that were estimated to be likely.

It takes real awareness to step back and realize our mental framing is too narrow in strong cultural contexts. This is why mindfulness training and hotlines and whistleblower protection are so important...

Remember also the "shocking" results of the Milgram experiments in post-WWII US and replicated by other researchers in other countries as well ... Most (>60%) subjects universally are willing to really hurt (they were led to believe their actions were causing extreme pain) others simply because an "authority figure" in a lab coat coaxed them.

Very interesting, deeper discussion on the wiki page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

It would be fascinating to understand more about those ~40% of people who refused. What can science find out about them and try to teach the rest of us? And while there were certainly many, many more unknown Righteous during Nazi control, certainly they didn't account for 40% of the occupied populace. Certainly this was also much, much more oppressively powerful framing. But what do we as a species take away from this as a principle of behavior for ourselves and larger society? How much suffering do we allow?

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»Some Were Neighbors: Coll...