Hitler believed in ethnic cleansing. He wanted the non-white race to disappear. To him non-whites were an inferior race. Individuals of Jewish descent were particularly singled out. Hitler ordered their imprisonment in concentration camps which had deplorable living conditions. Jewish “prisoners” were badly mistreated and then most were killed. This “ethnic cleansing” didn’t just take place in Germany but all over Western Europe. The Crucible also tackles the problem of perception. In the reading the author describes how the characters believe that some people are more deserving of life than others. This perception is totally false but it continues to attract believers.
Hitler’s plan was to create a dominant race consisting of “pure” white humans who were mentally superior to all others. He was a charismatic speaker who was very powerful in persuading others to his point of view. He made people believe that only the white race should live on this Earth and all those of other races or religions should be driven out with force or execution. Hitler spoke to the people and told them to follow his ideas and that he would lead them to total domination of the world.
“The Racial Theories of the Nazis”, Nazism and the Holocaust - http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/english/49.html
The Holocaust and the Salem Witch Trials are similar in many respects. One of the main aspects was that the Jews were singled out, just like the accused. The Nazis believed that the Jews were an inferior race and the Germans were destined to rule the world. They believed that only the "pure blood" races were fit to survive. Before Germans could fulfill their pre-destined destiny, they had to rid the "alien" political, and cultural ideas and erase the "inferior blood". This is much the same for Salem Village. Because they were a theocracy government, they believed that God is all mighty and other Gods were bad. That is one of the reasons why the Salem Witch Trials took place. The idea to “rid” of what is threatening is very similar to both situations.
Both in the Crucible and Hitler’s Holocaust are examples of a singled out population targeted for extension because of fear and financial gain. It was a good thing that Hitler did not succeed entirely with his ethnic cleansing plan. The girls did not succeed because they had had accused almost everyone in the village. Many lives were ruined. When the truth was finally realized retribution of the simplest kind occurred. The families of those put to death after being accused of witchcraft were given gold coins. Jewish families had their loves ones honored by charities. None of it really meant anything. There are still people out in the world today who feel that any race other than non-white should not be permitted to exist. There is an important lesson to be learned by these events. We are all vulnerable. At any moment in time “we” could be the target of false accusations and others fears. We could and should learn from
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