Title: A Good Man Can Be Evil
Summary: Bertold Brecht once said, "All that it takes for evil to come into being is for good men to do nothing." The best evidence supporting this quote is World War II, the rise of Adolf Hitler, and the following Holocaust.
Rating: T, for mentions of the Holocaust and exterminating the Jewish people, etc.
A/N: This is a formal research essay I wrote in my Grade 11 20-1 Social Studies class. We had a number of quotes to choose from, and I chose, "All that it takes for evil to come into being is for good men to do nothing," said by Bertold Brecht. We were to choose a quote and write a formal research essay providing clear and concise evidence to support it. You will find my Works Cited at the end, so the credit can go to those who deserve it. I don't remember what I got on it, I think somewhere in the 70s. Please, read it, and let me know what you think.
A Good Man Can Be Evil
Bertold Brecht once said, "All that it takes for evil to come into being is for good men to do nothing." The best evidence supporting this quote is World War II, the rise of Adolf Hitler, and the following Holocaust. Good men in Germany, Poland, the rest of Europe, and eventually, the entire world, saw what Hitler had planned, and wanted to carry out to completion. Only, good men did nothing. They stood by, for different reasons, and let the horrors and tragedy all around them occur. They did nothing to stop the massacre of Jewish people, and because of that, over six million Jewish people died. The reason the evil that is the Holocaust was able to happen, was because good men did nothing.
Hitler was elected to power in the March 1933 election, but not all Germans supported him. The History Learning Site says, "A substantial number of Germans did not support Hitler and the Nazis. These people were likely to be a constant thorn for Hitler unless they were dealt with. For these people, the Nazis developed a policy of intimidation. Fear became a by-word for those who did not support Hitler. The wrong comment overheard by a Nazi official could have very serious consequences." According to Gardner, Hoogeveen, McDevitt, and Scully in Exploring Nationalism, "Freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly were suspended, and postal, telegraph, and telephone communications were no longer private."
Hitler demanded complete obedience with the use of concentration camps. Initially, death was not common; they were used as scare tactics to ensure that people kept their ideas to themselves (The History Learning Site). "Hitler's police state worked on the rule that if you said nothing, no harm, could come to you. If you had doubts about the way the country was going, you kept them to yourself - or paid the price." (The History Learning Site). Under these circumstances, those who were opposed to Hitler's policies and actions said and did nothing to change them, out of fear for themselves and their own families.
Children within the Hitler regime were indoctrinated early in life to ingrain support for Hitler as soon as possible. The History Learning Site notes, "Children's loyalty could be developed with a policy of indoctrination via education and the Hitler Youth movement." German children were taught to be anti-Jewish as soon as they could understand. Examples of the anti-Jewish propaganda are board games, like "Get the Jews Out," and books, such as, The Poisonous Mushroom. Joseph Goebbels was quoted in Exploring Nationalism, "The foundations must be laid early in life. Following the Führer's teaching, we are setting a new ideal for the education of our youth." In addition, young women were prepared for motherhood and raising children who would be educated in National Socialism. They were indoctrinated with "racial pride" and told to avoid any contact with the Jewish. (Jewish Virtual Library Site). Young people and children knew no different than what they had been taught. To be anti-Jewish was accepted and this prejudice was not challenged.
Even as the rest of the world became aware of Hitler's actions, there was no move to stop him. In August 1942, at the World Jewish Congress in Switzerland, the United States representative Gerhart Riegner told his government, "The Nazis plan to exterminate all the Jews of Europe." (Exploring Nationalism). He was not believed by his peers. Even after his information was proven true, little was done to help the thousands dying in the camps everyday. In a Geneva, Switzerland newspaper interview in February 1999, he said, "News of the extermination of Jews was so awful that people didn't believe it. Even people who did know were very reluctant to do anything." (The Holocaust Historiography Project Site).
The world refused to see what Hitler was doing because they did not want to get involved with it. Countries were still reeling from World War I, and did not have the money or resources to go straight into another war again. The West had no proof of the horrors taking place in Germany for a very long time, and did not want to recognize it after proof was brought forward. In the same newspaper interview, Gerhart Riegner said, "Never did I feel so strongly the sense of abandonment, powerlessness and loneliness as when I sent messages of disaster and horror to the free world and no one believed me."
1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel quoted in his acceptance speech a young Jewish boy being taken to the concentration camps, who said, "Can this be true? This is the 20th century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?" (Exploring Nationalism). The rest of the world remained silent and away because they did not know what was going on, and then refused to help after learning the truth.
Good men can be evil, if they choose to do nothing when faced with something as terrible as the Holocaust and Hitler's reign. The countries and their people, with regards to Bertold Brecht's quote, allowed evil to grow, because the good men of the world sat back and watched as one of the world's worst tragedies play out before them.
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WORKS CITED
Gardner, Hoogeveen, McDevitt, and Scully; Exploring Nationalism. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, Whitby Ontario 2008; pp 140, 166, 167
www DOT historiography-project DOT com/weblog/1999/01/gerhart-riegner-recalls-attemp DOT html
www DOT historylearningsite DOT co DOT uk/nazi_police_state DOT html
www DOT jewishvirtuallibrary DOT org/jsource/Holocaust/hitleryouth DOT html
** Sorry for the messed up links, but I don't think the site will let me put links on a story. So, if you're really interested in going to those sites, y'know, just replace the word DOT with a real dot! Oh! And if you have the time, read Elie Wiesel's book Night. I've just read it for English this year, and it's amazing. It's so sad, but amazing. I didn't even know I quoted him in this until I decided to put it up today! But seriously, it's only like 112 pages. It's definitely a must read.