Everyone likes to think they would have stood up for what was right, even at the cost of their life, as well as the lives of their family members. Alas, very few people actually would. It's not like every German was a die-hard homicidal anti-Semite before Hitler rose to power. In reality, people think differently in groups than they do as individuals. Moreover, when a message is reinforced by everyone around you, as well as everything you hear and read on radio and in newspapers, you'd be surprised by how easily what you believe can be molded to fit someone else's vision. Hitler was just a man. Alone he could never have made the Holocaust happen. He was merely a figurehead for a larger movement that was, in and of itself, not very different that other movements that have occurred throughout human history. So the most dangerous thing to think is "I would NEVER do that" because chances are, if the conditions were right, you would.
Everyone likes to think they would have stood up for what was right, even at the cost of their life, as well as the lives of their family members.
Alas, very few people actually would.
It's not like every German was a die-hard homicidal anti-Semite before Hitler rose to power.
In reality, people think differently in groups than they do as individuals.
Moreover, when a message is reinforced by everyone around you, as well as everything you hear and read on radio and in newspapers, you'd be surprised by how easily what you believe can be molded to fit someone else's vision.
Hitler was just a man. Alone he could never have made the Holocaust happen.
He was merely a figurehead for a larger movement that was, in and of itself, not very different that other movements that have occurred throughout human history.
So the most dangerous thing to think is "I would NEVER do that" because chances are, if the conditions were right, you would.