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The Age Of War And Displacement By Simon Wiesenthal

Decent Essays

In the Age of War and Displacement is characterized by imperialism, nationalism, racism, and power. In an era of both freedom and confinement, Simon Wiesenthal describes his experience of the Holocaust, which is used to analyze, what it means to be human. After World War One (WWI), the Germans lost, “Hitler assumed authority and began to blame the Jews for what happened in WWI” (Bingle). Within a few months, Germans started to believe Hitler that they were the master race or supermen, and had no trouble committing genocide of any group Hitler labeled as “bad” or “subhuman”. The Sunflower, address the nature and task of human but also gives a Jewish perspective of “Humanness”. Wiesenthal asks, “Were we truly all made of the same stud? If so, why were some murderers and other victims? Was there in fact any personal relationship between us, between the murderers and their victims, between our camp commandant, Wilhaus, and a tortured Jews (Wiesenthal 7)? Nationalism is key characteristic in the 20th century and Germany was the primary country to demonstrate this, with National Socialism. Germans showed their patriotism and loyalty to their country and fellow citizens. “National Socialism affected many Germans… [it] was for them the fulfillment of their dearest wishes. It lifted them out of their insignificance. That is should come to power at the expense of innocent victims did not worry them” (Wiesenthal 91). For the Jews, the human experience was to be treated like a person

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