Question

Identify the ethical position of regular German citizens during the holocaust. Explain

Answer 1

Identify the ethical position of regular German citizens during the holocaust. Explain

Experiments have shown that when larger people are to witness a crime, they would be less likely to act in order to prevent the crime from happening. What people care about is the judgment of the society and not the consequences of their actions. One average person, if takes gradual steps, could actively participate in stopping a hate crime. An average person, would convince himself about the inaction that he takes while witnessing a crime, such as “it is not their job to intervene” or “there has been no real harm”. These weak arguments refrain them from any action. An average person sinks into the lies, such as in the case of the Jews, where many believed that they deserved those treatments. This cleans their conscience of not taking a stand. As an example of the Jews, people began to think that they were superior, in respiratory se to the popular culture. The primary idea is people would not be standing alone since they tend to fear retribution. Via slow steps, a normal person would neither be able to stop a hate crime, and end up in participation of the hate crime. As the nazis had grouped the Jewish people in ghettos, average people did not act since they did not want to get involved. Also, with the lies surrounding and with the prevalent news around, people had been sure that all this that happened was correct. The average person began to believe that they were superior. The average person had at one time been innocent, but with the popular culture, they also started behaving badly with their Jewish neighbours. Even when the Jews were killed, an average German thought that he deserved it. With a complete reshaping of the thought processes, they neither stop the violence nor help them. Rather, they report any Jew that they see, turning into monsters.

It could be explained in the form of moral absolutism. Though Hitler himself did not believe in so, but the society required to believe that there is presence of an absolute moral authority. There was presence of a Nazi deontology, which had been wide spread among the average citizen, that all of the actions were carried out for the standard German citizen.