How Did Germany Lead Up To The Holocaust?

By following Germany's history that lead up to the Holocaust, and examining the Ten Stages of Genocide by Dr. Gregory Stanton, I believe that one of the largest warning signs that happened early on in which genocide prevention could have taken place would be Germany's economic crisis during the Weimar Republic. In the 1920s, Germany entered a depression under the Weimar Republic. By 1929, the worldwide depression hit, causing Germany's economic system to crash. “In a country plagued by joblessness, embittered by the loss of territory, and demoralized by an ineffective government, political demonstrations frequently turned violent”( The Path to Nazi Genocide). This period is where classification, or us versus them mentality began to grow against the communist. As the film showed, many political parties played on the fear of the German citizens through speeches, rallies, and propaganda in fears of a Communist revolution that would only continue to worsen Germany's current state.
Prevention can come through many different tactics. Even improving the economic conditions of life for the German people would have reduced disparity. German citizens were so easily manipulated because they believed that all hope was lost. By …show more content…
People feared for their lives and how to live day to day, this type of mentality changes a person, becoming fearful, hopeless, and desperate. Having the communist to blame allowed for something to rally around and blame for the situation Germany was placed in. Instead of a search for common ground, classification began to classify the German society, Communist were seen as the lesser, and were therefore beaten, and terrorized eventually being some of the first lead into concentration camps. If the preventative action could have been taken here, before classification began it could have stopped the larger scale that began to develop against the Jewish