The Holocaust in Germany: Impact


Figure 1.--.

We know what the impact of the Holocaust was on the Jews, both those murdered and those that survived. There were 6 million precious lives lost and lived cripped by the loss of family and friends. Less well examined was the cost to Germany. The NAZIs argued that Jews and other non-Aryan influences weakened Germany. There was never any assessment done, but rather a resort to prejudice and pseudo science. Actually the NAZI campaign against the Jews significantly impaired the German war effort. There was some benefit in terms of slave labor, but this was a net loss because the talents and abilities of German Jews was essentially waisted. Jews in World War I like other citizens had supported the war effort. Many received military commendations and played notable rolls in war industries. The most obvious loss was the nuclear phyiists that fled Germany and NAZI-occupied Europe. Not only did this weaken NAZI science, but played a major role in the Manhattan project. Germany in 1939 was to believed to be 2-years ahead of America and Britain in nuclear physics, but was unable to build a nuclear weapon. After the War the impact on Germany was also significant. The Jews and others who fled the NAZIs played a major role in America's emergence as a world leader, not only in science but the arts as well. The German post-War economic miracle has clouded the impact on Germany. German befofe the NAZIs was a world leader in many areas. This was true of many scientific disciplines as can be assessed by noting the number of nobel prizes won by German scientists. Germany had a leadership position in many areas like television, color film, and taking movies. Germany had a dynamic fashion industry. German film studios were some of the most important in the world. German artists were at the cuttig edge of modern art. Look at Germany after the War. Many of these were areas in which Jews, before the NAZIs, played an important role. German industry staged an impressive recovery, but German companies were largely involved in craftmanship and building goods with basically old technology. None of the major advances in the world economy have come from Germany, such as transistors, computers, the internet, digital recording, ect. Nor has the German fashion industry, movie studios, artists, ect approched the status that they had before the NAZIs. There are a range of factors involved here. But surely the loss of a small, but educated, creative minority is one of the factors involved.

NAZI View

The NAZIs argued that Jews and other non-Aryan influences weakened Germany. There was never any assessment done, but rather a resort to prejudice and pseudo science.

World War II

Actually the NAZI campaign against the Jews significantly impaired the German war effort. There was some benefit in terms of slave labor, but this was a net loss because the talents and abilities of German Jews was essentially waisted. Jews in World War I like other citizens had supported the war effort. Many received military commendations and played notable rolls in war industries. The most obvious loss was the nuclear physicists that fled Germany and NAZI-occupied Europe. Not only did this weaken NAZI science, but played a major role in the American Manhattan Project. Germany in 1939 was to believed to be 2-years ahead of America and Britain in nuclear physics, but was unable to build a nuclear weapon. There are also numerous accounts of Holocaust transports receiving priority over desperately needed military cargos

German Image

Germany's image in the 20th century is very different than that of the 19th century. First with Kaiser Wilhelm II and then with World War I, Germany developed the image of a war-like basrbaric people. Churchill called them the Huns. Here very effective British propagada was a factor, but the German invasion of neutral Belgium is hard to ignore. As Clemencau said when asked how history would record who started the war, "I will tell you what history will not say, that Belgium invaded Germany." The subsequent harsh occupation regime as well as the introduction of poison gas and submarine warfare gave the British plenty to work with. Of course none of this compares to the unimaginable attrcities during World war II. The result was that the Germans and Germany were hated and despiced so much that anybody with a German name pretended to be Swiss. Or Austrian which wasn't a good choice either, considering the country's strong support for the NAZIs, but they could pretend to be an occupied country. It has taken years before the Germans again were accepted as normal human beings, and in the eyes of some Holocaust survivers and other victims of the NAZI occupation, they will never find mercy, no matter if they appologize or ignore what happened, it doesn't make any difference. When one looks at what happened in the Occupied East, this is not difficult to understand.

Complicity

One should always bear in mind that most living Germans had nothing to do with the Holocaust and other atrocities. There must be only a handful left who are guilty. Even during the War a still poorly understood question is how many Germans were complicit or knew the full story of what was being done in Germany's name.

Impact on America

The Jews and others who fled the NAZIs played a major role in America's emergence as a world leader, not only in science but the arts as well.

Post-War Germany

After the War the impact on Germany was also significant. The German post-War economic miracle has clouded the impact on Germany. German befofe the NAZIs was a world leader in many areas. This was true of many scientific disciplines as can be assessed by noting the number of nobel prizes won by German scientists. Germany had a leadership position in many areas like television, color film, and taking movies. Germany had a dynamic fashion industry. German film studios were some of the most important in the world. German artists were at the cuttig edge of modern art. Look at Germany after the War. Many of these were areas in which Jews, before the NAZIs, played an important role. German industry staged an impressive recovery, but German companies were largely involved in craftmanship and building goods with basically old technology. None of the major advances in the world economy have come from Germany, such as transistors, computers, the internet, digital recording, ect. Nor has the German fashion industry, movie studios, artists, ect approched the status that they had before the NAZIs. There are a range of factors involved here. But surely the loss of a small, but educated, creative minority is one of the factors involved.

Other Historical Eras

There are other historical examples of the relationship of intolerance and artistic, economic, and scientific decline and visa versa. The Islamic world for centuries was far more advanced in art and science than Christian Europe. This was in part because of their relatively benign toleration of religious and cultural diversity. It was this diversity which was a factor which stimulated thought and inquiry. The Iberian Peninsula for many years was the most advanced area of Europe. Jews were tolerated in both Muslem and Christian kingdoms. Two things happened in 1492, Columbus discovered America and Ferdinand and Isbella expelled the Jews. The discivery of the Americas resulted in a flow of gold and silver into Spain makinging it the richest country in Europe. Even with all this wealth, the power of Spain decline. Here the major factors was intloerance (which included the expulsion of the Jews) and the supression of thought through the Inquisition. Many of the Jews went to the Netherlands and played a role in this small country becoming a European powerouse. The Jews also played a role in the American emergence as a wrld power. Small numbers of Jews came to America in the early 19th century. Tsarist pogroms, however, brought huge numbers of Jews to America in the late 19th and early 20th century. They and their descendents have played a role in America life out of all proportion to the numbers involved.






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Created: 2:06 AM 7/6/2005
Last updated: 2:06 AM 7/6/2005