Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Individual vs. Group
The novel Nightfather reminded me about the difference between individuals vs. a group. The father says that he hates the Poles. His wife corrects him by saying "That the Poles and the Ukrainians were bad. What you should says is: the Poles I knew, the Ukrainians I met" (37). Sometimes the individuals associated with something don't always support what that group believes him. We should never think that because someone is something, that means that they are as bad as everyone else associated with that something. I once read an article about a long time married couple that consists of an ex Nazi prison guard that held the wife, a Jew in the concentration camp, as a prisoner. Not all Nazi's were bad! The supreme leader was bad, which made every associate all the others with Swastikas on their arms with him. Looks can be deceiving!
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Deciding on a "they" is always dangerous, as your example points out. The mother's observation is a good reminder to us all....
ReplyDeleteI agree. There are definitely several instances where individuals may not be actively participating in the act of crime. However, just standing idly by while watching millions of Jews being murdered and tortured? I don't think that's right either. In the case of your example, I'm actually fairly astonished because even though the ex-Nazi was not the main perpetrator, he still complied and followed the orders of those who did lead the Holocaust. The fact that some choose to follow and even help those who are committing such crimes is already an offense within itself. These people only help to continue and keep alive these crimes and should not be tolerated.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that most individuals associated with Nazis just stood there and watched the mass murder of the Jews is that they have no power to stop it. What can they do? If they try to stop it, they'll be sent to the extermination camps. Although most of the individuals did support Hitler and what he was doing, some didn't but had to look as if they did support Hitler. The lack of power prevented the individuals who did not support Hitler to try to stop the mass murder of the Jews.
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