Monday, December 6, 2010
It's About Standing up for What's Right
In class today we were talking about what the Nazis did to handicapped people, and, like any other person with a heart, I was horrified. They would take them to a castle (sorry I don't remember the name of it) and they would euthanize them. But, I wasn't really all that shocked. Obviously the Nazis were just heartless and spineless people following Hitler's every word, but I have to wonder about the parent's of these handicapped children. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't some of the parent's just bring their children to this castle where they just exterminated all of the mentally challenged people? I mean I'm sure that this wasn't something that they did voluntarily, but why would they not try to fight until the end? If I lived in that time and I had a handicapped child, they would have to kill me before they ever found or took my child. I just would not be able to live with myself if I just gave my child up knowing that they were about to die. Honestly, what kind of parent does that? People needed to stand up for their children and just stop being slaves to Hitler. I understand that either way, your child was likely to die, but does that mean that you should easily give them up, so that you may be able to survive?
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Before I respond to the rest of the post, I'd like to make a comment on what you said about the Nazis. You described them as heartless, and maybe some were, but more than that, they were all brainwashed. The Nazis and all of the German citizens were completely brainwashed by Hitler. The whole idea of the Eugenics programs was to determine who was inferior. These people that they were killing were thought of as being less than human; they were only a waste of space and money. To them, they weren't sending thousands of people to their death, it was more like they were destroying an insect infestation problem. So even though what they were doing was incredibly wrong, they didn't really think of it as wrong.
ReplyDeleteAs for the parents of the mentally handicaped, perhaps they did not know of the Nazi's intentions. If they really did know what was going on in that castle, I have no idea why they would submit their children to that. I completely agree that if one of those people were my child, I'd fight to the death to keep them safe. Maybe the parents were brainwashed as well. I mean, if they had been responsible for the life of what was viewed as such a disgusting and degradable being, maybe they would want to get rid of him/her.
I understand that they were brainwashed, but I think the reason that they were heartless, was because they were brainwashed. I know they had hearts at one point in time (if they were born without sensitivity and compassion than they have more issues than I thought), but since they were brain washed they honestly didn't care about what happened to any other race other than the Germans. I don't factor in the brainwashing because it was a necessity for Hitler to do to have them go out on these killing sprees. Although I understand that the brainwashing had a lot to do with the reason they were so heartless, I find that to be a huge excuse that everyone uses. I don't want to seem like I'm putting myself on too high of a pedestal here, but I would like to think that I'd have way more will power and be able to rebel against the mind control.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't really like mind control though. Sure they were being told what to do and if they rebelled, they'd most likely be killed, but it wasn't complete mind control. They didn't view what they were doing as wrong, because they didn't see these people as actually being people. For example, you know that killing is wrong because you were taught that its wrong ever since you were young. But what if you were never taught that? What if you grew up learning that murder is just a part of life and it's no big deal. They were brainwashed into thinking this was acceptable. More than that, they thought it was necessary. I'm not trying to defend what they did, I'm just saying they're not completely heartless. These people still had families and children and such...they just also happened to kill a lot of people...
ReplyDeleteI respect your opinion.
ReplyDeleteand I agree to disagree. :]