Holocaust, WWII, and Propaganda

The Second World War started on September 1st, 1939, and ended on September 2nd, 1945. That six-year conflict has changed the entire course of human history. This war, wasn't just the Axis powers against the Allied powers. World War II was a moral, holy war; according to the propaganda spread by both sides of the fighting.

Here are two pieces of propaganda. The poster on the left is from Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss had written a children's book prior to the start of WWII. (And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street) After the War in Europe had begun, Seuss used his cartoon skills to involve people who otherwise wouldn't care about the war.

This right poster, when translated says "Behind the enemy powers, The Jews". This was used to stir up hatred for the enemy. Jewish people had already become the scapegoat for all of Germany's problems. If Hitler could convince his people that his enemy was friends with the Jews, he could stir up the emotions of his followers enough to fight for him.

During WWII, Adolf Hitler was a master of misdirection. Hitler made the general public focus on the war going on, while behind the curtain he carried the third largest genocide in human history. Very few outsiders understood the true horror of what was going on inside of the concertation camps.

Six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. To say the conditions of life in the concentration camps were poor would be a massive understatement. Conditions in these camps have been described as Hell.

"Bread, soup - these were my whole life. I was a body. Perhaps less than that even: a starved stomach. The stomach alone was aware of the passage of time." This is a quote by Elie Wiesel, in his memoir "Night".