German Perceptions to the Holocaust

Sarah Paulina

Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation

College: College of Liberal Arts

Major: BA.HISTORY

Faculty Research Mentor: Sarah Coykendall

Abstract:

Looking at Germany during the 1930s-1940s, this research aims to examine the relationship between propaganda, denial, and non-Jewish Germans with the Holocaust. In particular, the main area being looked at is the dissonance between the abject horrors happening, and those that chose to look the other way, especially considering the Holocaust as a genocide. Looking at both primary and secondary sources, the intention is to investigate the dissonance in regular citizens, rather than looking at either the responses of SS soldiers or Jewish people. This focus on non-Jewish Germans is intended to look at how the Holocaust was able to take form without massive unrest, and in some cases, with support thrown behind it; thereby allowing for an examination of Nazi propaganda, and a further understanding of the knowledge of the Holocaust.