Muhannad Barghouthi

UWRT 1102
Prof Wertz-Orbaugh
7 April 2015
Expanding the Mind
My work on researching the Holocaust has allowed me to learn things I have never come
across before. My initial plan was to research the persecution during the war. But I saw some
articles that showed how it started way before the war. I was instantly curious because I thought
the persecution started when the war did. But it came to my attention that this was not the case as
the Jewish people were targeted years prior to the start of the war. Not only was this happening
earlier than I thought, but happening worse than I thought. But that is not all of it. It was not only
happening in Germany, but in other countries as well. They were targeted on a mass scale. What
made me realize what actually happened were articles pertaining to the topic. The first one is an
article by Leon Jick titled Method in Madness: An Examination of the Motivations for Nazi Mass
Murder. The second article is by William I. Brustein and Ryan D. King titled Anti-Semitism in
Europe Before the Holocaust. I will look back at how these articles really questioned my initial
thinking on the topic.
What the Jews went through during the war was a tragedy, but thats not the only time
they suffered. In Leon Jicks Method in Madness: An Examination of the Motivations for Nazi
Mass Murder, he recognizes that the Nazis were going to do their best to expand and restore
German power in the quote, it is clear that the central aim of the Nazi regime was the

restoration and expansion of German power, the fulfillment of pre-World War I German imperial
aspirations, renewed and amplified by racist ideology of which anti-Semitism was an integral
element. The Nazis attempted to transform Germany into a world power, and in their eyes
getting rid of the Jews was one of the hurdles they had to jump over to achieving this power. In
the article by Leon Jick, he also states, The former stressed the centrality of anti-Semitic
ideology in driving Nazi policy and the continuity of Hitler's goals from their formulation in the
1920s through their implementation in the 1940s. What he is saying is that Anti-Semitism was
planted into Germany, so it wasnt that shocking when people would see what the Nazis were
doing to the Jews.
Being oblivious to the indecent actions prior to the war, Leon Jicks article was a wakeup call. I had a predefined notion that the mistreatment of the Jewish People originated from the
Nazis after the war has initiated and only after the war. The Jews were being targeted as many as
10 years prior to the war, if not more. So what else could be the cause for a group of people to
target the Jewish people with such hatred and violence? This is where the second article comes
in. Brustein and Kings Article was more of the Anti-Semitism that occurred in all of Europe
before the actual Holocaust had begun. The thing that I took away from this article the most is
the quote, A popular explanation for the rise of anti-Semitism is the scapegoat theory.
Proponents of the scapegoat theory posit that Jews constituted a minority group dispersed among
many countries and served as convenient targets for the majoritys problems. When I read this, I
swore that this is what is going in America now. Whites blaming African Americans for their
problems, while the African American community makes up less than half of the population. I
would have to agree that the scapegoat theory is true, only because it still happens today. My
second reaction to reading this was the fact that there were other minorities to blame. Why the

Jews? The article addresses this issue stating that the influx of Jewish culture could ruin the
German way of living. How can a minority group have a major influence on the way of living?
This really upset me because there is no need to defile a whole group of people due to the fact
that variations in lifestyle may be evident. We can and should accept people for who they are. We
should never punish people for their culture or way of living. This is what is wrong with people.
We are scared of the unknown and in this case, the unknown is the culture of other people. If we
dont treat people with respect, we will not advance as a society. This article really aided me,
bringing this to my attention and helped process it in my mind. What happened to the Jews
should have never happened.
The Jewish community before and during World War II suffered immensely. But what I
struggled to understand was the persecution before the war. I knew well what happened during
the war but before I knew nothing. These two articles helped me realized how the persecution
was well before the start of the war. Not only did is start earlier than I thought, but it was worse
than I thought as well.

Brustein, William I., and Ryan D. King. "Anti-Semitism In Europe Before The
Holocaust." International Political Science Review (2004): 35-53. Print.
Jick, L. A. "Method In Madness: An Examination Of The Motivations For Nazi Mass
Murder." Modern Judaism (1998): 153-72. Print.