and what was it like?
Hi nives, a lot of Germans actually had brown or black hair. And the Nazi-regime did not prosecute them. Some of them would choose to dye their hair, because blond was regarded "classy and modern".
Some people who were prosecuted bleached their hair in order to look different. The Nazi hat very stereotype ideas about how a Jew is supposed to look. (eagle-nose, curly dark hair, brown eyes). And these ideas were used in propaganda. There were cartoons showing the "evil, greedy Jew" in about every newspaper. So when people tried to hide, they tried to look non-stereotype.
Nevertheless, having Jewish parents could get someone killed, even if they were blond. And if somebody could prove that they were "aryan", they had no disadvantages from having black hair.
As for the Jews, they had been the prime scapegoat throughout all Europe ever since the medieval times. Several professions including farming and most crafts were forbidden to them in most European states. And the Christian people were forbidden to take interest rates on borrowed money. So many Jews made a living of borrowing money and became the first bankers of Europe.
And traditionally, everyone hates financiers, especially if you have debts. And the Jews were also traditionally made responsible for everything bad. The death of Jesus, the great pestilence, bad weather, witchcraft: The Jews were there to blame. Since almost always.
Now, when the Nazis needed an enemy, the Jews were a good choice. Nobody liked them anyway traditionally. Hitler obviously had a personal aversion towards them. I don't know why. Many things are unclear about his youth, because he ordered his people to destroy documents in his hometown. The story about the Jewish grandmother is a theory, but it has never been proven. The synagoge and the Jewish cemetery in Braunau have been bulldozed by the Nazis and official Documents about the Hitler Family are missing.
bye the sheep
@nives: Hitler did NOT try to kill everyone who wasn't blond and blue-eyed. That's just wrong. To count as "aryan" in Hitlers "Reich", you had to have four baptized grand-parents who were born on German soil. And you had to be Nazi and "aryan" to get a career anywhere.
If you had a gypsy dad or a Jewish mom, being blond and blue-eyed was still futile. People got killed for having he wrong relatives. And those people who were "aryan" could easily get killed for uttering the wrong opinion. The Nazis killed people for hiding prosecuted folks. They killed people for being in the communist or in the socialist party. They killed people for being homosexual. They killed people for being disabled. They even killed people for "Wehrkraftzersetzung" that means for "corroding our defensive power" when someone said that Germany was going to lose the war. Or when someone uttered any other criticism about either the government or the "Führer".
Most Germans in that time just kept a low profile and consented to everything. But then, people could gain advantages by denouncing their neighbors. So it was easier for vile people to advance in administrative positions. And you had to be a member of the nazi party to be a teacher, a military officer, a mayor of a town or any other important position.
I did. I was at Dachau (near Munich) which was a camp for political prisoners mostly. And I was at the Auschwitz Birkenau memorial (near Oswiecim, Poland). While Dachau has several well-conserved prison-buildings that look exactly like they used to in 1944, the actual Lager in Auschwitz is mostly ruined. Only the administrative buildings are left. Seeing the Ruins in Auschwitz is not that impressive actually, unless you have a guided tour where you get to know the stories about the place. And if you get the chance, you should talk to a survivor while those people still live - we may be the last generation who ever get the chance.
I think that the museum in Auschwitz is very creepy. Thev have rooms there, where you can see the things that they stole from the inmates/victims who arrived there: Hills made of old Bags and cases, clothes, shoes, toys, even of hair. That was the most disturbing sight. You can look through a window where you see an entire room filled with human hair.
I was at Dacau, outside of Munich, in 1961. It gave me the creeps, because at that time Dacau was a holding camp for Hungarian refugees until they were processed out to the society. The museum wasn't very enjoyable to go through. It all reminded me of what man shouldn't do to man, and the injustice man does to man. Two years ago my son went to Auschwitz, in Poland, and he said he cried the whole time he was there. Unfortunately man doesn't learn from past experiences and this may happen again.
then why did people have to dye their hair blond? and they also say that it wasnt just that when germany was suffering economically the Jews stuck together and got through the tough times, that's why Hitler hated them, apparently his grandmother was a Jew and was a real b1tch to him...
they shaved the hair of everyone who arrived there and kept the hair for some industrial purpose i think. You can see the human hair that was left in the camp when the Russian army came there.
The original gas chambers are ruins. There is a replica that you can walk into.
i think most people wish to say it never happened because they dont want to admit or accept the horrible things that happened or anything that they have wittnessed.you know how hitler tried to kill all that wernt blond hair blue eyed....well what if they were german?
oh okay. i just watched the boy in the striped pyjamas.... really sad. and it also suprises me that you are able to casually search the term "concentration camp" onto google images, and it will shoe you pictures of dying and dead jews.
Well I have never actually been to one, but when I was in high school they had a lady come in that was in the Holocaust, ot was awful she had eveyone in the assembly room crying, we all felt so bad for her :-(
Yeah u know rite, its so sad, and for some people to say it never happened makes it that much worse, its just soooooo sad wat happened to all the people for no good reason
yeah, hitler wasnt all 'there'. hopefully nothing like that ever happens again...because this world is truly messed up.
Yeah and wat makes that worse is he wasn't blonde haired ir blued eyed, so how did he get to love, its horrible
why human hair may i ask? and did you feel a haunted presence? and were you alowed in the gas chambers?
Yes and she wrote a book about it, it was called All But My Life, if I remember correctly
but lets hope it doesnt. thanks for your answer.
was she one of them who escaped from the camp?
Ooooops menat how did he get to live, sorry
you know so much! thanks man.xx
Yes it is and I hope so to
