Jews in WW2, Germany.
Concentration camps. These camps housed hundred, if not a couple thousand Jews. Yes, they were unarmed people, and had been for sometime.
What would have happened if they all decided to charge the guards, kill the guards, take the weapons, and free themselves from the encampments?
Yes, some would have died, but not all of them, such is the consequence of the camp.
Why did they choose to not fight, and accept death as their only option?
Dont tell me "they didnt know" the Germans made them dig their own graves.
2+2=4 everyday.
2006-07-17 09:31:20 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The "fighting back" was just a couple instnaces, and didnt last long.
I guarnatee you, that if they had a real effort, just by the sheer numbers, they would have overwhelmed the guards and walked out.
Where to go from there would be the question!
2006-07-17 09:37:05 · update #1
a question that disturbs me to no end.
i cannot fathom the thought process that leads so many to follow their own deaths, by so few.
i have three daugthers from 16 to 26 and they all know how to handle a rifle, shotgun, pistol and even to use a pen pencil to take out the eye of their attacker if need be.
they would refuse and destroy to the best of their ability, any force that attempted such, to them.
-eagle
2006-07-17 09:36:33 · answer #1 · answered by eaglemyrick 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Some people do, but I don't believe the Jews did. The only time when they really had a chance was before the concentration camps, but at that point they didn't know that they all were all going to be killed. By the time they got to the camps, most of them were weak and starving. They might have been able to charge the guards, but maybe not; you can do a lot with radios, guard towers and semi-automatic weapons. Also, such an action would require the agreement of all the inmates. The chances that someone would rat them out for some extra food is extraordinarily high. You might say it's still worth the chance, but they probably felt it was certain death, as opposed to just almost certain death. Maybe if they could keep working and get enough food, they'd be able to survive.
A better example, perhaps, would be battered women. Women who are abused by their husbands could just leave them, but man don't. It's not that they want to be abused, but perhaps they keep thinking that things will change. Of course, however, they don't. So in a way, they're choosing to be oppressed, and this can be very frustrating to the aid workers who try to help them.
2006-07-17 09:47:37 · answer #2 · answered by Caritas 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Where are you going with this?
Are you suggesting that they chose to be killed? They coerced the Germans to kill them? These were not soldiers that were imprisoned. They were families. Moms and dads. Kids. They were not warriors. Why would you even ask such a thing?
You have imagined one very weird alternate reality. The very idea that there are people like you capable of warping reality like this is very sad.
Now if you had asked about the billions of people on this planet living under brutal and incompetent dictatorships and monarchies (i.e. most of the middle-east, Africa, china, most of the former soviet union, etc.) then maybe you would have a starting point.
2006-07-17 09:46:31 · answer #3 · answered by Moose C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read your history. They didn't know where they were being sent, they were told they were being relocated. They were told to take showers, they weren't showers. Deception.
Some did fight back, but by then most had already been relocated. Once they were in the camps, if they were "allowed" to live instead of taking that final shower, they were worked so hard, and fed virtually nothing, they had no strength left to fight, nor any family left to fight for. It was a horror we can not imagine, and it can never happen again.
2006-07-17 09:41:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
How do you know this, were you there? Have you ever been so afraid you were paralyzed - you live in a vacum as far as I can tell the real world is worst than you think.
You never had someone held a knife or gun to you and your life was in the balance.
We are in a controversy, what about the christians who the Catholic church burned at the stakes? God is real and he will vindicate his character and he also says that vengence is His. Nothing evil will be left unpunnished.
2006-07-17 09:41:03 · answer #5 · answered by Damian 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think they had a lot of fear. Perfect love casteth out all fear. It is better that one man should die than a nation dwindle in unbelief. I think they also loved each other and thought they would be delivered and didn't want to have anyone in their families hurt. They were also very faithful people and understood that death wasn't the end and might have felt their freedom would only come from death. I am just guessing, I wasn't there.
2006-07-17 09:38:12 · answer #6 · answered by Angel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know. I know that fear does paralyze many people. I've never been in such a situation so I don't know how I would react. I would hope with a bit of bravery, but we don't know that of ourselves until the time comes (and at the same time I hope not to be tested). Death and seeing your loved ones die is scary. Maybe they thought that they didn't want to be the "cannon fodder" that would allow others to escape. But it's hard to know how you would act in such a horrorfying situation.
2006-07-17 09:36:26 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Would they have chosen to fight that would be better death than living in oppression. I believe most of the Jews did not know what will happen to them and they decided to wait and the result was not what they expected.
2006-07-17 09:37:56 · answer #8 · answered by A K 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think this is a good argument for your question. Certainly people often allow themselves to be oppressed -- but starving, abused prisoners guarded by violent men with guns who have no qualms about killing you -- they didn't chose anything. They WERE oppressed, violated and nearly destroyed. Only their will to survive got them through. If anything the Jews unwillingness to be oppressed is what saved them.
2006-07-17 09:36:34 · answer #9 · answered by maeves_child 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess they had been abused so much that they were not in their right mind. They had been starved so much that they didn't have the energy to fight back. Also, they may have held hope that at the last minute they'd be spared if they behaved themselves. Their abuse was not only physical, they had so much mental abuse too.
You never can understand someone else completely "until you have walked a mile in their shoes."
2006-07-17 09:39:01 · answer #10 · answered by Debra W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋