Not Logged in.
Book Jacket

The Plum Tree


A deeply moving and masterfully written story of human resilience and enduring ...
More about this book

Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

Created: 01/19/13

Replies: 16

Posted Jan. 19, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert

Join Date:

Posts: 0

Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

During WWII in Nazi Germany propaganda was used to sway public opinion. Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?


Posted Jan. 21, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurap

Join Date: 06/19/12

Posts: 407

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

I wish that were true, but I do not think it is. I think the world in 1938 and thereafter, as it does now, was operating from a position of bias that said the information about Nazi atrocities against the Jews (which was in fact available from a variety of sources) could not possibly be true. The world chose not to believe it, and therefore refused to act on it. The same behavior is mirrored in the post-war behavior of the German people portrayed in this book when Christine raises the issue of Stefan's role at Dachau in church. It seems we are frequently our own worst enemies.


Posted Jan. 21, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dorothyt

Join Date: 04/10/11

Posts: 102

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

I would like to think that the answer is yes, but what could have been done to stop it? The Allies struggled for long years to break through the German lines until the atrocities were discovered and rescue of those in the prison camps was begun.


Posted Jan. 21, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
djn

Join Date: 05/19/11

Posts: 93

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

When evil is ignored or thought to be impossible it causes many bad things to happen. There were many opportunities to stop the holocaust but nobody thought it could be true or were too far away from it to care


Posted Jan. 21, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
annar

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 114

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

That is hard to say. Were the German people so afraid of Hitler and the SS troops that even if they knew what was going on they were too terrified to do much?


Posted Jan. 21, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jonnav

Join Date: 01/21/13

Posts: 9

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

I hope the answer would be YES but I fear that it would be NO. The propaganda the Nazi's put out would still sway the people. As we saw in the book, the german people who knew what was going on could not stop it by trying to get the information out. There would have been much fear of the german people because of the power Hitler held.


Posted Jan. 22, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Santa Fe Cowgirl's Gravatar
Santa Fe Cowgirl

Join Date: 04/14/11

Posts: 32

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

I certainly would hope so. There were rumors, but nothing specific. I don't think anyone believed that the Nazis could really be so horrible. No one had real evidence until almost the end of the war.


Posted Jan. 23, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lynnw

Join Date: 09/01/11

Posts: 166

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

People did try to help and tell people in authority what was really happening. They did not want to believe it. This was a world that did not listen to a lot of people and those with power made the world see things their way.


Posted Jan. 23, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lisag

Join Date: 01/12/12

Posts: 298

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

lynnw - That's true. A lot of people put themselves at risk sheltering Jews. Take Anne Frank, for example, though her family was ultimately betrayed. It's sort of like the Underground Railroad, in a way, though of course not as violent if you were caught sheltering African Americans. I heard many Jews were also shipped out to I believe Scandinavia to save their lives. But by far the vast majority were caught. Makes me wonder how the Nazis were so efficient catching everyone. Somewhat on topic, has anyone else seen the Holocaust Memorial in Boston? It's so heart-wrenching.


Posted Jan. 23, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
virginiab

Join Date: 08/11/11

Posts: 2

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

It's nice to think that it could have been stopped, but those in authority didn't want to believe it was happening. I remember seeing the movie Winds of War that takes place during the same timeframe where Robert Mitchum's military character was stationed in Berlin. He went to several meetings/rallies to see Hilter and heard him speak and couldn't believe what he was hearing. He did report back to Roosevelt and others but no one really believed him that Hilter was carrying on about how the Jews needed to be destroyed.


Posted Jan. 23, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jacquelynh

Join Date: 06/14/11

Posts: 34

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

I do not think simple information would have stopped the Holocaust. Unfortunately, human nature and prejudice were in play. Does anyone think slavery in America could have been stopped? So much human prejudice, human ignorance, and religious righteousness and misinformation was in play to stop the force of what happened. We are still fighting differences today maybe not on so grand a scale, nevertheless, our protective instincts of a personal way of believing gives many a "my way or the highway" attitude. We are still in war - sometimes even with ourselves.


Posted Jan. 24, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
susann

Join Date: 04/28/11

Posts: 13

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

The Allied leaders had a lot of information about what was going on, but they chose to give it minimal attention because the military priorities were more important. There were also a number of reports in the media (not featured prominently) but people either thought they were exaggerations or they chose to ignore the information. It simply did not become a big story until the soldiers started running across the camps. Between a pretty strong strain of anti-Semitism most everywhere, and the concern about beating the enemy militarily, I don't think the Holocaust could have been stopped.


Posted Jan. 27, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
susanr

Join Date: 04/14/11

Posts: 201

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

I would like to think that more information would have made a difference but I don't think anyone could have stopped the Nazis at this time. Plus I am sure that people questioned whether what they heard was true. Remember - there was no means for information to be given out - no nightly news and no internet so information to most people came through many people. The family in the story had the official radio that gave out their propaganda and they had a forbidden radio that gave out different information. How did they know what was right??


Posted Feb. 01, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeanettel

Join Date: 01/05/12

Posts: 61

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

I agree with many of the answers here, I don’t know if the Holocaust could have been stopped but the information was out, I think that while it was just a rumor it was easier to look the other way and not get involved; no one could imagine the horror of thousand of prisoners in Nazi camps and the fanaticism that Hitler engendered.


Posted Feb. 02, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sharonw

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 6

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

The information was available in this country. Although quite disappointing and sad, our decisions were based on what was thought to be politically expedient at that time. It is highly unlikely the Holocaust could have been stopped. For some really good background, read Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts.


Posted Feb. 12, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mariannes

Join Date: 12/17/12

Posts: 206

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

Information hasn't stopped what is happening in Syria today. I don't think information would have necessarily stopped the Nazis. People didn't know what was going to happen until the Nazis were already entrenched in Germany.


Posted Feb. 13, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
llsmill

Join Date: 02/13/13

Posts: 38

RE: Do you think the Holocaust could have been stopped if information had been more readily available?

Possibly, I know my father said that it took so long to get information from one place to the next and I remember Viet Nam how the news reports that we were getting were 2 and 3 weeks old until the film was made and brought back her and by the time the people stateside were given the information the whole war had changed. To think on today though, our intelligence has stopped some things from happening and others it has not and many lives have been lost because of it. So that is up for debate.


Reply

Please login to post a response.