The Psychology of Genocide

The word holocaust comes from the Greek word for burning. Many Jews
referred to it as Shoah or catastrophe. The Holocaust was perpetrated
by Germany under Hitlers guidance and saw the murder of 9 million
people who the Nazis considered undesirable. Homosexuals, political
dissidents, the handicapped, and gypsies or Roma were systematically
targeted along with 6 million Jews for liquidation. After World War II
ended and the horrors of the Holocaust were brought to light, many people
questioned how something so terrible could take place in the modern
world. Looking back researchers attempted to determine if something was
wrong with the German people who both carried out genocide and those
who silently witnessed it. For this performance task, you must answer the
question:
SHOULD THE GERMAN PEOPLE BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
HOLOCAUST?