When one side wants to win, it can use a vast number of various methods apart from killing to undermine the moral qualities of the enemies, destroy their faith, or instill in them false hope. During the World War II, when the Nazis began the holocaust, they planned to catch the Jews and deport them to concentration camps. However, the victims were not allowed to know about their fate until the end, so the Nazis used various methods to spread disinformation.
To begin with, it is essential to notice that there were different reasons for the Nazis not to let the Jews learn about the actual purpose of the concentration camps. First of all, it is evident that in case the majority of the Jews became aware of the existence of the Death Camps, they would gather their last strength and power to resist the enemy. Although the Jews were drained of physical health and deprived of their dignity, the most essential for the Nazis was to make their will numb. Since the Jews believed there was no severe threat to them, they did not have the motivation to rise against the enemy. The second reason was merely to secretly humiliate the Jews and laugh at their unawareness; the Nazis could lie to their eyes, enjoying their own power. Finally, another reason was that the Nazis needed a free labor force. If they informed the Jews about their fate in concentration camps, the victims would lose any motivation to work because of the unconditional inevitability of death.
Disinformation about concentration camps was spread in various ways. For example, the Jews were generally not aware of their existence in the first place. As noticed by researchers, “the rumors about the death camps were usually greeted with disbelief, as ordinary logic and the human mind refused to grasp the very possibility of what was rumored” (The World Holocaust Remembrance Center). Thus, the first method of the Nazis was to keep the existence of such places secret.
Further, it was also common for them to admit that these camps existed but disinform the Jews about their purpose. For instance, the Nazis would say to the Jews in Poland “that ‘non-essential and unproductive elements’ would be sent for labor in the east while Jews in the west were informed of their transfer to settlements in the east” (The World Holocaust Remembrance Center). Therefore, the victims would believe the Nazis to the last and learned that these were the Death Camps only when the execution began in the crematoria. Finally, another way to disinform the Jews was to create an attractive story and picture of such camps. The Nazis brought some Jews to a camp and treated them well, giving them movie screenings, games, banquets, and other activities. All this was filmed on camera, and such short videos were shown to the Jews and Germans in the cities so that they were convinced of the safety of such places.
To draw a conclusion, one may say that the horrors of the concentration camps and the unfortunate fate of the people tortured and killed in them will always haunt future generations. Not only did the Nazis organize such Death Camps, they also spread misinformation about their purpose and gave Jews false hopes. Therefore, the victims were not aware of their soon fate, and this is extremely inhumane and cruel.
Work Cited
The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. “Deportation to the Death Camps.” Yad Vashem, Web.