[Child on bench marked J to indicate it is only for Jews. 1938, Berlin. USHMM]Essential Questions: What are the various factors that shape identity? Do Germans possess a unique national character? What is race? Consider the connections between words (hate propaganda) and actions (murder).
Identity is the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group.
ReplyDeleteI thought our idenity is shaped by our family, culture, friends, religion and that something inside us that makes us uniquely different from anyone else but ourself.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Germany possessed a unique national character. They borrowed their ideas from many other cultures creating their own unique twist on things. For example, the Nazi symbol, the idea of ghettos, and Darwinism to name a few. They used these ideas to create their own belief and justify their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI AM German on my father's side, and do not want to stereotype, but I do think you would get a consensus from many people about the general efficiency, punctuality, and precisness of the German people (We hear this in advertising for Mercedes, Luthansa Airlines, etc.)
ReplyDeleteSo it does strike me when I study the Holocaust how systematic and efficiently the Holocaust was carried out. I even had a Jewish friend grudgingly admirable remark about how efficient Germans are, and refered to the Final Solution. Genocides have taken place in many different types of cultures, but it makes you wonder if this general character trait of Germans contributed in a small way with the perverse minds of Hitler and the S.S.in their drive to 'purify' their society.
A person's personal identity are all the personal characteristics of a person; e.g., physical appearance, behavior, personality, which make that person unique, and yet at the same time, liken that person to a group of individuals who share those same qualities. I believe that the German people probably do share a unique character in the same way people from other countries do. Do they feel that this character somehow makes them superior (if that is what the question is implying in some way) to those of other cultures? I think arrogance is a personal personality trait inherent in the particular individual. There was something deeper and darker at work within the Nazi mind than a mere identity crisis or an insecurity issue. what are your intentions for doing so? I bleieve that this question is central to the issue. Is to collect statistical data, or do you have ulterior motives, such as to single that person or group out with intentions to do harm? Or, are your motives more subtle in nature, such as to prove over time the inferiority of one group as compared to another? As mentioned above, if the intent is to degrade, harm, or mislead in any way a particular group of people by distinguishing them from another set of people who appear physically different, then this would be morally wrong. However, if the intent is merely for identification, then I see it not only as being ethically acceptable, but actually beneficial to the whole. If you were falsely accused of a crime, wouldn't you find it helpful to be distinguished from the actual offender? Would you, as a witness, be able to place the accused within a racial class in order to help the investigation. The problem is that over the years this process ha been abused True, the physical idnetity of peoples will probably continue to blend more and more But I feel that the vagueness lies not so much between different races, but within each race itself. I think this has led more than anything to anthropologists' increasing difficulty of drawing lines between groups of people and, in some cases, feeling the need to create as many as sixty classifications! Nor do I feel that just because a person believes in the concept of race, does it naturally follow that the person is on the road to becoming a racist. This is nonsense and a typical overreaction. The two words, "race," and "racist," are distinct from one another and should be thought of that way to further avoid complication and confrontation. Call it race, or refer to it as "ethnicity" if it makes you feel better; tie it into cultural differences to help absorb the impact. But any way you look at it (or a person) groups of people throughout the world share enough sameness when it comes to their looks to be singled out. We can only hope that when it is done, it is done with an open mind using beneficial and not cruel intentions.
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