Why did Europe do nothing during the Holocaust?

Answer 1

Hitler and the Nazis had convinced many people that Jews were at the root of the economic problems in Europe. A disproportionate number of Jews were successful businessmen and academics, and plenty of Europeans believed that there was a Jewish conspiracy to control the economy, rather than looking at the work ethic and perseverance that made this group as a whole more sucessful than average. Given the fact that Jews have been made scapegoats by other civilizations throughout recorded history and that they are a fairly easy group to identify, it's not surprising that Hitler targeted them again in the 1930's. It's much more palatable to blame a relatively small, identifiable group as the source of the economic hardships that Europe was facing rather than taking a long, hard look at policies and economic cycles that truly were at the root of the problems.

I believe that I also remember from school that many countries in Europe chose to turn a blind eye to that Nazis' annexation of the first few countries they targetted, hoping that war could be avoided if they just let the Nazis have what they wanted--a policy of appeasement. It later became clear that the more territory the Nazis conquered, the more they wanted, so war was the only way to curb Hitler's ambitions. By this stage, most European countries were much more concerned about their own survival than about the fate of the Jews or other "undesirable" groups.

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While there were nazi sympathies in Europe, once the scale of the atrocities were known, these sympathies where reconsidered in most cases. There was a huge resistance in France and Poland, but as the opposition was caught they were quickly disposed of.

To say that Europe did nothing during the Holocaust is really not fair, as Britain was deeply involved in the war. And also, you must remember that a lot of Europe was either invaded or under fascist rule.

Hitler's rise to power took place over several years preceding the outbreak of the actual war, so the holocaust was also gradual and did not happen over night.

Also, the death camps were not advertised, and certainly not as death camps. The first people to be moved to the camps were told they were being "re-patriated", that they were to be moved to live somewhere else, not to be killed.

You also have to remember that Germany was allied with Spain, Italy and Russia, all major military powers at the time.

It's easy to pass judgment this far after, but I personally think that no one could foresee the outcome of the invasion of Poland in -39.

Answer 2

cause they got would have got shot by an oppresive goverment