Indifference Essay
This concept of indifference that Jean Valjean speaks of in St Denis has been noted many times throughout history from world changing events to small changes in a person’s life. One of the most evident occurrences in history that sprouted from a general indifference within society was the Holocaust and World War II. The Holocaust, an anti-Semitic movement run by the Nazi party in Germany, was formed and begun by a general disapproval of the Jews in Europe. In Europe, the Jewish people have been a somewhat looked down upon or even neglected group as far back as the Enlightenment era. Anti-Semitism has been around for decades but wasn’t a true issue within the social being of German citizens until after World War I in 1918. Hitler, like several others, began to blame the downfall of Germany in World War I on the Jewish people. Without any background support of this claim, the people of Germany joined together to form the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (also known as the Nazi party). Eventually, the overall goal of the National Socials German Workers’ Party became to simply purge the German land of those who are not “pure”, otherwise known as anyone who was not the “master” Aryan race. As a result of this genuine disregard for a certain race, approximately eleven million people died over a span of twelve years. This idea of indifference that comes from Les Miserables is evident in this portion of history because the sparking of hatred of the Jewish people came from a general lack of concern for the Jewish people. Not only did the extermination of the Jewish people begin due to this indifference, but it was also carried out by the Nazi party with a personal lack of concern for these people. Jewish citizens were imprisoned, burned, tortured, and gunned down in cold blood by Nazi forces with an entire lack of regret. These Nazi forces committed inhumane acts upon the Jewish people that epitomized a lack of concern for the wellbeing of...