The Crucible vs. Holocaust
Throughout history, there are millions of people have been unjustly persecuted for being falsely accused. In the 1940s, The Holocaust became one of the most famous genocides known to man, as the millions of Jews during the Holocaust had to face: being unfairly blamed for something they did not do. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller shows how people of The Salem of Witch Trials had to face the same false accusation and the consequences where many lives had been taken. Although Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust are roughly 240 years apart, the two circumstances have numerous similarities and the amount of differences that appalling. Yes, power of authority, discrimination towards certain people, accusations had been the main causes and at the end, the one who was “responsible” had it gotten severely uncontrollable.
In 1690s, within a small Puritan village, a tragedy was struck where later it became known as The Salem of Witch Trials. The event took place during a difficult and confusing period for Salem village. As part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, at the time Salem was still under British rule, the hysteria began where the colony was still waiting for a new governor and had no charter to enforce laws (1). The seeds of the hysteria that afflicted Salem Village were when a group of young girls began to display bizarre behavior. The tight-knit community was at a loss to explain the convulsive seizures, blasphemous screaming, and trance-like states that afflicted the youngsters (2). The physicians called in to examine the girls but could find no natural cause of the disturbing behavior. If the source of the affliction was not attributable to a physical malady, the community reasoned that it must be the work of Satan as they were indeed a religious community. Abigail, one of the group of young girls, who falsely accused Tituba for being a witch, had been the major cause for what was happening in The Salem Witch Trials where it had taken many innocent lives.
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder event that approximately killed six million Jews by the Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, throughout Nazi-occupied territory (3). The event took place in 1940s, where its ultimate goal must implacably be the total removal of the Jews. Hitler had a deep hatred of Jews and he used the idea of "racial purity" to justify harsh measures and eventually mass murder against them as well as other groups he called "enemies of the state" (4). He accused that the "Jew" who was responsible for all Germany's domestic problems at the time German was in poor condition, saying that once all the Jewish people had been killed, the world would be a better place. As a man who was in power, people eventually believed for every accusation he made. This event had caused millions of innocent people got killed.
As the leader of the party, Hitler had an enormous amount of power, control over people, and the decisions they made. Hitler had made people believe that the society, the world, would be a better place once all of the Jewish people had been killed; the Nazis were torturing and killing millions of Jewish people. He falsely accused Jewish people and blamed them for what they didn’t do, and it turned out that people believed for what he said. In the similar situation written about in The Crucible, Abigail Williams convinced the town of Salem that select people throughout the town were practicing witchcraft. A trial was held to determine if the people were actually witches, and Abigail found she had great power when she blamed the people of her town. Despite the fact that Abigail was a child, they were convinced that she was telling the truth, as she said “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba …” Amongst the children is where Abigail’s influence was the greatest. Both Abigail and Hitler have similar characteristics that enable them to have power over people’s ideas and opinions.
