During a recent speech, Michael Flynn — the infamous military figure who served as national security adviser in the early parts of the Trump administration — characterized many Jews who were targeted and killed by the Nazis during World War II as having essentially gone along with their fate.
It’s been a consistent theme from far-right conspiracy theorists to compare themselves and their imagined struggles to the circumstances with which Jews and others targeted by the Nazis were faced during that period. The Auschwitz Memorial, where work includes preservation of and education about the actual site of the concentration camp established by the Nazis in that infamous location, fact-checked Flynn’s comments online.
In short, the institution explained how the Jews were victims of psychological manipulation tactics right up to the points when, often, there was simply no option of just evading the Nazis — though, they also elaborated, many of those who were targeted by the Nazis did launch revolts and escape efforts.
“Upon reaching Auschwitz, Jews were met with armed SS guards at platforms and later, within the confines of Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp itself, surrounded by electrified barbed-wire fences,” the memorial shared. “The sheer number of SS guards made resistance nearly impossible. Additionally, the presence of German police and military units nearby was a threat to any uprising. However, the most insidious obstacle was the orchestrated deception. Those deported were tricked into thinking they were being resettled for a fresh start in the East, unaware of the impending extermination. Dismissing the difficulty of resistance ignores the pervasive climate of misinformation, fear, and the overwhelming force they were up against.”
“Blaming the victims for not resisting more distorts history as it ignores the bigger picture and contexts of the complex and challenging situation they were in and the oppression they faced,” they added. “Rejecting these kinds of narration is vital because it unfairly shifts the blame from the perpetrators to the people who suffered.”
Those who have made comparisons between imagined plights faced by right-wing conspiracy theorists and the experiences of the Holocaust include Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), though she has sometimes stepped back from that rhetoric.
The assertion that Jews could have easily resisted during deportations to extermination simply due to their numerical strength compared to the guards oversimplifies the dire circumstances they faced during the Holocaust. Acts of resistance did occur in various forms across… https://t.co/2pmUPU9Atp
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) August 13, 2023
