Anne Frank Roundtables

4) Anne Frank wrote: “I don’t believe the war (World War II) is simply the work of politicians and capitalists. Oh no, the common man is every bit as guilty; otherwise, people and nations would have rebelled long ago!” (May 3, 1944.)The Nazis needed Dutch collaborators to carry out their fascist decrees. What would have influenced someone to become a collaborator? What factors would have encouraged someone to join the resistance? Do you think these factors were based on personal characteristics or political beliefs? How should accountability for wars be assigned? So many say they never understood what was happening. How likely could that have been?

I agree with Anne Frank and I think that the common man is also guilty for the actions taken during WWII. Politicians did play a much bigger role, Hitler was by far the worst, and it was his fault, but I think that if the common man hadn't allowed it, Hitler wouldn't have gotten so much power. People might have been influenced to help the Nazis because they were scared of Hitler, and scared of dying. Many of them were also desperate and wanted their economy to be boosted and be able to live a better life. They also wanted money and a job, so they joined the Nazi party. At the beginning, I don't think they really knew what was happening too much. As the war started going on, they must have known what was happening though. If they quit their jobs, it wouldn't have allowed Hitler to kill so many people. The people who mainly joined the resistance were probably Jews, and other people Hitler was seeking to kill. They were people who didn't fear their lives as much as the people who joined Hitler. They knew he was wrong in what he did and that is why they stood their ground and did not join him.
This is why I think Anne Frank was right in what she said.