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Alex Kollar

Dr. Jim Beitler

ENGW 214

22 September 2014

Ignorance is Bliss: The Negative Effects of Ignorances Bliss Demonstrated During

the Nazi Regime

The phrase, ignorance is bliss is a well-known idiom that we use in

many different contexts. Its central meaning is that not knowing is better than

worrying (McGraw-Hill Companies). However, not knowing is dangerous. When

people lack the knowledge to understand what is happening to the world around them

they lose the power to make a difference, fight oppression, and learn. In order to show

just how dangerous a lack of knowledge can be, I will examine the causes and effects of

ignorance during and after the events of the Holocaust. This analysis will show that

ignorance may provide short-term comfort, but in the long run lacking knowledge is

harmful.

In the same way we choose to ignore the health hazards of junk food so we can

continue to enjoy it, the Germans chose to ignore the horrific acts carried out by Hitlers

followers so they could live guilt-free. This seems like an unbalanced comparison, but the

thinking is very much the same. We like to be comfortable and happy, so we choose to

ignore the many plights of the world.

Germanys defeat during the World War I was humiliating for the Germans,

leaving many of them bitter. This is where Adolf Hitler stepped onto the stage. During his
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presidential campaign, he promised the German people that he would empower the

country and bring them back to their rightful place as the dominant power on the

continent (Gellately). At the time, the German population knew that Hitler had radical

ideas but what he promised seemed to outshine them. During Hitlers reign as Chancellor,

rumors of horrific acts of murder and genocide circulated the country. While there were

no doubt citizens who were horrified at these gruesome tales, most of the population

chose not to acknowledge them. For the first time since WWI the Germans felt powerful

and patriotic. Hitler was satisfying their desires and they did not want that to go away.

For this reason, the stories of murder and persecution remained just that; stories.

However, ignoring the problems did not stop the crimes from being committed.

As the German population enjoyed their newfound patriotism, millions of people were

being sent to concentration camps to die. Remaining ignorant did bring the Germans

bliss, but the cost was far too great.

While some Germans chose to be ignorant, others were not even aware of their

own ignorance. This phenomenon of unawareness, or, as Read Mercer Schuchardt

describes it; passivity (243), leads people to blindly receive information without

questioning or thinking critically. This passivity results in an entire population who is

blissfully unaware of the important issues; as a result they can be easily taken

advantage of. Hitler was completely aware of this fact and did just that.

In order to gain the support of the people, Hitler established a marketing

committee called the Reich Ministry to ensure that the Nazi message was successfully

communicated through art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and

the press (Nazi Propaganda). Through this strategy he was able to, in a sense, brainwash
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the country into adopting his ideals. Not only did he gain the minds of his people but he

also fooled the rest of the world and was able to cover up his ultimate goal. Blindly

accepting information without doing research is dangerous and was a contributing factor

to Hitlers rise to power.

Sometimes, the events of the past seem too painful to reflect on, so instead of

learning from them we push them away. After the war, the Allied Powers made it a

priority to show the Germans the truth behind Hitlers plans. The gruesome truth shocked

the population into a culture of silence that was not broken in West Germany until the

1960s (Bunch, Canfield, and Schler). It was a combination of horror, guilt, and

sadness that silenced those who lived through the war. They did not want to relive the

horrors in their minds, so they sought sanctum in ignoring the past.

When we remain ignorant of the past, no one learns or grows. During the time of

the Germans silence, two things were happening: (1) the generation who went through

the Holocaust was ignoring the issue (a strategy that we have already decided was a bad

one), and (2) the younger generation was not gaining wisdom. It was not until 1968 when

students in West Germany created a movement to pressure the older generation to tell

them the truth. Even then the Holocaust was still a taboo subject. It was not until 1979

when an American-made TV series was aired to educate the public about the events that

took place during WWII that people decided it was time to accept their past and

implement the Holocaust into German education. No matter how horrific the past may be,

the older generations have a responsibility to teach it, while the younger generations have

a responsibility to learn from it.

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The Holocaust is an extreme example of the negative effects of ignorance, but is a

power argument against the commonplace that ignorance is bliss. Whether caused by a

desire to avoid responsibility, a state of passivity, or a fear of uncovering a painful past, a

lack of knowledge has proven to lead to more harm than good. However, it is a factor of

life that we, through the power of our loving God, can overcome. According to Jay Wood,

humans posses a unique repertoire of cognitive powers allowing us to infer,

introspect, recall, intuit, and learn (156). With such a powerful weapon as knowledge at

our disposal, it would be irrational, and even inhuman, to choose to toss it aside. We must

not choose to be blissfully ignorant; we must choose to utilize knowledge.

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Works Cited

Bunch, Kelly, Matthew Canfield, and Birte Schler. The Responsibility of Knowledge:

Developing Holocaust Education for the Third Generation. Humanity in Action.

Humanity in Action Inc. n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.

http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/226-the-responsibility-of-

knowledge-developing-holocaust-education-for-the-third-generation

Gellately, Robert. Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany. 2001.

Oxford University Press. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

Nazi Propaganda. Untied States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Untied States

Holocaust Memorial Museum. 20 June 2014. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005202

Schuchardt, Red Mercer. Social Media and the Loss of Embodied Communication.

Liberal Arts for the Christian Life. Ed. Jeffery C. Davis and Philip G. Ryken.

Wheaton: Crossway, 2010. 241-252. Print.

The McGraw-Hill Companies. Ignorance is Bliss. McGraw-Hill

Dictionary of

American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. 2002. The Free Dictionary

by Farlex. Web.

14 Sept. 2014.

<http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Ignorance+is+bliss>

Wood, Jay. Edycating for Intellectual Character. Liberal Arts for the Christian Life. Ed.

Jeffery C. Davis and Philip G. Ryken.Wheaton: Crossway, 2010. 155-168. Print.