Thesis: Debate between Saul Friedlӓnder and Martin Broszat, written in letters, concerning the treatment of Jews, and how it was seen back then compared to now.
“…what degree of involvement in the murderous persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime the majority of our people can be accused of, and what manner of guilt they incurred, also by failing to provide assistance and sympathy” (277). In Martin Broszat’s letters to Saul Friedlӓnder, he mentions this heavy question. This is very profound since it begs the question, can you blame someone for not speaking, and not acting out of turn? Maybe someone didn’t do anything to directly hurt the Jews, but should they feel guilt for doing nothing?
“Such concealment was possible because this destruction involved a minority which even many years before had been systematically removed from the field of vision of the surrounding non-Jewish world as a result of social ghettoization” (279). This is from a letter written by Martin Broszat. He explains that annihilation of the Jews was possible at this time because of the ghettoization of them. The people in charge of this liquidation kept it very concealed, and far from the limelight.
“… the centrality of Auschwitz, as we perceive it today, was not perceived during the events, as the Jews had been progressively isolated from the surrounding populations, the annihilation was kept totally secret, and even the allies did not consider it a central issue” (283). It is hard to imagine that Auschwitz was a secret back then, and many people did not know what was happening there. Looking back and having it be well known as a central issue, it is almost hard to believe that it wasn’t. This was taken from one of the letters written by Saul Friedlӓnder.