get the Jewish population , blaming them for the economic collapse in Germany . Many banks and small businesses were owned by Jewish people , so it made for an easy target . Also , Germany was largely Christian at the time , and officials were quick to remind the population that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ , which only bolstered the propaganda about the untrustworthiness of Jewish people . Not only were they plotting the economic collapse of Germany , they also were responsible for the death of their God ; it was not a huge leap after some time for Hitler to convince the Germans that the Jews were planning a hostile takeover of the world ( United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ). Combining all of these lies over the course of years , the German people , led by Hitler , were twisted through politics and propaganda into thinking that eradicating the Jewish population was the only long term solution to solving their frustration , thus leading to their actions of anger ( Blair , R . J .)
The concentration camps were the means by which the Nazis executed their plan : they would round up thousands of Jews and cart them off . The healthy individuals were put to work until death , while the unhealthy or otherwise unfit for work were killed upon arrival . This is the scene of Komski ’ s painting . Komski was a Polish Roman Catholic who , after being captured by the Germans , was jumped around from camp to camp until his liberation in 1945 by the Americans . His painting depicts one of his memories in Auschwitz , where men chosen for execution would line up facing a brick wall , and the chief officer would massacre all of them every morning . In order to have reached a point where the human person was capable of such cruel atrocities , the German people must have felt an overwhelming amount of undirected frustration , which led to a misdirected anger towards the Jewish people and others who did not fit their models . All of the prisoners suffering in this camp had to view these acts of pure anger each and every day , and they could not act on the outrage , which led to a slow , festering hatred . Komski , himself , did try to act on his frustrations in his repeated attempts to escape , but after failed attempt upon failed attempt , he eventually succumbed to the fact that he was to be a prisoner until he was freed or he died . This realization led to a hopelessness that eventually culminated into hatred ( Simply Responsive ). It was not until years later that he was able to channel these feelings through paintings .
Each aspect of Komski ’ s paintings is intended to bring about a specific meaning , and each detail is crucial to understanding the full message of the paintings . The paintings are purposefully blurry and dull , illustrating what a difficult time it was in his life . The blurriness leads one to believe he either was trying to forget about these awful memories , or he was trying to emphasize the fact that society is slowly forgetting about the atrocities that were committed . The faces of the individuals , in particular , are blurred to the point of unrecognition . This could be due to the fact that these murders were such a common occurrence that all the faces eventually blended together in his memory . The dull colors are used to depict that it was a harsh and lifeless time for him , and each day was a struggle to survive . The victims in the painting are portrayed naked and emaciated , which is both historically accurate and intended to emphasize to the audience the inhumane treatment they received . He also chose winter for the season of his painting , which painfully illustrates how even the temperature was an enemy for these poor sufferers of the camps ; standing naked , alone , and freezing , they turned around to face a wall and die . Komski left no detail unrepresented . He painfully and emotionally portrays the horrors he survived through and also illustrates that many were not so fortunate as to come out with their lives ( Simply Responsive ). All of these feelings and more resulted in a harbored hatred for the Nazis , and it was a scar that many of the survivors would never recover from .
This painting and lessons in history are also applicable today . It seems there is some form of anger , frustration , or hatred at every turn . Whether it is interracial , political , religious , or international , there seems to be something lacking in American society , especially , that is culminating into a much larger issue . The old adage , “ History repeats itself ,” must not be allowed to reign true today . We now know the steps it takes to reach the point of another genocide : it starts of small , by pointing fingers , and it grows and festers and amplifies until it reaches a point where most citizens are content to sit back and watch another group take the blame and the punishment for issues they have no control over . America has already exceeded the beyond blaming others for their problems , particularly on the political stage . No one takes accountability for their actions and mistakes ; instead , the Liberals blame the Conservatives and the Conservatives blame the Liberals . This amount of frustration toward other people must stop before it reaches a critical tipping point . No one wishes to see that awful blood shed again , but it must be
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