East Valley senior Burgess wins “Words That Kill” essay contest

Audry Burgess, a junior at East Valley High School, won first place and a $500 prize in the ninth annual Eva Lassman Memorial Writing Contest. Here is her essay:

Influence of Youth through Propaganda

“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep,” (Saul Bellow). After their brutal loss in WWI, the German people would have followed anyone who promised them retribution. Hitler’s rise to power seemed glorious in the eyes of the Germans but underneath lurked something more sinister. Through the extensive use of propaganda, the Nazi party committed one of the most horrendous acts in human history; an attempted mass genocide of the Jewish people. Propaganda in the forms of movies, radio, and words acted as the ultimate weapon of animosity. By directing the use of propaganda specifically toward youth, Hitler was able to indoctrinate a whole generation. Even in contemporary society, propaganda is used to incite youth to exclude and dehumanize others. But just as words can be used for malevolence, they can also be used to counter such hateful material. In the end it comes down to the individual; how should propaganda be used?

“Give the German nation six million bodies with flawless athletic training, all glowing with fanatical love of their country and inculcated with the highest offensive spirit, and the national state will have created an army,” (Adolf Hitler). From the beginning, Hitler knew his key to unequivocal control was through the youth. The Nazi party became experts in using propaganda to persuade the youth into seeing Hitler as a father figure brought to “restore German greatness.” Posters of Hitler and copies of his book, “Mein Kampf,” were distributed throughout Germany. Children were required to join the Hitler Youth, which gave the kids weekend camping trips to instill their loyalty. Postcards advertised the joys of being in the Hitler Youth and nationalistic pride. Nazis also used propaganda to capitalize on pre-existing stereotypes of Jews, which blamed them for the economic depression and a poisoned culture. The key to indoctrinating the youth into believing this stereotype was education. Jewish teachers were expelled from schools and the subject of “racial science” became prevalent in all classrooms. Young Germans were taught how to differentiate themselves from “inferior races.” Individuals like Julius Streicher, editor of the anti-Semitic Der Sturmer, utilized children’s books to spread hatred of Jews. Books like “The Poisonous Mushroom” portrayed Jews as despicable creatures worthy of death. Movies such as “Der Ewige Jude,” “The Eternal Jew,” offered the Nazis means for mass dissemination of ideologies, captivating to the youth. And with over 4,700 German newspapers, all controlled by the Nazi Party, children became even more exposed to anti-Semitic propaganda. This complete control of media by such a malicious group of people turned a generation of innocence into a mass of hatred.

In his speech to a group of Holocaust survivors on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, director Steven Spielberg warned of the resurfacing of “perennial demons of intolerance.” Spielberg stated that rising anti-Semitic actions are provoking hate crimes and stripping survivors of their identity. According to Forbes Magazine, violence and hatred against Jews is again on the rise, especially in the Middle East and among Muslims in Europe. Acts of prejudice are a reoccurring pattern. Jewish shoppers at a Parisian kosher supermarket were murdered, twelve people at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were killed, and four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels were slain. Last May, an Anti-Defamation League study surveying 53,100 adults in 102 countries and territories worldwide found “persistent and pervasive” anti-Jewish sentiments. Of those surveyed, 74 percent in the Middle East and North Africa held anti-Semitic attitudes, 24 percent in Western Europe, 34 percent in Eastern Europe and 19 percent in the Americas. What might be building this increased hatred? Persuasion of the youth. Future generations are growing up and being taught prejudice and bigotry. Propaganda is being used, just like in Nazi Germany, to spread hatred and violence. On the streets of Cairo, Egyptian copies of Mein Kampf are being sold to children. Cartoons are being shown that push youth into a mentality of hatred. Even America media is being used as a medium of abhorrence. Bryan Fisher, formally of the American Family Association, uses his talk show to spread anti-Semitic, homophobic, and sexist views. In our own East Valley School District, members of the Neo-Nazi Party were found handing out flyers to children, persuading them to join their cult. Throughout our world it seems as if racism knows no bounds.

While derogatory propaganda still exists, benevolent words and ideas can be used to counter such hatred. In the words of David Thoreau, “let us be dictated by our conscience.” Great individuals like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. did not sit idly by with a deaf ear to their moral obligations. They took a stand against injustice no matter what sign, poster or law said they couldn’t. As members of a progressive society, we must educate ourselves about the power of propaganda and what can happen when it’s abused. We mustn’t allow ourselves to fall prey to conniving words and pejorative images. We must turn our attention to the youth who are the leaders, thinkers, and the decision-makers of our world’s future. They are born “tabula rasa,” a blank slate ready to be shaped by virtuosity or vileness. We should be encouraging the youth to attend exchange programs and offering mixed religion education to spread ideas of acceptance and compassion. Through children we can build a future of amity and goodwill.

“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others,” (John F. Kennedy). Propaganda is a powerful tool for either good or evil. But if the world learns the power of tolerance and acceptance, who knows what might change. Let us utilize the Nazis’ use of propaganda as a cautionary tale. Media should be used to spread the altruistic and genial qualities of society, not to persecute or subjugate. “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”