LITR 4231 Early American Literature Sample Research Posts 2014 (research post assignment) Research Post 2

Sarah Robin Roelse

April 18, 2014

History:  Does it Repeat Itself or are We Merely Foreshadowing Something Bigger?

          People often say that history repeats itself, but what if history is just a simple foreshadowing of what is to come in the future if people don’t take a stand against wrong-doing?  When we take events such as the Salem Witch Trials and compare them to something somewhat similar (though on a much larger scale), such as the Nazi-Jewish Holocaust of WWII, it is easy to see that there were instances of foreshadowing to our history, which we sadly ignored.  In this research post, I am looking for connections between the Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust to show how the latter could have possibly been avoided had someone in political power been affected by the charges placed against them, rather than simply comparing the two events as a whole. While I do admit that this theory is merely speculation, it does give the reader food for thought in terms of how our future may play out if humanity refuses to learn from our history’s mistakes. 

          Looking at the Salem Witch trials, it is best if we have some account of what caused them to happen, and ultimately what stopped them from going any further. The accusations of witchcraft and Devil worship were started by three young ladies who were not seen as popular or exclusive, even though they held a prominent financial status in their township. In order to gain attention from their peers, the girls started pointing fingers at people who were beneath even them on the social scale, such as the elderly and slaves.  This minor outbreak of hysteria led to something much more controversial and mortifying:  More and more people began accusing their neighbors or enemies of these monstrous acts, which would lead to their eventual imprisonment and in several instances, death.  It wasn’t until an accusation was made on Governor Phipps’s wife that it was decided the witch hunt needed to stop and all who were accused would receive full pardons (Blumberg).  Even though the hunt stopped as abruptly as it started, it still affected over some two hundred families and reached out to several other townships besides Salem, Massachusetts, and still remains a prominent piece of America’s history.  While we can be thankful that these outlandish accusations and unnecessary deaths came to an immediate end after a short time, I have to ask myself one thing:  What would have happened if this hadn’t affected a prominent member of political status?  Would these witch trials still be going on today?

          Now, what if we turned the tables and looked at the story in reverse, like this:  A prominent member in politics was accusing people of things they had no control over and sentencing them to death? We end up with the Holocaust.  While I’m sure that at the time no one was actively thinking about the Salem Witch Trials in comparison to the Third Reich’s reign (because they were too busy trying to handle the situation at hand), it would have been so easy to recognize the signs of a power-hungry man on a quest to receive attention and gain notoriety.  In order to fully comprehend The Holocaust, we should first have a brief history of the events that led up to it.  After WWI Germany was in a state of deep depression, money was tight and the people needed someone to look to for guidance; this person turned out to be Adolf Hitler, an eloquent orator and man who would later lie in order to have his army do anything for him.  While Hitler promised to bring the country riches and fortune under his reign, he ultimately brought death and decay to the majority of Europe (Houston Holocaust Museum). The events of the Holocaust were ultimately burned out by the Allied forces taking control of the situation and liberating what was left of the Jewish population who somehow managed to live through countless death marches and deplorable treatment in concentration camps. 

          When we look at the events that took place in both Salem and throughout Europe, we have to take into account the fact that they could have easily been halted in their tracks had someone of proper status in polity taken a stand against what is right and wrong.  In the case of the Salem Witch Trials, they were stopped when charges were brought unto the Governor’s wife.  However, since The Holocaust started with someone in a high ranking political order, there was only the word of common people (several churches who remained anonymous, various underground freedom groups, and select Germans in general who opposed the actions of Hitler’s reign) to try taking the Third Reich down – which ended badly for rebels who tried anything brazen.  We see instances of foreshadowing based on the fact that the poor treatment of a particular sort of people was allowed, until a certain point.  But had someone in a place of political power been personally affected by what Hitler was aiming for with the Third Reich, perhaps there wouldn’t have been a massacre of over six million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and handicapped people that affected the entire world (Causes for the Outbreak of Witchcraft Hysteria in Salem). 

          While there are similarities to the events of The Salem Witch Trials and The Holocaust, such as persecution of a particular type of people, there are just as many differences which need to be accounted for as well, mainly the severity of what happened in each event.  The Salem Witch Trials began as a plea for attention from a few lonely girls’ peers, and the Holocaust began as a way to pave the road for a dictatorship over Europe.  The witch hunt affected around two hundred families total and only about twenty people were actually executed on grounds for convictions of practicing witch craft or Devil worship.  Alternatively, during The Holocaust over six million people were slaughtered because a group of men felt the Jewish population was the cause for all of Germany’s social and economic imbalances (and the rest of the world’s, for that matter), which needed to be exterminated in order for it to prosper again.  The main difference between the Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust is the fact that Governor Phipps was able to put a stop to the witch hunt single handedly once he realized how ridiculous the accusations were; however, it took an entire army and a good part of the world to stop Hitler in his tracks and liberate what was left of the prisoners in Europe.  

          Looking back on the Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust can really put life into perspective for everyone; each period was a sad and dark time for those who partook in the surrounding events. While the families of those who were persecuted during The Salem Witch Trials had their family names restored and were given reimbursements in terms of money, I do not think this will ever be something that can ever make things “right” for those families affected by the Holocaust.  Coincidentally, in recent news, it has been noted that in Russia the Jewish populations are being forced to register and pay fines for their religious affiliation – not because they have done anything wrong, but because of who they are (Weinstein).  Hopefully, before this turns into something much larger, the world will notice the prejudices and persecutions that are being placed upon these folks again and can put a grinding halt to whatever plans the Russian government may have; otherwise we may likely see ourselves repeating a history that should have never been allowed to happen in the first place.