The Concept of Stereotyping, Essay Example

During the Second World War (1939-45), the National Sociality (Nazi) party in Germany were responsible for stereotyping the Jews living in Europe.  Stereotyping is often sourced in hatred, prejudice and bigotry.  ” The Holocaust was the destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis through an officially sanctioned, government-ordered, systematic plan of mass annihilation. As many as six million Jews died, almost two-thirds of the Jews of Europe” (Grobman, 1990).  The concept of stereotyping is that of making generalizations about a person or groups of people. In some cases a picture or representation is made allowing the reader to articulate the blanks. This can be very dangerous and lead to persecution as in the case of the European Jews.

The Nazi regime portrayed the Jews as monsters and dehumanized them as not portraying real human beings. They were seen as fat lazy rich people, often ridiculed with long bended noses and seen to look down on the poorer working classes of Europe.  This was particularly evident in the cartoons that they produced in Poland and Germany in the early stages of the war.  It is interesting to note a comment by Adolf Hitler produced in 1919 some 30 years before the rise of the Nazis and the outbreak of World War 2.  ” The fact is that Judaism is a matter of race not religion…reasonable anti-Semitism…must lead to a systematic and lawful campaign for the removal of those privileges which the Jew enjoys, unlike other foreigners in our midst who are subject to the law applying to aliens.  The final aim of such anti-Semitism must be unquestionably the removal of the Jews” (Adolf Hitler 1919).   Oddly enough during this time the Polish people came in for a degree of stereotyping as collaborators with the Nazis in the extermination of the Jews.  They were in fact one of the first countries occupied by the Nazis and suffered terribly during the time of occupation.  ” No people have been more viciously stereotyped than the Poles. Forgetting that the Poles were Hitler’s first victims and that the Nazi-established killing laboratory in Poland would later be used against the Jews and other groups, writers have sought to stereotype the Poles as a nation of willing collaborators with the Nazis in the genocide of the Jews. Despite the fact that Poland ranks first among the nations of the world which rendered help to the Jews during the Holocaust, the Polish role in aiding Jews has been largely ignored or denigrated.” (Lukas, 2002)

Jews have been traditionally stereotyped as ‘adept money handlers’.  In early European times this practice was restricted from both Jews and Arabs as it was considered morally reprehensible by the Christians.  Many Jews became tax collectors and government officials making them easy targets for stereotyping models of hatred.  It is interesting that stereotypes can be presented in two forms, consider “the book Jew”, representing the intellectual Jewish person and “money lender Jew”, the darker side or dehumanising side.  ” There are in fact, as one Jewish friend put it to me half-jokingly, “two sorts of Jew: book Jews and money Jews” – but it seems to be only the latter who are taken as the stereotype. This ignores the “book Jew”, who is interested in ideas rather than material possessions and who leads a life dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and intellectual discovery.” (Lawson, 2009).

The Israelis have been portrayed as a nation alone trying to survive in an Arab dominated Middle East.  Whilst the western democracies sympathize with their plight, nevertheless the Israelis have not been helping themselves in dismissing the stereotype images of the Jewish person.  Recent examples in the treatment of the Palestinians ” Israel prevented 17 sight-impaired Gazans from leaving for cornea transplant operations on time; a donation of dozens of corneas went down the drain ” (Weiss, 2010).

The largest proportion of Jewish immigrants that traveled to North America occurred in the 19th century.  During this period, over 2 million Jews immigrated to America from Central and Eastern European countries.  Much of this was to escape persecution in the hope of a better life in the New World.  Most of the immigrants moved to the populated cities and became merchants, vendors and other types of businessmen.  During this time, the Jewish people developed an American Jewish community and added to the cultural value of the country.  Owing to the fact that a strong emphasis was placed upon education, high-paying jobs and professional qualifications, these served as sources that help to perpetuate the stereotyping that continues to enjoy to this day.  Nevertheless, the Jewish immigrants to the United States have been notably successful in establishing themselves within  the higher echelons of American society.  This has improved, the lobbying capability in order to support their homeland of Israel.

Works Cited

Grobman, G. M. (1990). Stereotypes and Prejudices. Retrieved 2 7, 2010, from Remember.org: http://remember.org/guide/History.root.stereotypes.html

Lawson, D. (2009, 6 14). Can Sir Alan fire the old Jewish stereotype? Retrieved 2 8, 2010, from Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/dominic_lawson/article6493531.ece

Lukas, D. R. (2002, 8). Of Stereotypes and Heroes. Retrieved 2 8, 2010, from Catholic League: http://www.catholicleague.org/research/stereotypesheroes.htm

Weiss, P. (2010, 1 11). Monstrous. Retrieved 2 8, 2010, from Mondoweiss.