Activity 4: Standing By

All non-Jews in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe arguably had the choice of how to respond to the Nazi treatment of the Jewish people.

Most non-Jews did nothing either to actively perpetrate the Nazi’s crimes against the Jews nor did they actively help the Jews to safety. 

We call these people bystanders.

There are many reasons that explain why so many people were bystanders.

Look at the image below.  It was taken in the streets of Vienna in Austria in the 1930s.  It is of Jewish citizens being forced to scrub the streets.  Discuss the questions that follow.

• Why do you think the Nazis made Jews scrub the streets like this?
• What is the difference between this and workers who are street cleaners?
• Why do you think people wanted to stand around and watch?
• What do you notice about the faces of the bystanders watching?  How are they reacting to what they see?
• What do their reactions suggest about their views of the Jewish citizens and the tasks they have been set?
• How do you react to this image?  
• How might you want to act differently to these bystanders were you to face a situation where people were being publicly humiliated?