The Value of Life

Explaining the Nazi way of assessing the value of a human being in contrast to the Jewish way of doing the same.

During the Nazi era their was no respect accorded to human life, Human beings were equated to animals, the high attention was centered on the animals rather than human beings, there is evidence of illuminating parallels in the way the animals and human beings were treated. The Nazi era was marred with the confusion of the roles of human beings and the animals (Kele, 60). The Nazis went to the extent of herding human beings, branding them with the tag that was numbered. Human beings were neutered and slaughtered industrially like animals. In the Nazi, estate there has been a major blur of boundaries when the SS men were used to impregnate young girls in order to increase population; this was carried out at the Lebensborn hostels. At one point Himmler demanded reports on the records of maternal milk production for all the lactating mothers. He went ahead and gave prizes to those who established high milk productions.

The Nazis did not have any conception of equality, human or otherwise. They hardly placed any value on the individual, be it human or animals. In the morality of the Nazis, the loyalty to race formed loyalty to species. The Nazi movement imagined what they wanted and placed no value to the individual. They organized their cosmos in such a way that little attention was given to humankind than what was offered to the Germanic nation.

The nation, therefore, included certain animals and excluded many citizens. The pronouncements of the Nazi would be in the name of nature. The Nazi strictures pertaining to the animals in their efforts for protection were explicitly evident when it came to the rejection of anthropocentric perspectives. Animals were not to be protected for the benefits of humanity but for own interests.

Humanism with its dominance as the main organizing principle intensified the hierarchy. This kind of hierarchy for the Nazis was not meant for organizational efficiency but a way of fitting into the cosmic order (Kele, 46). In this way, the Nazi movement managed to displace the anthropocentric philosophy that had the emphasis on the human equality. Hitler as the Leader of the Nazi movement recognized the political hierarchy in which it was equated to the both with him, Hitler representing the will. The Nazis masterminded the replacement of human relationships with a purely primal simplicity that was putative (Tennessee Holocaust Commission, 4).

On the other hand, the Jews highly respected the human life; most Jews lived with the belief of performing, “the mitzvah.” which means performing the commandment. This principle portrays the Jews as people who have sense humanity. The Jews base their respect for human life on the religious belief, “that, God created human beings in his own image.” The Jews extents this belief beyond the religious sphere to mean that also doctors and health care workers should also are respected for their efforts in preserving the human life. This attitude to human life has led the Jews to even break the positive religious laws in order to save human life where necessary. The Jews have a strong grip on life which is evinced in the way they handle the sick and the dead. The Jews community offers appropriate social care to those who are dying and their families. The Jews have strong respect for life to the extent that their customs allows watchers to stay with the death body while reciting Psalms day and night