‘ The Jew is the most dangerous poison – mushroom in existence. Just as a single poisonous mushroom can kill a whole family, so a solitary Jew can destroy a whole village, a whole city, even an entire Volk ‘.
This is only a small snippet of what the story ‘ The Poisonous Mushroom ‘ has to offer. Written during Hitler’s repressive regime, the story likens Jews to poisonous mushrooms to push its rabidly anti – semitic agenda.
The story starts innocently, with a young boy and his mother gathering mushrooms in the German forest. The boy chances upon some poisonous mushrooms and shows them to his mother, who seizes the opportunity and uses the poisonous mushroom to teach him a life lesson. She says, ‘ We have to be on guard against bad people just as we have to be on guard against poisonous mushrooms ‘. The child seems to grasp this, and enthusiastically replies by saying that just as trouble may arise when one eats poisonous mushrooms, there could be trouble in dealing with bad people. There isn’t anything particularly disturbing about this. Just your garden – variety parable trying to instil values in children. But not for long.
The story takes a sharp turn when the young boy thumps his chest in pride and declares that Jews are the ‘ poisonous mushrooms of mankind‘. It only gets worse with every line, with the mother explaining the damage that Jews are capable of doing, and the young boy nodding along encouragingly. The mother ends the story by saying that ‘ The Jew is the cause of misery and distress, illness and death ‘.
The author concludes his already unsettling story by telling the audience that tales like the Poisonous Mushroom show the Jew for what he really is : ‘ The Devil in Human form ‘.
My reaction to the story was visceral. I could feel my toes curling in disgust, my face contorting in revulsion. It wasn’t just the story that shook me, it was the fact that it hit so close to home.
In India, Anti – Muslim propaganda has become rampant. It’s common to hear prominent politicians speaking derisively about Muslims. Some have even gone so far as to encourage their followers to kill Muslims. Of course, mass genocide of Muslims hasn’t been carried out yet, but it’s upsetting enough that the majority is using its power to push Islamophobia and Anti – Muslim propaganda.
The propaganda isn’t just problematic because it’s being spread by those in power, it’s problematic because it casts Hindus as the perpetual heroes and Muslims as the perpetual villains. It spins a particularly dangerous narrative of Hindus and Muslims.
Do people believe this propaganda willingly ? Or do they not know better ? I suspect it’s a bit of both. People start out as left – leaning or right – leaning, but continuous exposure to this propaganda forces them to the extremes.
And it isn’t easy to resist the power of propaganda. Propaganda is pervasive. It’s on television, it’s in advertisements, it’s on social media. It’s inescapable.
Going back to the story of the Poisonous Mushrooms, it’s easy to see why someone could so easily believe this. Especially someone living in Nazi Germany. The story makes a very convincing argument : Jews are like poisonous mushrooms, they’re single – handedly responsible for the deterioration of society and culture, and so they must be destroyed. For young boys like the one in the story, it’s easy to be beguiled by this simplistic argument. Asking logical questions like ‘ But why are Jews bad ? ‘ or ‘Who says they’re like poisonous mushrooms ‘ doesn’t come naturally to young ones or adults.
The problem with propaganda is not just its ability to polarise, it is its ability to inspire action. In India, horrifying Anti – Muslim speeches aren’t just words. They incite communal violence and fear. It’s become common to see news stories of Muslim men being beaten to bloody pulps, sometimes even being slaughtered mercilessly.
I’ve witnessed the effects of propaganda first – hand. In fact, quite recently, I was having a conversation with my Aunt. The conversation was light – hearted and easy, which is why I was thrown off when she said ‘ The Muslims are taking over. Soon, they’ll impose their terrorising agenda on everyone ‘. I was taken aback. But I quickly recovered. I was hoping she’d backtrack and apologise, or say it was a joke made in poor taste, but none of that. She trudged along like she hadn’t said anything even remotely worrying.
I used to think of my Aunt as a relatively reasonable, rational person. But after our little conversation, I realised that no one is immune to propaganda. Even the best of us are prone to believing it.
So where does that leave us ? Should we be utterly hopeless ? Not really. Though the power of propaganda is only growing, resilient individuals and committed organisations are making a difference. Alt News for instance, is a news outlet that is committed to fact checking news. On a more personal level, my grandmother, who used to be a BJP sympathiser, has slowly reversed her opinion. She is able to see through the propaganda.
It’s not easy, but resisting the charm of propaganda is what’ll allow us to collectively beat authoritarian regimes and extremist organisations once and for all.
Kavya Krishnan