5. One of the Most Tragic Conspiracy Theories Is “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”
In Russia in 1905, a pamphlet began to be circulated that claimed that the morality, lifestyle, and finances of upstanding Christian citizens were being threatened by a cadre of powerful Jewish elites who wanted to take over the world. There was no verifiable evidence to support the claims of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” but people worldwide ate it up. The conspiracy became so powerful that, in the years leading up to World War II, Adolf Hitler referenced it in his autobiography, Mein Kampf. You can probably guess the rest.
In the Great Depression’s chaos, which hit Germany harder than just about any other country, the people wanted a scapegoat. Hitler gave them one, the same one that the authors of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” had given. The result was the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered. People, check the facts on your conspiracy theories. They are not harmless little stories that go floating around the internet. Some even affect the lives of others in the worst of ways. What a scary thing to have to go through, all because someone believed something was made up.