Question

Rudolf Hoss, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, confessed to having exterminated one million people, most of whom were Jews, in the Auschwitz gas chamber. We can only conclude that Hoss was either insane or an extremely evil person.

A. Accident
B. Appeal to the People
C. Strawman
D. Ad Hominem Abusive
E. Appeal to Force
F. Red Herring
G. Missing the Point
H. Ad Hominem Circumstantial
I. Appeal to Pity
J. No Fallacy

Answer 1

The statement regarding Rudolf Hoss as insane or evil is an example of the Ad Hominem Abusive fallacy, which directs the argument against a person's character rather than the historical act of extermination carried out at Auschwitz.

Step-by-step explanation:

Hominem Abusive:

The conclusion that Rudolf Hoss was either insane or extremely evil because he confessed to exterminating one million people in the Auschwitz gas chambers represents a logical fallacy known as Ad Hominem Abusive. This fallacy occurs when an argument is directed against a person's character rather than the position they are maintaining. In this case, the student's statement attacks Hoss's character by labeling him insane or evil instead of focusing on the historical act of the extermination itself.

Auschwitz was indeed a site of unspeakable atrocities during the Holocaust, with the killing of approximately 1.1 million people, most of whom were Jews. Its operations as a death camp were part of the systematic policies by the Nazi regime, which resulted in the murder of over six million Jewish individuals and millions from other minority groups. Understanding the Holocaust requires grappling with the complexities of human behavior under totalitarian regimes, rather than simply attributing actions to individual madness or malevolence.