Final answer:
The Holocaust was difficult to believe due to its scale and the involvement of a 'civilized' society, with denial often rooted in cognitive dissonance. Public education and trials revealed the horror and refuted Holocaust denial. Hannah Arendt's 'banality of evil' concept also sheds light on how ordinary people participated in such atrocities.
Step-by-step explanation:
The difficulty in believing the atrocities of the Holocaust lies in the sheer magnitude and systematic nature of the genocide carried out by a perceived advanced and civilized society. The notion that such barbarism could occur in the modern era, under the administration of educated and culturally 'enlightened' individuals, deeply contradicted the Western understanding of civilization. The emergence of Holocaust Denial, propelled by motives ranging from anti-Semitism to political ideologies, challenges the historical evidence despite overwhelming documentation and testimony from survivors. Holocaust denial is further fueled by a form of cognitive dissonance, where acknowledging such horror disrupts one’s worldview, making it easier to adopt fallacious narratives that deny its occurrence.
Efforts to educate the public and refute deniers have been realized through various means, including films, television programs, and public speeches by survivors. The trials, such as those of Adolf Eichmann, also laid bare the brutal reality of the Holocaust and the moral failure of its perpetrators. The systemic and bureaucratic mechanism of mass murder exposed in these trials, highlighted by Hannah Arendt's concept of the banality of evil, also contributes to the incomprehensibility of the Holocaust to the general public.