Ethical Views of the Holocaust
In this paper I will be going over the ethical views of the Holocaust. I have taken information from the accounts of surviving Jews of the Holocaust. I have also looked at information from those who believe the Holocaust was not a big deal and deny that many of the events even happened. I will bring up some viewpoints that may change people's perception of the Holocaust. Some of these facts were a shock to me and changed my view a little but some are so profound they make you think twice. The biggest impact from all my research was the real life accounts of those who survived through it. Many of this information are hard to read, but I felt that is was a subject that I would like to learn more about. Doing this paper enlightened me and brought to attention many things to my attention. My hope with this paper is to do the same for those who read it. I want the reader to question what happened and draw a conclusion as to what they feel. I know my feelings on the holocaust and I will express my feelings on it through out the paper.
There were many people to survive the holocaust. Many of these people have chosen to tell their story of what happened. Many of these wrote their experience in book form. One of these people lives in the State of Maine now. Her name is Judith Magyar Isaacson. She wrote a book titled Seed of Sarah. This book is the memoirs of her experience as Jew during the holocaust. She starts her book off talking about her life before the reign of Hitler. She talks about her mother and her father and offers some photos of them in the book.
She talks of the appearance that a Jew had and how she admired her father's straight nose. She dreaded getting her mothers nose because it beco...
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... is their ethical duty to tell the world the truth about the holocaust. They think that if history is going to be documented it should be documented properly. You yourself would not want to be misrepresented. Especially if they were blaming you on the magnitude that its at. We also do not want to teach the wrong thing. We can not go misguided in our society just because it is wrong to believe something different.
No one-view point is right and no one ethical view is proper. We all have to take an ethical view on life. It is how we mold ourselves and become who we are. Our beliefs will always belong to us. Regardless what you believe in the holocaust you are never wrong. Ethics I believe are what you make of them. If your Ethics do not follow the norm that is ok. But you have to be willing to take the consequences of your actions if you follow your ethical views.
The Holocaust is a topic that is still not forgotten and is used by many people, as a motivation, to try not to repeat history. Many lessons can be taught from learning about the Holocaust, but to Eve Bunting and Fred Gross there is one lesson that could have changed the result of this horrible event. The Terrible Things, by Eve Bunting, and The Child of the Holocaust, by Fred Gross, both portray the same moral meaning in their presentations but use different evidence and word choice to create an overall
“The Holocaust: 36 Questions & Answers About the Holocaust.” 36 Questions & Answers About the Holocaust. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014
In the end, the real main question is why. Why do we study the Holocaust? We study it for so many reasons. We study it so we remember all the tragic events, from the murdering of the Jews to the liberation of death camps. Also this defineing moment in history lets us see how rasicim effected everything. Not only in Germany with the Nuremberg Laws, but here as well with the Jim Crow Laws. WWII did help us out of The Great Depression though. But the most important reason as to why we study this is so we know the signs, so it will never happen again. No one should ever want this to repeat. It was tragic all around. Thats why kids world wide will alwats study about the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was a very impressionable period of time. It not only got media attention during that time, but movies, books, websites, and other forms of media still remember the Holocaust. In Richard Brietman’s article, “Lasting Effects of the Holocaust,” he reviews two books and one movie that were created to reflect the Holocaust (BREITMAN 11). He notes that the two books are very realistic and give historical facts and references to display the evils that were happening in concentration camps during the Holocaust. This shows that the atrocities that were committed during the Holocaust have not been forgotten. Through historical writings and records, the harshness and evil that created the Holocaust will live through centuries, so that it may not be repeated again (BREITMAN 14).
The Holocaust has many reasons to it. Some peoples’ questions are never answered about the Holocaust and some answers are. The Holocaust killed over 6 million Jews (Byers.p.10.) Over 1.5 million children (Byers, p.10.)They were all sent to concentration camps to do hard labor work. Jewish people weren’t the only ones sent to concentration camps. People such as people with disabilities, Homosexuals, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Communists, and Socialists (Byers.p.12). Everyone that was sent to concentration camps was sent via Train cars (www.historychannel.com). They had no food, water, or rest rooms up to 18 days. Many people died from the lack of food and water (Byers, p.15.). They children under 12 and elderly were sent to death camps because they were too weak or young too do the hard labor work so they were exterminated quickly (Byers, p.17.). Everybody at the camps were ordered to wear a certain colored star so they were easily spotted. The Holocaust went on from 1939 to 1945. Throughout all those years it was BAD.
"History of the Holocaust - An Introduction." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Web. 8 July 2010. .
The Holocaust tends to be a bitter memory and an unpleasant subject to discuss. Although this event took place many years ago, repercussions are still present in the twenty first century. Especially in Germany, the Holocaust not only influences patriotism, but it also influences education and immigration policies. In contrast to other countries where nationalism is common, Germany has been forced to lessen the sense of nationalism in order to dispose false beliefs some individuals have of German racism. By allowing people from other countries to become German citizens, Germany avoids transmitting the sense of being a better and a cleaner race. A further sector influenced by the Holocaust is the education system. Approaches to teach about this event are difficult since the Holocaust is a sensitive issue and continues having vital importance in numerous families. Although the Holocaust continues conveying negative influences, the Holocaust also led to positive medical and technological improvements. In fact, numerous improvements are unknowingly implemented in societies today. Therefore, the Holocaust is one of the most horrific and influencing events in history whose repercussions are still felt in Germany today. However, in spite of the horrific occurrences, the associated medical findings and technological improvements make it intricate to look at the Holocaust as plainly evil. Thus, societies should view the Holocaust with a broader perspective.
Holocaust had a big impact on people’s lives because of the indifference and injustice of the people. The story “Night” by Elie Wiesel, The movie “The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas”, and the article “Secret life” are the sources that tell us how bad the holocaust was and how we should stand up when we see people suffering rather than staying aside and be an observer. Being indifferent and an observer encourages the tormentor, which is the opposite of what we should want. By speaking out and acting against injustice we can change what’s going on in other people’s lives that is unfair, and we may save them from their horrible situation. Some people focus on their own needs because they want to save their life and don’t put themselves in danger of other people’s lives, but by being silent and inaction in the face of injustice they will not help other people’s lives and they won’t change what is going on around them that makes them feel bad. The people who are indifferent will not be happy with the outcome of being an observer. If we speak out and act against injustice we can make other people happy and help them to relieve from their situation. If we are speak out we might lose our life, but everybody around us will always remember that we died for other people and we weren’t selfish about our lives. This essay is going to support my opinion of how people should stand up for themselves and other people and how we should act against injustice by giving details from the three sources.
There are times in history when desperate people plagued by desperate situations blindly give evil men power. These men, once given power, have only their own evil agendas to carry out. The Holocaust was the result of one such man's agenda. In short simplicity, shear terror, brutality, inhumanity, injustice, irresponsibility, immorality, stupidity, hatred, and pure evil are but a few words to describe the Holocaust.
As early as age thirteen, we start learning about the Holocaust in classrooms and in textbooks. We learn that in the 1940s, the German Nazi party (led by Adolph Hitler) intentionally performed a mass genocide in order to try to breed a perfect population of human beings. Jews were the first peoples to be put into ghettos and eventually sent by train to concentration camps like Auschwitz and Buchenwald. At these places, each person was separated from their families and given a number. In essence, these people were no longer people at all; they were machines. An estimation of six million deaths resulting from the Holocaust has been recorded and is mourned by descendants of these people every day. There are, however, some individuals who claim that this horrific event never took place.
Levi, Neil, and Michael Rothberg. The Holocaust: Theoretical Readings. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2003. Print.
Dwork, Deborah, and R. J. Van Pelt. Holocaust: a History. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.
Miriam Wattenberg is one of the hundreds of children who wrote about their life story during the time of the Holocaust (“Children’s Diaries”). She was born October 10, 1924 (“Children’s Diaries”). Miriam started writing her diary in October 1939, after Poland surrendered to the German forces (“Children’s Diaries”). The Wattenberg family fled to Warsaw in November 1940 (“Children’s Diaries”). At that time she was with her parents and younger sister (“Children’s Diaries”).
"A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims. University of South Florida. Web. 19 May 2014.
During the Holocaust the mass murder of jews was a worldwide tragedy and when a tragedy happens usually your first question is why? The two groups of devoted researchers for the Holocaust are split into the Intentionalist group and the Functionalist group. As said by Mimi-Cecilia Pascoe in Intentionalism and Functionalism: Explaining the Holocaust “The intentionalist position suffers greatly from a lack of adequate evidence, and consequently cannot prove Hitler’s intentions beyond reasonable doubt. On the other hand, the functionalist position is better able to compensate for the lack of evidence, and thus provides a more solid historical explanation for the Holocaust (Pascoe 1).” The on going argument of whether the Holocaust was intentional or a choice in the moment is the Intentionalist vs. Functionalist case and either side has many different ways of portraying their evidence on the topic; the arguments are both have convincing arguments but in