During the Holocaust, differences became a matter of life and death. The murderous German dictator Adolf Hitler spread his twisted beliefs founded upon hate and anger, and unfortunately, many became influenced by it. “I do not see why man should not be just as cruel as nature.”~Adolf Hitler. As World War II began, the Nazis built concentration camps, where the murder of millions took place. This mass extermination was solely based on human differences. Those who did not comply to the German standards were targeted because of their ideology that the German race is genetically superior. Nazis persecuted many groups such as Jews, Gypsies, the disabled, homosexuals, Russians, Poles, communists, and socialists. If you checked one of these slots, it could …show more content…
Young children, babies with mothers, and the elderly were all immediately eliminated in the daily sorting upon arrival at a concentration camp. It was as if they were nothing but troublesome vermin. The famous diary written by Anne Frank shows just how lowly society thought of those belonging to the Jewish faith in Europe during World War II. “Jews must wear a yellow star, Jews must hand in their bicycles, Jews are banned from trains and are forbidden to drive. Jews are only allowed to do their shopping between three and five o'clock and then only in shops which bear the placard “Jewish shop.” Jews must be inside by eight o’clock and cannot even sit in their own gardens after that hour. Jews are forbidden to visit theaters, cinemas, and other places of entertainment. Jews may not take part in public sports. Swimming baths, tennis courts, hockey fields, and other sports grounds are all prohibited to them. Jews may not visit Christians. Jews must go to Jewish schools, and many other restrictions of a similar kind.” (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl 713) Not only did the Jewish people face discrimination and segregation, but they were also taken from their homes and brutally
After listening to a testimony from Ralph Fischer, a Holocaust survivor I have gained a new level of understanding to what happened in those few years of terror when the Nazi party was at power. On top of that I have learned that they are just like other people in many different ways. As a child, Ralph went to school, played with friends, and spent time with his family. All that is comparable to any other modern-day child. However, as the Nazi party rose to power he was often bullied, left out, or even beat for being Jew. Although not as extreme, I have often been mistreated because I was different, and it’s easy to understand the pain of being left out just because you are not the same. Eventually he had to drop out of school and then had
Dehumanization was a big part of these camps. The Nazis would kick innocent Jewish families and send them to concentration or death camps. The main way they dehumanized these Jewish people is when they take all their possessions. In Night they go around taking all there gold and silver, make them leave their small bags of clothing on the train, and finally give them crappy clothing. All this reduces their emotions; they go from owing all these possessions to not having a cent to their name. If I was in that situation I would just be in shock with such a huge change in such a short amount of time. The next way they dehumanized the Jewish people were they stopped using names and gave them all numbers. For example in Night Eliezer’s number was A-7713. Not only were all their possessions taken, but also their names. Your name can be something that separates you from another person. Now they are being kept by their number, almost as if that’s all they are, a number. If I was in their place I would question my importance, why am I here, am I just a number waiting to be replaced? The third way they were dehumanized was that on their “death march” they were forced to run nonstop all day with no food or water. If you stopped or slowed down, you were killed with no regards for your life. The prisoners were treated like cattle. They were being yelled at to run, run faster and such. They were not treated as equal humans. If the officers were tired, they got replaced. Dehumanization affected all the victims of the Holocaust in some sort of way from them losing all their possessions, their name, or being treated unfairly/ like animals.
Everyone is different and that is what makes the world a wonderful place, at least one would think. But 1944 and 1945 German folks called Nazis discriminated against anyone that was different from them. Nazi soldiers made people feel less o f a person, all because they believed in different faiths. In the story The Night written by Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor he tells of the dehumanizing ways of the Nazi soldiers and how they made Jews feel less of a person day by day. Jewish people were at the very top for being different; they were hated by the Nazis. It was believed that everything bad that ever happened were the Jews fault. They went through unfair treatment just because of their religion.
Although first impressions of the German soldiers were reassuring to Wiesel and many Jews at first, shortly after they had arrived the Jew’s freedoms were taken without any warning. German soldiers took the Jew’s rights one at a time. First, Jews were not allowed to leave there house for three days. Then, they were no longer allowed to keep their gold, jewels, or valuable items. Wiesel explains, “Everything had to be handed over to the authorities, under penalty of death. My father went down to the cellar and buried out savings” (8). Next, they were forced to wear the yellow star. Eventually, Jews were not allowed to go into restaurants or cafes, to travel the railway, attend synagogue, or go into the street after six o’clock. The last step was that two ghettos were formed in the town of Sighet. It was like they were dogs in a fenced crate, not allowed to go anywhere or do anything. When the Jews started to question Wiesel’s father during the development of these rules, he reassured every one, and acted like it was no big deal. Wiesel’s father settled and acknowledged the situation claiming, “The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…” (Wiesel 9). None of the Jews including Wiesel’s fami...
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 restrooms for up to 18 days. Many people died from the lack of food and water (Byers, p.15).
Tent, James F. In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Nazi Persecution of Jewish-Christian Germans. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2003.
as a historian it is clear that in the years of 1941 and 1942 things
Superiority and discrimination have been the underlying problem in many world-wide events throughout history leading into present day. Whether it be a caste system issue or a race issue, there’s always a group that labels themselves greater than that of another. This affair was apparent in 1940s Germany. The German people would be persuaded into a dictatorship led by Adolf Hitler, who while in power would give rise to Nazism, allowing the mistreatment of Jews to commence. This extermination would be known as “The Holocaust” translated to “sacrifice by fire” and would affect many different people groups during and after the event.
In every genocide, minorities and those who were seen as "different" or as the "other" were targeted and blamed for massive systemic issues in society. This includes religious minorities, or groups of people with religious beliefs different from the mainstream. In the holocaust, the main group that people think of getting murdered are Jewish people. A lot of Polish people were also killed within the holocaust. This includes ethnic and racial minorities, or groups of people who look and and sometimes dress differently in terms of skin color, and sometimes clothes. It is known that Hitler and the Nazis wanted to promote an “Aryan” race, an all-white all-German society. It is clear that he was willing to commit genocide on the basis of race, as well. In the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman empire killed people on the basis of being Armenian. This also actually includes members of the LGBT+ community. During the holocaust, Hitler and the Nazis also gathered up
“But many of the Jewish children were forced to become Catholic to remain hidden from the Nazis. ”(Feldman 391) The Jews had many restrictions before they were taken away from their homes. Anne Frank wrote in her diary, “Jews were forced to wear yellow stars” (that said Jude on them), they were banned from trains and were forbidden to drive, mostly walking from place to place. They could only shop at Jewish shops, but only between the hours of three through five.
According to A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust, the Roma (Gypsies) and African-Germans were attacked because of their ethnicity. These two groups fell into the category of being “asocial” and too undesirable. The gypsies had pre-existing prejudices against them before Hitler’s rise which he just expanded on by creating laws against them. They had their civil rights taken away. Many were deported or sent to forced labor camps, and murdered. In 1933, the "Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Defects," was put into effect which gave doctors and physicians the ability to take away the choice and ability for the Roma and others to reproduce. The Romani and Negroes were considered minorities with “alien blood” so they were no longer allowed to marry those of the Aryan race (“Sinti and Roma”). The Gypsies and African-Germans foreign appearance, and customs were viewed as a threat to the “superior” race. They were under extreme scrutiny and judgment by researchers and scientists. They were measured, tested and became part of experiments to p...
So Hitler’s Plan of a “Perfect Race” never was able to hit the land and roll into play, how he wanted. He targeted the Jewish, along with many others because he didn’t like them, But soon it led to Hitler’s death and the freeing of the Jewish and along with many others including, The Gypsies, Gays, Blacks, and The Mental and Physical Handicapped, By the English and Russian troops.
Regine Donner, a famous Holocaust survivor, once said, “I had to keep my Jewishness hidden, secret, and never to be revealed on the penalty of death. I missed out on my childhood and the best of my adolescent years. I was robbed of my name, my religion, and my Zionist idealism” (“Hidden Children”). Jewish children went through a lot throughout the Holocaust- physically, mentally, and emotionally. Life was frightening and difficult for children who were in hiding during the rule of Adolf Hitler.
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, it talks about the holocaust and what it was like being in it. The Germans were trying to make the German race the supreme race. To do this they were going to kill off everyone that wasn’t a German. If you were Jewish or something other than German, you would have been sent to a concentration camp and segregated by men and women. If you weren’t strong enough you were sent to the crematory to be cremated. If you were strong enough you were sent to work at a labor camp. With all the warnings the Jewish people had numerous chances to run from the Germans, but most ignored the warnings.
Many racial and ethnic groups are treated cruel, which contributes to the problem of discrimination. The inhumane treatment inflicted onto different racial and ethnic groups is provoking horrific violence around the world. The film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, gives us an insight to the cruel treatment endured by Jewish people in World War II. Jewish people were taken from their homes, separated from their families, and placed in concentration camps where they were expected to die. They were exposed to extreme levels of abuse, such as starvation, physical beatings, and emotional torture. The fear and terrorizing the soldiers used on the Jews is shown in the scene when Lieutenant Kotler catches Shmuel eating a cookie: “Are you eating? Have you been stealing food?