The conditions and circumstances within the Nazi concentration camp system provide a remarkable prism through which historians can analyse the plight of Jewish people during the Holocaust. Resistance through violent rebellion against the Nazi regime’s policy of genocide is the most obvious manifestation of Jewish dissent, but the limited number of attempted uprisings in extermination camps raises profound questions on the Jewish people’s motivation to perform active resistance. Passive resistance committed by Jewish prisoners within the concentration camp system was of crucial importance towards maintaining dignity and hope among the populace and therefore should not be excluded when examining the overall strength of Jewish resolve. Nazi extermination …show more content…
For many Jews, ‘passive resistance’ was the most feasible manner through which their resentment of the Nazi regime could be channeled into a force of powerful opposition. Mihaly Templer, an observant Jew who was imprisoned at Auschwitz, recalls that one of the most impassioned acts of resistance he encountered was the practicing of Jewish customs in defiance of their Schutzstaffel (SS) overseers. Specifically, he recalls the celebration of Hanukkah in which a rabbi ‘roamed the barracks to make sure no one was lighting Hanukkah candles; after 11 o’clock, when they [the SS guards of the barracks] went to sleep, that’s when he lighted the Hanukkah candle’. Another poignant act of non-violent resistance is mentioned in the testimony of Helen K., a survivor of both Majdenak and Auschwitz, who stated that the orchestra of Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz that was forced to play German marching songs often ‘snuck in a little bit of a Jewish melody’ . Both of these acts of rebellion are of great importance as they uplifted the Jewish community to ensure that those within the concentration camp system did not succumb to the attempts by the Nazi state to shatter their identity as Jewish people. Therefore, Jewish responses to the Holocaust must not fall into a false dichotomy of ‘armed uprising’ and ‘inaction’, but …show more content…
Franz Suchomel, an SS officer that participated in Operation Reinhard at the Treblinka and Sobibór death camps, clearly expressed in his oral testimony that the heterogeneity of Nazi extermination camps was deliberate and meaningful, asserting that ‘Auschwitz was a factory of death….Treblinka was a primitive, but efficient production line of death… Bełżec was the laboratory’. These different maxims that underpinned the operation of each individual killing facility was of fundamental importance towards shaping the day-to-life and subsequent memories of victims in the camps. For example, Roma Ben-Atar, a Jewish woman that survived both the Majdanek and Auschwitz camps, was adamant in her belief that Majdanek was ‘far worse than Auschwitz’ , which indicates that the different conditions and processes at each facility had a profound effect on shaping the experiences of Jews on an individual level. Furthermore, an anecdote recalled by the son of Atar reveals an extremely intriguing instance of how the specific culture of Auschwitz continued to influence his mother’s actions even 50 years after her liberation. In 1998, Atar vigorously cleaned her house to the point where she became drenched in sweat and obviously physically exhausted, which caused her son to ask her to slow down and
In Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account, to say that Auschwitz is an interesting read would be a gross understatement. Auschwitz is a historical document, a memoir but, most importantly an insider’s tale of the horrors that the captives of one of the most dreadful concentration camps in the history of mankind. Auschwitz, is about a Jewish doctors, Dr. Nyiszli, experience as an assistant for a Nazi, Dr. Mengele. Dr. Nyiszli arrived at Auschwitz concentration camp with his family unsure if he would survive the horrific camp. This memoir chronicles the Auschwitz experience, and the German retreat, ending a year later in Melk, Austria when the Germans surrendered their position there and Nyiszli obtained his freedom. The author describes in almost clinical detail and with alternating detachment and despair what transpired in the
In this paper, we will explore the camp that is Bergen-Belsen and its workers, the camp system, liberation and trial. The notorious detention camp, Bergen-Belsen, was constructed in 1940 and “was near Hanover in northwest Germany, located between the villages Bergen and Belsen” (jewishvirtuallibrary.org), hence the name. Originally, the “camp was designed to hold 10,000 prisoners” (jewishvirtuallibrary.org) but, Bergen-Belsen rapidly grew. “In the first eighteen months of existence, there were already five satellite camps.” (holocaustresearchproject.org).
Six million Jews died during World War II by the Nazi army under Hitler who wanted to exterminate all Jews. In Night, Elie Wiesel, the author, recalls his horrifying journey through Auschwitz in the concentration camp. This memoir is based off of Elie’s first-hand experience in the camp as a fifteen year old boy from Sighet survives and lives to tell his story. The theme of this memoir is man's inhumanity to man. The cruel events that occurred to Elie and others during the Holocaust turned families and others against each other as they struggled to survive Hitler's and the Nazi Army’s inhumane treatment.
"Jewish Resistance". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 19 May 2014.
Due to this over 60% of the Jewish population was put to torture and death.”Haaretz” During the Holocaust, Jews used armed and unarmed forms of resistance in order to retain their humanity. Unarmed resistance was a way Jewish people fought against the Nazis, not with guns and knives, but simply finding ways to survive their living hell. Unarmed resistance took for in escaping, stealing food, and not following the Nazis demands. Thousands of young Jews resisted by escaping from the ghettos into the forests.some.
During the Holocaust there were many varying forms of resistance these include refusal to follow German orders, the formation of the ZOB, continuing Jewish culture, education, religious practices, and keeping archives of historical events. These acts of Jewish resistance all required great courage and bravery as severe consequences were in place for those who did not follow German
Following the beginning of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union would start what would become two of the worst genocides in world history. These totalitarian governments would “welcome” people all across Europe into a new domain. A domain in which they would learn, in the utmost tragic manner, the astonishing capabilities that mankind possesses. Nazis and Soviets gradually acquired the ability to wipe millions of people from the face of the Earth. Throughout the war they would continue to kill millions of people, from both their home country and Europe. This was an effort to rid the Earth of people seen as unfit to live in their ideal society. These atrocities often went unacknowledged and forgotten by the rest of the world, leaving little hope for those who suffered. Yet optimism was not completely dead in the hearts of the few and the strong. Reading Man is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag by Janusz Bardach and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi help one capture this vivid sense of resistance toward the brutality of the German concentration and Soviet work camps. Both Bardach and Levi provide a commendable account of their long nightmarish experience including the impact it had on their lives and the lives of others. The willingness to survive was what drove these two men to achieve their goals and prevent their oppressors from achieving theirs. Even after surviving the camps, their mission continued on in hopes of spreading their story and preventing any future occurrence of such tragic events. “To have endurance to survive what left millions dead and millions more shattered in spirit is heroic enough. To gather the strength from that experience for a life devoted to caring for oth...
Spiritual resistance like praying kept Jew’s sanity and concerts help make people happy. Hitler’s plan was to break down and destroy Jews, so they fought against that in various ways. Art, music, and theater were often in ghettos to keep everyone happy. Comics, actors, singers, dancers, and actors also performed for a group of people for a brief amount of time. The Nazis had also made it illegal for Jewish gatherings but the Jews also did against that. Praying and services were kept in secret. Praying and services were important to continue. They also wanted to continue everyday things. Art, music, theater and praying were used as resistance by the Jews to stay
The Nazis were killing thousands of Jews on a daily basis and for many of the Jewish people death seemed inevitable, but for some of the Jewish population they were not going to go down without a fight as Jewish resistance began to occur. However, the Jewish resistance came in many different forms such as staying alive, clean and observing Jewish religious traditions under the absolute horrendous conditions imposed by the Nazis were just some examples of resistance used by the Jews. Other forms of resistance involved escape attempts from the ghettos and camps. Many of the Jews who did succeed in escaping the ghettos lived in the forests and mountains in family camps and in fighting partisan units. Once free, though, the Jews had to contend with local resident and partisan groups who often openly hostile. Jews also staged armed revolts in the ghettos of Vilna, Bia...
Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz is a vivid and eloquent memoir of a Holocaust survivor from the largest concentration camp under German control in World War II. The original title in Italian is Se questo e un uomo, which translate to If This is A Man, alluding to the theme of humanity. The overall tone is calm and observational; rather than to pursue the reader, it is “to furnish documentation for a quiet study if certain aspects of the human mind” (Levi 10). The memoir is a testimony of Levi and the other prisoners’ survival at the Nazis’ systematic destruction attempts at the prisoners’ humanity. It was a personal struggle for prisoners, for individual survival, and struggle to maintain their humanity.
"Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. University of South Florida, 1 Jan. 1997. Web. 19 May 2014. .
One of the many perks of being my mother’s daughter is that I’ve been able to go with her to workshops about the Holocaust both that she’s attended and created. Because of that, I have been fortunate enough to listen to survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides give testimony right in front of me. One thing I’ve observed through my exposure to Holocaust testimony is that I don’t know much about the topic of Holocaust resistance.
"A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims. University of South Florida. Web. 19 May 2014.
Thousands of people were sent to concentration camps during World War Two, including Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel. Many who were sent to the concentration camps did not survive but those who did tried to either forgot the horrific events that took place or went on to tell their personal experiences to the rest of the world. Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi wrote memoirs on their time spent in the camps of Auschwitz; these memoirs are called ‘Night’ and ‘Survival in Auschwitz’. These memoirs contain similarities of what it was like for a Jew to be in a concentration camp but also portray differences in how each endured the daily atrocities of that around them. Similarities between Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi’s memoirs can be seen in the proceedings that
If This Is a Man or Survival in Auschwitz), stops to exist; the meanings and applications of words such as “good,” “evil,” “just,” and “unjust” begin to merge and the differences between these opposites turn vague. Continued existence in Auschwitz demanded abolition of one’s self-respect and human dignity. Vulnerability to unending dehumanization certainly directs one to be dehumanized, thrusting one to resort to mental, physical, and social adaptation to be able to preserve one’s life and personality. It is in this adaptation that the line distinguishing right and wrong starts to deform. Primo Levi, a survivor, gives account of his incarceration in the Monowitz- Buna concentration camp.