Star Of David Research Paper

615 Words2 Pages

The Star of David
The Star of David, also known as The Rosa Winkel is a 6 pointed star used today, by Jews and even a handful of Christians as a symbol of their religion. Today it is being used by many of Jewish organizations, schools, and etc. It is also Israel’s official state symbol, located on money and government correspondence. The Star of David today has great meaning and symbolism, but in 1933-1945 Hitler forced Jews to wear The Star of David as badges of shame. There are tons of ideas for the meaning of The Star of David. Some Kabbalists believe that the six points represent God’s power over all six directions: north, south, east, west, up, and down. Some even think the two triangles represent humanity’s dual nature; good and evil. …show more content…

Himmler thought homosexuals, just like Jews, were weak, decadent and unpatriotic. And he strongly believed their existence threatened the German folk community, mainly because they did not procreate, Himmler was in fact the one who had all German males convicted of homosexual crimes transferred from prison straight into concentration camps. That is when the badges came to action, Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David and homosexuals, rapists, etc were forced to wear the Pink Triangle. From 1933-1944 between 50,000 and 63,000 men were convicted on charges of homosexuality alone. By 1935 every gay German knew that if he was caught, he risked being shipped to a concentration camp. Now, gays were not as easily identified as Jews and gypsies, Many survived the Third Reich undetected. Again in 1933, Richard Plant, a gay German Jew, fled to Switzerland and to the United States five years later, began his research when he visited Germany in the 1950’s. His book, The Pink Triangle, is the first comprehensive account of this hidden aspect of Nazism and use of The Star of David and, nevertheless, the Pink

Show More
Related

  • The Stonewall Riots

    1946 Words  | 4 Pages

    The persecution of homosexuals during this age of McCarthy proved exactly how vulnerable they were to attack and discrimination. Out of those persecutions came some of the first organized “gay rights” groups, known as Homophile organizations, the first two being the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilibis (who focused their efforts on Lesbian rights). Founded in 1950 by Harry Hay, the...

    Read More

  • The Capricious Camera

    2721 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the years between 1933 and 1945, Germany was engulfed by the rise of a powerful new regime and the eventual spoils of war. During this period, Hitler's quest for racial purification turned Germany not only at odds with itself, but with the rest of the world. Photography as an art and as a business became a regulated and potent force in the fight for Aryan domination, Nazi influence, and anti-Semitism. Whether such images were used to promote Nazi ideology, document the Holocaust, or scare Germany's citizens into accepting their own changing country, the effect of this photography provides enormous insight into the true stories and lives of the people most affected by Hitler's racism. In fact, this photography has become so widespread in our understanding and teaching of the Holocaust that often other factors involved in the Nazi's racial policy have been undervalued in our history textbooks-especially the attempt by Nazi Germany to establish the Nordic Aryans as a master race through the Lebensborn experiment, a breeding and adoption program designed to eliminate racial imperfections.

    Read More

  • Analysis of A Surviror´s Tale by Art Spiegelman

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Holocaust, Jews were forced to live in ghettos. The conditions there were horrifying and harmful. To distinguish the Jews and the non-Jews, the Nazis forced Jews to wear Star of David on their clothes. If they tried to escape, a death penalty was enforced on them.

    Read More

  • Swastika: Symbolism of Good Luck and Hate

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    The swastika, or twisted cross, is an ancient symbol that architects have found on pottery and coins dating back as far as 1000 BC (Rosenberg). Cultures used the swastika to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck (Rosenberg). The swastika was used by many cultures around the world, but th...

    Read More

  • How Hitler and Nazi Soldiers Got Away with the Holocaust

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adolf Hitler wanted the Jewish race to be destroyed forever. But he didn’t just stop at beliefs. Even if you were a Christian, Catholic, Atheist, etc., you were still in danger. You were still in danger because if you looked Jewish to him then you were swooped up and taken hostage in a concentration camp.

    Read More

  • The Nazis Persecution of Homosexuals

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre is dedicated to preserving the memory of all those who suffered, because of the eradication of those who did not fit Hitler’s vision of a ‘master Aryan race’.The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre brought in a travelling exhibit, as a way to bring awareness to the unprecedented suffering caused by this horrific genocide.The Nazis Persecution of Homosexuals exhibit is a travelling exhibition created by the United States Holocaust Museum, that examines the persecution and violence towards the homosexuals of Germany. The Nazi’s saw homosexuals as an “infection or epidemic, that would weaken German survival” (Holocaust Museum Brochure). “ Through the active and relentless persecution of German homosexuals, the Nazi State attempted to terrorize German homosexuals into sexual and social conformity, leaving thousands dead and shattering the lives of many more” (Holocaust Museum Brochure). The persecution of homosexuals began with the “closing of same-sex bars and clubs” (Holocaust Museum Brochure) and ended with imprisonment in internment camps and medical procedures. There was no escape from the persecution and violence that was inflicted upon German homosexuals. “Many were forced to conceal their homosexuality, some choosing to marry women, and others picked suicide” (Holocaust Museum Brochure).The Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals exhibit brings awareness to an issue that for many years was over looked. Years after the Holocaust ended homosexuals in Germany “continued to face legal and social prohibitions that hindered official recognition that homosexuals were victims of Nazi persecution” (Holocaust Museum Brochure). It was not until May of 1985 that,“homosexuals murdered by the Nazis receive...

    Read More

  • Homosexuality In The Holocaust Essay

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Nazis believed that male homosexuals were weak, epicene men who could not fight for the German nation. Homosexuals couldn’t produce children; therefore, they were unable to increase the German birthrate. Since they could not produce they were a racial danger because they could not contribute to the Aryan race. The Nazis believed women were not only inferior to men but also dependent on them by nature. Since they believe that these women were dependent on men they considered lesbians to be less threatening than male homosexuals. The Nazis did not target lesbians because they believed lesbians could still carry out a German woman's primary role: to be a mother of as many "Aryan" babies as possible. The Nazis did not classify lesbians as homosexual prisoners, and only male homosexual prisoners had to wear the pink triangle.

    Read More

  • American Flag

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    The star (an ancient symbol of India, Persia and Egypt) symbolized dominion and sovereignty, as well as lofty aspirations. The constellation of the stars within the union, one star for each state, is emblematic of our Federal Constitution, which reserves to the States their individual sovereignty except as to rights delegated by them to the Federal Government.

    Read More

  • Harvey Milk

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or psychopathic. Often times, gay men committed suicide from harsh judgement and criticism that always followed them. Even though population of homosexuality grew and had jobs, they were harassed and beaten by the police. There were a lot of disapproval and hostility of homosexuality. Anita Bryant, a singer, made a campaign to oppose the rights of homosexuals. Christian forces and activists withdrew gay-right legislation which lead to Proposition 6. The harshness from background of homosexuality back in the 1940’s and 50’s took the freedom away from the homosexuals. After the harshness, there came a little bit of hope for the homosexuals in San Francisco. Castro, a city in San Francisco, became the center of gay neighborhood. In 1964, gay men formed Society of Individual Right (SIR), and 1,200 members joined. Homosexuals started having good views when Sipple who was gay saved the president from a gunshot. Finally in 1972, Board of Supervisor banned the discrimination law for homosexuals. Even though in 1940...

    Read More

  • Dehumanization in Night

    2056 Words  | 5 Pages

    Segregation from the rest of society begins the dehumanization of Sighet Jews. The first measure taken by the Hungarian Police against Jews is to label them with yellow stars. Early in Night, while life is still normal despite German occupation of their town, Wiesel explains: “Three days later, a new decree: every Jew had to wear the yellow star” (11). This decree is demoralizing to Jews because it labels them and sets them apart from the rest of Sighet’s population. Like trees marked for logging or dogs marked with owner tags, many people in Sighet are marked with yellow stars, to reveal their Jewish faith. Avni describes Wiesel and the Jews as being “propelled out of himself, out of humanity, out of the world as he knew it” (Avni 140). The Jews are taken out of the normal lives they have led for years and are beginning to follow new rules...

    Read More

  • Holocaust

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    With Hitler thinking he could rule mankind he not only put Jews through what they went through but he also included other races he was also disgusted with homosexuals and hated them so he always put homosexuals through the stages of the Pick up, to the ghettos and to the concentration camps. Hitler and other high class men had many followers because Hitler was so passionate about what he said to the public and he was a strong smart man with a plan so Germans and his army felt uplifted of his plans and what he said. Hitler was so persuasive he changed the public’s opinion on the Jews and other people so many people joined the Nazis and followed Hitler in his reign of terror.

    Read More

  • The Holocaust

    1531 Words  | 4 Pages

    Other Victims of Nazi Genocide The Germans rounded up thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals and sent them to the death camps for extermination. Homosexuals were forced to wear pink triangles on their clothing paralleling the yellow Star of David for Jews.

    Read More

  • To what extent did Nazi anti-Semitism stem from historical European anti-Semitism

    3095 Words  | 7 Pages

    Beginning in 1920 in the form of propaganda on the side of typical consumer items and lasting all the way until mid-1945, Nazi anti-Semitism had been a prominent characteristic of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers’ Party). Nazi anti-Semitism has often been considered an anomaly from the anti-Semitism that Europe had traditionally practiced, because of its deliberate execution of the Jewish Question and the horrific cruelty that took place during the Holocaust. It is no question that Nazi anti-Semitism was remembered for its unmatched hatred of the Jews; however, the influence from European anti-Semitism in the medieval times was heavy. The Nazis’ adoption of the “Jew badge” and psychological and racial grounds for justification of anti-Semitism are only a small percentage of the techniques employed by Nazis’ that were inspired by the traditional European actions against Jews. This essay will discuss whether the Nazis simply continued the strands of European anti-Semitism that were already in place or whether they initiated a revolutionary materialization of a sinister phenomenon.

    Read More

  • Gay and Lesbian Issues - The Nazi Extermination of Homosexuals

    1931 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity ever committed. Millions upon millions of people were ruthlessly tortured and executed during the infamous reign of the Third Reich. The events and conditions surrounding Adolf Hitler’s rise to power have been extensively studied by historians, sociologists, political scientists, and psychologists in the hopes of preventing this state of merciless dictatorship from ever recurring. Due to the immensity of the Nazi campaign against those of the Jewish faith, that ethnic group is most often mentioned in association with the concentration camps and exterminations of the Third Reich. However, there were many other groups who were persecuted alongside the Jews. These groups include political dissidents, criminals, gypsies, the handicapped, Jehovah’s Witnesses, emigrants, and homosexuals (Heger 32). The plight of homosexuals is, perhaps, the most overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Of all the concentration camps, Sachsenhaussen, just north of Berlin, was the most important in the imprisonment and execution of homosexuals. The conditions under which all prisoners here were forced to live were absolutely inhuman, but for homosexuals it was far worse. As the one group that was despised by both the Nazis and those who were imprisoned within concentration camps, gays were persecuted with the greatest enthusiasm, and because of the taboos surrounding their lifestyle, their tragedy was left unnoticed for nearly three decades.

    Read More

  • Religious Symbols in Society: Church vs. State

    2241 Words  | 5 Pages

    Religious symbols are aspects of all different religions that strengthen faith, promote certain beliefs, and represent the fundamentals of that specific religion. According to Furst’s article on the use of physical religious symbols, “As beings that are both body and spirit, humans use symbols in order to perceive and to grasp realities that are not empirical. As social beings, humans use symbols to communicate with others,” (p 2). But, there are many issues that arise when these symbols are involved and existing in the media, the state, our government, and the public. Mainly this is because symbols are truly powerful and represent controversies that come along with different religions. Furst also states that, “symbols play a powerful role in the transmission of the culture of human society,” (p 2). If religious symbols transmit culture into society, then people in our society are going to pay very close attention to what symbols are present...

    Read More

More about Star Of David Research Paper

Open Document