Pope John Paul II once said “We wish to remember. But we wish to remember for a purpose, namely to ensure that never again will evil prevail, as it did for the millions of innocent victims of Nazism.” (Paul, 2000) This speech goes with all wars that occurred in the past and present. This synopsis will focus on the effects of war on children and the different ways they survived through it. It will compare the children of the Holocaust and the children of the war on terrorism. War has a great effect on children and can harm them socially, mentally, and physically. Survival of the fittest differs vastly between these children and the wars they are going through.
Terrorist groups are all over and have been around for a long time. Back in 1933 a special type of terrorist group took over Germany and most of Eastern Europe; Nazi’s. Nazi’s were the national socialist party with cumulative attacks towards European Jewry (" Nazi ideology," 2007). This meant that they murdered any Jew no matter age, height, size, or even skin color, just that they were Jew. The Holocaust was the organized, state sponsored murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators (Shirer, 1981). Other people who were involved were gypsies, disabled, and additional Slavic people. This happened because a man named Adolf Hitler, was disappointed with his government and blamed minorities for there failure. Adolf believed that Austria was not a melting pot where everyone can come together and be successful. He saw Jews and other minorities as “maggots in a rotten body” and blamed them for all of society’s failure. Overall Adolf blamed them for his failure in life (Shirer, 1981).
The Holocaust started in West Germany and spread all through Europe causin...
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... Edina: ABDO & Daughters.
Nazi ideology and the holocaust . (2007). Nazi Ideology and the Holocaust , 13(804), Retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/resource/pdf/naziIdeologybook_part1.pdf
Hidden children: daily life. (2010, April 01). Retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006128
McCormick, Helen. (2006, August 29). Unaccompanied asylum seeking children from afghanistan and iran: special report. Retrieved from http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2006/08/30/55480/Unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children-from-Afghanistan-and-Iran-special.htm
Krell, R, Suedfeld, P, & Sorriano, E. (2004). Child holocaust survivors as parents: a transgenerational perspective.. Informally published manuscript, Psychiatry, university of BritishColumbia , Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15554811
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal is a memoir about his time as a Jewish child in multiple ghettos and death camps in and around Germany during World War II. The author shares about his reunions with family and acquaintances from the war in the years between then and now. Buergenthal wished to share his Holocaust story for a number of reasons: to prevent himself from just being another number, to contribute to history, to show the power and necessity of forgiveness, the will to not give up, and to question how people change in war allowing them to do unspeakable things. The memoir is not a cry for private attention, but a call to break the cycle of hatred and violence to end mass crimes.
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children" (Nelson Mandela). If this statement is considered true, then it's fair to say that during times of the Holocaust, the German society was at an all time low. Children during the Holocaust did not have a carefree childhood, like they should have, but instead were placed under strenuous conditions. They had to go through being separated from all family and friends, being chosen the first to go to, and in most cases a permanent loss of family members. The Holocaust was undoubtedly a horrific experience for everyone involved but for children it must have been traumatizing.
Bard, Mitchell G., ed. The Holocaust. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2001. Print. Turning Points in World History.
The vast literature on Nazism and the Holocaust treats in great depth the first three elements, the focus of this book, is t...
Regine Donner, a famous Holocaust survivor, once said, “I had to keep my Jewishness hidden, secret, and never to be revealed on 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.
(Ellis, Marc H. “Hitler and the Holocaust, Christian Anti-Semitism", Baylor University Center for American and Jewish Studies, spring 2004, slide 14)
Herf, Jeffrey (2006). The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Ideology and Propaganda During World War II and the Holocaust. Harvard University Press.
Youth survivors of the Buchenwald concentration camps during the Holocaust. The youth that survived this camp were primarily young Jewish males.
War is the main cause in the creation of child refugee. It is also known that war is the primary cause of child injuries, death and loss of family members. Being born abroad in unknown places, also play a role in depriving children of a legal home. The trauma of being a refugee child can cause detrimental changes in the mental health of a child and over all development. This article focuses on the impact of the Syrian armed conflict on the mental health and psychosocial condition of Syrian refugees’ children. Also, this article explores the struggles of several refugees’ families and their children. It was determined that mental health services can be key to restoring basic psychological functioning to support resilience and positive coping
...turning back. Once they have been robbed of their innocence, they are unable to revert to their previous selves. War and facing the inevitable reality of death can change a person and disturb them for the rest of their lifetime. Many soldiers are naïve when they decide to serve their country; they plan on becoming a hero like their role models of the past. But when one truly experiences war for themselves, they find it unimaginable how people continue to declare war and urge young men to fight and honor their nation and family. One will remain innocent until he experiences the genuine emotional trauma of war.
Rothe, Eugenio M. "A Psychotherapy Model For Treating Refugee Children Caught In The Midst Of Catastrophic Situations." Journal Of The American Academy Of Psychoanalysis & Dynamic Psychiatry 36.4 (2008): 625-642. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 May 2014.
"Nazi Propaganda." Holocaust Encyclopedia. N.p.: n.p., n.d. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. .
The question of the origins of the Holocaust has been studied by scholars using several differing approaches. These interpretations are outlined by Donald Niewyk in The Holocaust as the long history of European anti-Semitism, the charismatic personality of Adolf Hitler and the influence of modern “scientific” racism or eugenics. These interpretations are illustrated in the works of John Weiss, Ian Kershaw, and Henry Friedlander. Niewyk uses Weiss to identify the interpretation of ancient anti-Semitism located throughout Europe as the origin of the Holocaust. He uses Ian Kershaw’s argument that Adolf Hitler’s unique leadership was the ultimate catalyst for the Holocaust and employs Henry Friedlander’s biological racist ideology to illustrate the main interpretations surrounding the origins of the Holocaust.
According to UNICEF, 8.4 million children (more than 80 percent of Syria’s child population) have been affected by the conflict, either in Syria or as refugees in neighboring countries. While children around the world are getting ready for school and eating breakfast, children in Syria are holding tight to their families out of fear it will be the last time they see them. They fear for their lives that at any moment a bomb could drop and they could lose everything they hold dear to them. This is the reality for Syrian children today, they are forced to mature quickly because of what they are surrounded by. Many have grown up through wars, bloodshed, and saw their loved ones die right in front of their eyes. Their lives have become a living
Machel, Graca & Sebastian Salgado. The Impact of War on Children. London: C. Hurst, 2001.