America's Reaction to the Holocaust
In the years of the Second World War, American leaders were aware of the plan of the Germans to exterminate all the Jews in Europe, yet they did not act to save them. The attitude in society and the state of the economy in the years leading up to the war made for conditions that did not make saving them likely.
Most Germans despised the Weimar Republic, which held control of Germany at the time they signed the Versailles Treaty. This treaty crippled Germany after they lost The First Great War. The proud Germans saw this republic as weak. Adolph Hitler, an Austrian born man of German lineage, claimed that the only true Germans were Aryans and that the Jewish influence in the Weimar Republic was the reason for their weakness. He published a famous propaganda novel entitled Mein Kampf, which helped to catapult him and his political party, the National Socialist German Workers Party, into power. (Barber)
Hitler's political position was simple: Germans were always right and the Jews were to blame for everything. After the outbreak of war by all the major powers of the world, Germany immediately turned a major part of their concern towards the extermination of the entire Jewish race.
It began with the Einsatzgrupen, a special mobile unit of who moved behind frontline troops in the attacks on Russia and Poland, whose sole purpose was to round up the local Jewish families and kill them. They dug massive graves intended for entire Jewish communities. Their victims were lined up, stripped naked and shot. One reporter observed that not every shot was fatal and the poor civilians were made to suffer in the pits till they were sufficiently buried alive by their own brethren. The fir...
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... on the fighting and paid no attention to the genocide happening in the camps in Poland. When the decision was finally made to bomb Auschwitz in 1945, it was because the camp was used as a production center of synthetic oil and rubber.
Anti-Alien, anti-Semitic, and restrictionist attitudes were all factors that contributed to the United States' decision not to act in the face of such horrible murderous activity in Europe. All these factors combined with the American policy of neutrality and the weakened state of the economy made the US an unlikely source of salvation.
Bibliography:
Barber, John R. Modern European History. Harper Perennial.
New York. 1993. pps. 277-281, 306-331
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Bantum Books.
New York. 1960.
Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews. Pantheon Books.
New York. 1984. pps. 3-15, 285-307
Poland was devastated when German forces invaded their country on September 1, 1939, marking the beginning of World War II. Still suffering from the turmoil of World War I, with Germany left in ruins, Hitler's government dreamt of an immense, new domain of "living space" in Eastern Europe; to acquire German dominance in Europe would call for war in the minds of German leaders (World War II in Europe). The Nazis believed the Germans were racially elite and found the Jews to be inferior to the German population. The Holocaust was the discrimination and the slaughter of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its associates (Introduction to the Holocaust). The Nazis instituted killing centers, also known as “extermination camps” or “death camps,” for being able to resourcefully take part in mass murder (Killing Centers: An Overview).
Washington was fully aware of the escalating violence the Nazis were committing against Jews in Germany. From 1933 on and of Hitler's "final solution.". But the U.S. government did nothing to stop or even impede it. The New York Times and other news agencies were reporting stories of Nazi attacks on the Jews that ranged from descripti...
As an Austrian born soldier-turned-politician, Hitler was fascinated with the concept of the racial supremacy of the German people. He was also a very bitter, very evil little man. In addition, having lost the war, the humiliated Germans were forced by the Allies to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that officially ended World War I. According to the harsh terms of the treaty, Germany had to hand over many of its richest industrial territories to the victors, and was made to pay reparations to the Allied countries it devastated during the war. Germany lost its pride, prestige, wealth, power, and the status of being one of Europe's greatest nations.
Since the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind program, standardized testing has become the norm for American schools. Under this system, each child attending a school is required to take a standardized test at specific grade points to assess their level of comprehension. Parents, scholars and all stakeholders involved take part in constant discussions over its effectiveness in evaluating students’ comprehension, teachers’ competency and the effects of the test on the education system. Though these tests were put in place to create equality, experts note that they have created more inequality in the classroom. In efforts to explore this issue further, this essay reviews two articles on standardized testing. This essay reviews the sentiments of the authors and their insight into standardized examination. The articles provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that standardized tests are not effective at measuring a teacher’s competency because they do not take into account the school environment and its effect on the students.
Standardized tests have historically been used as measures of how students are compared with one another or how much of a particular curriculum they have learned throughout the semester or year. Consequently, standardized tests are being used to make major decisions about students, such as grade promotion or high school graduation, and higher education evaluation. Various numbers of students across America have had to repeat classes because of the way standardized tests are used to pass or fail students. Although the tests require students to retain information until the end of the semester, I believe it is wrong to allow just a single test to decide whether an entire semester’s work will be rewarded with the credits that may have been well-earned. Some standardized testing such as the SAT, are not fair to students who may come from a poor educational background and do not retain information as their fellow peers. Students are at a disadvantage if they have test taking anxiety, which is a condition that many students suffer from “a feeling someone might have in a situation where performance really counts or when the pressure's on to do well” (Test Anxiety). Standardized tests give a false pretense of objectivity and consequently of equal opportunity. However, "the only goal of standardized tests is the scoring, which is done by machine" (Facts on Standardized Tests and Assessment Alternatives). It is made clear that the purpose of testing is to provide information to be used in conjunction with, not in pl...
On the night of January 30, 1933, an event occurred that spearheaded the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler was appointed as Chancellor of Germany. Born in Austria in 1889, Hitler served in World War I under the German army. Like many prevalent anti- Semites in Germany, Adolf Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s trounce in World War I in 1918. During Hitler’s imprisonment in 1923, he wrote a memoir, “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle), which foresaw a European war which would result in “the extermination of the Jewish race in Germany.” Following Hitler’s release from prison, he resurrected the Nazi Party. He soon become the sole leader of the Nazi Party, thus all decision making was in his hands. The Nazi party began to multiply from 27,000 members (1925) to 108,000 (1929). Adolf Hitler was fascinated with the concept of the superiority of the “pure” German race. He viewed Jews as an inferior race, and as a threat to the German racial purity. Following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler appointed himself “Fuhrer,” making him the supreme ruler of Germany.
"History1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/tp/holocaust.htm - Similar Sites and Reviews | Xmarks." Xmarks | Bookmark Sync and Search. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .
As in an incoming freshman in high school, not only was I introduced to standardized test but my fellow classmates as well. Standardized test is any form of a test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions or a selection of questions from common bank of questions, which is also scored in a standard or consistent manner. These particular test are given at the end of each school year to the particular students who are enrolled in the the classes of the given test. The standardized test include Algebra I, Biology I, English, and History.We also found out that in order for anyone to graduate those particular test had to passed if not you were not eligible to graduate. However, out of all four test History was the most difficult for students to pass as well as myself. This test in particular was known for being the hardest test to pass. Since the test was so hard to pass we were introduced to that one class specifically History our ninth grade year so that we could take the test for the first time at the end of our freshman year. Not all students had problems passing you had some pass all four on their first try, but then you had the other set of students who could not pass which hindered many from graduating. In the end I do not believe that
An austrian man by the name of Adolf Hitler who had served in the German Army during WWI, thought that Germans were better than others because of their DNA, and that all other races must be exterminated to create what he called a utopian society. After hearing of Germany's capitulation in WWI in a hospital recovering from a mustard gas attack, Adolf Hitler thought that he needed to gain control of the government to carry out his plans. In an attempt to overthrow to German government by force, Adolf was arrested. He was supposed to go to jail for five years; however, during his time in jail, he wrote a book called Mein Kampf, which means, My Struggles in english. The book was about Hitler's life, his ideas about cleaning up the bloodline, world domination/ utopian society, and how he was going to pull it off. He called it, "the Final Solution". Because of the money and popularity his book made, he got out of jail after a mere nine months. Once out of jail, he would be appointed to the position of chancelor by the president of Germany in 1933. From this position, he said that if the president died or resigned, he would become dictator. When the president died short after, he self-appointed himself to the position of dictator. Once he was dictator, he created the Neuremburg laws, which took away many of the Jew's rights. He also started calling the undesireables to death camps, which was the beginning of the Holocaust.
Adolf Hitler, a charismatic, Austrian-born demagogue, rose to power in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s at a time of social, political, and economic upheaval. Failing to take power by force in 1923, he eventually won power by democratic means. Once in power, he eliminated all opposition and launched an ambitious program of world domination and elimination of the Jews, paralleling ideas he advanced in his book..
Auschwitz I was built in 1940, as a site for Polish political prisoners. This was the original camp and administrative center. The prisoners’ living conditions were inhumane in every respect, and the death rate was quite high. Auschwitz I was not meant ...
Standardized tests have been a controversial issue regarding whether they are helping or hurting students and their academics. People that are for standardized testing argue that the tests are fair because all students nationwide are learning and being tested on the same thing. Bruno, Kemmerling, and others agree that these tests are beneficial to schools, students, and teachers. Others who are against standardized testing disagree because teachers are only teaching to the test. Littky, Caines, and Hanford see the negative aspects of standardized testing and want to change how people perceive it. Both sides of the issue have a credible argument.
In the United States, standardized testing is used to measure how knowledgeable or unknowledgeable a person is in a particular subject. Standardized tests are exams designed to measure a student’s scholastic performance. These tests are a controversial issue, because some people feel the test do not show the students’ intelligence. I am one of these people. What the test may cover may not be what the students have learned in class. However, some critics feel “that standardized tests allow administrators, teachers, and parents the opportunity to view solid evidence of the students’ performance, which in turn could lead to curriculum changes” (Banta, p.1). Standardized tests also create unnecessary stress for students. These tests require students to study or cram for many hours and puts them in a demanding social setting where they are forced to answer difficult questions.
As child growing up some of the frightful memories include a visit to the dentist; an evil man with scary drill whose solve purpose is to hurt you or the first day in elementary school you finally leave all behind the cozy classrooms and nap times of kindergarten and enter the big leagues. All of these are considered a cakewalk compared to standardize testing. Since the start of elementary school students in the United States are taught to test. In many instances students are held back or placed in remedial classes because of lower grades. But many don’t realize that some students are not great at testing taking and because of the lower grades some educators believe that these students are lower achievers. This leads to lower self-esteem and encourage students to drop out in later years. Also students are forced to memorize information merely as facts without sparking their creativity or enhancing their knowledge.
The argument about whether or not standardized testing accurately measures a student's performance continues to be debated. In this paper, I would like to argue that standardized testing does not accurately measure a student's performance. After looking at various opinions of standardized testing, I will consider the subject matter in regards to external factors that can influence a student's thinking process during a standardized test, such as anxiety, stress, and any other problems the student may be encountering. As a Secondary Mathematics Education major, I will have to prepare my future students for standardized testing. Through reviewing both sides of the debate about standardized testing, I can learn how to focus on the objectives of standardized testing in order to apply them to other aspects of academics and real-life situations.