Starting in 1939 during the Holocaust, many Jews were deported to concentration camps by the Nazis where they will meet their end, but how did some of them survive? Even though most of them died, some lives were saved by the very few people with moral courage. One of the people with moral courage was Carl Lutz. Moral courage is the actions a person takes because of his/her belief of what is right or wrong, even though it may risk his/her life. Lutz was born in Switzerland in 1895 and he emigrated to the United States at the age of 18. During more than 20 years of temporarily staying in the United States, he worked at the Swiss Legislation in Washington and became chancellor of Swiss Consulates in Philadelphia. These events lead him to be appointed as Swiss vice-consul in Budapest, Hungary. During his life as a Swiss vice-consul, he decided to save the Jews because of his belief. By the time of his death in Bern, Switzerland in 1975, Lutz earned the title of Righteous Among the Nations …show more content…
As a Christian, he felt like it was his duty to protect the Jews. He was so engaged in his faith that Lutz decided to help the Jews who surrounded his office everyday to seek for his protection. Lutz cared for many Jewish refugees in Hungary from many nations and Jews under British and Palestine interests. For example, his faith had already helped 10,0000 Jews emigrate to Palestine ("Carl Lutz," The International). The opened-heart he gained allowed him to save the Jews despite of his religion, country, and race. Even though he is a Christian, he sacrificed his life to save the Jews who had different practices and ideas from his. Although he is a Swiss and was from a different country, he knew the Nazis committed wrong, unlawful actions because life is valuable. As the same for the Jews, Christians had been persecuted for the past years and these persecutions killed both infant, young, and old people. God had hardened Lutz
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.
Through the death and destruction of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel survived. He survived the worst of it, going from one concentration camp to it all. He survived the beginning when thousands of Jews were forcefully put under extremely tight living quarters. By the time they were settled in they were practically living on top of one another, with at least two or three families in one room. He survived Madame Schächter, a 50 year old woman who was shouting she could see a fire on their way to the concentration camp. He survived the filtration of men against all the others, lying his was through the typical questions telling them he was 18 instead of nearly 15; this saved his life. He survived the multiple selections they underwent where they kept the healthiest of them all, while the rest were sent off to the furnaces. He survived the sights he saw, the physical
There are many heroic individuals in history that have shown greatness during a time of suffering ,as well as remorse when greatness is needed, but one individual stood out to me above them all. He served as a hero among all he knew and all who knew him. This individual, Simon Wiesenthal, deserves praise for his dedication to his heroic work tracking and prosecuting Nazi war criminals that caused thousands of Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other victims of the Holocaust to suffer and perish.
Anti-Semitism, hatred or prejudice of Jews, has tormented the world for a long time, particularly during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a critical disaster that happened in the early 1940s and will forever be remembered. Also known as the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, an assassination by the German Nazis lead by Adolf Hitler.
When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.” (Moore) While living in brutal conditions, Wiesel did everything he could for himself and others. He prayed almost four times a day for the ending of the holocaust. Fighting through starvation, Wiesel was never selfish and continuously worked to help other Jews escape. While helping others, Wiesel was still a young man with hope to escape himself and tell his stories to the world.
“He’s the man who’s lived through hell without every hating. Who’s been exposed to the most depraved aspects of human nature but still manages to find love, to believe in God, to experience joy.” This was a quote said by Oprah Winfrey during her interview with Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor. No person who has not experienced the Holocaust and all its horrors could ever relate to Elie Wiesel. He endured massive amounts of torture, physically, mentally, and emotionally just because he was a Jew. One simple aspect of Wiesel’s life he neither chose or could changed shaped his life. It is important to take a look at Wiesel’s life to see the pain that he went through and try to understand the experiences that happened in his life. Elie Wiesel is a well respected, influential figure with an astonishing life story. Although Elie Wiesel had undergone some of the harshest experiences possible, he was still a man able to enjoy life after the Holocaust.
“Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe,” is the quote that is engraved on every heroic medal handed out by an organization called the Yad Vashem. But this is not just any ordinary medal; it is called The Medal of the Righteous. The Medal of the Righteous is a medal handed out by Yad Vashem in Israel to the courageous people who put their lives on the line to save a Jewish person or at least help them, during the Holocaust. There have been a total of 25,271 medals awarded. But why were these rescuers jeopardize their own safety? All of these Righteous helped the Jewish for a number of reasons: they became aware of the dangerous situation for the Jews, they loved and/or respected the Jews, or they were called by their profession
Genocide is the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group (Merriam-Webster). This is what Hitler did to the six million Jews during the Holocaust, which led to many Jews fighting back. This paper will talk about how the Holocaust victims fought back against Hitler and his army. The Holocaust was a mass killing of Jews and non-Jews who were viewed as unneeded within the world by Adolf Hitler. Hitler became leader of Germany and tortured and killed many people. With Nazi Germany killing and torturing millions of Jews and non-Jews, victims decided to fight back with armed and spiritual resistance.
In conclusion, Rudolf Höss tried to cover up his position in the Holocaust by implying that others involved did not accept their role in the execution of Jews as well. Rudolf and his family had no problem with Jews but they were considered an enemy to his country so he had no choice. Höss recalled having second thoughts about going through with the mass extermination of Jews but he wanted to be strong and show his men that if he can do it they can too. His main excuse was that he was just doing what he was told. He did not want to face the consequences of going against Hitler since he was considered holly. Overall, Rudolf had several explanations for what he did but he never fully accepted his personal responsibility in the
" The businessman, Oskar Schindler, demonstrated a powerful example of a man who was moved emotionally to step in and take action to save the lives of the Jewish people. His bravery still commands great respect today. His role shows the great significance of speaking up against injustice and choosing not to be silent.
“If you save one life it is as if you have saved the world” ( zmdhfgcsmjv ). Heroism is not defined by the number of people who know your name or the numbers of awards you have received. However, heroism is defined by the impact an individual or a group of individuals makes on other’s lives. The Bielski Brothers were three men who made it their mission to save Jewish men, women, and children during the Holocaust. Not only did they save lives on a daily basis, but they were able to stop Nazi efforts. The impact they have made is monumental; today tens of thousands are alive because they decided not to give up. Even though the brothers risked their lives on a daily basis, they did not view themselves as heroes.
In the Holocaust millions of Jews lost their lives because of simply who they were. Many however hid and survived this dark event in history. It was the year 1933 and WW11 roared on, some saw it as a war against countries but eventually everything dark and ugly came to the light. Adolf Hitler was the chancellor of Germany and had obtained great popularity with the German people. While beginning to attack nations he was also trying to destroy all Jews in a horrific mass genocide. Creating concentration camps and taking all that the Jews owned he began to round up these human beings as if they were cattle. The stories account for them as being kidnapped at midnight to being tricked into going to their death thinking they were going for a better life. Not all stories ended in despair, there were many who managed to outsmart the Nazis and their allies. Many hid from them, blended in or fled to safe countries. Even under all the pain and horror many prevailed and won the prize of life. People, no matter who will fight to live no matter what the circumstance. These are the stories of those fortunate survivors who hid, fled, lived to tell their perilous account of the holocaust.
Though his experiences in the concentration camps, Elie Wiesel has developed the belief that everyone should be an upstander and not stand silently as people are hurt. This can be seen in his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance speech years after the end of the Holocaust and the publishing of Night, “that the world did know and
Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived during the time of the Holocaust. He was interested in and influenced by religion from an early age. He always tried to live for God. He was a big part of the anti-Nazi movement. He continues to inspire Christians all over the world. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a very influential theologian who dedicated his whole life to his religion.
“We are too young to realize that certain things are impossible... So we will do them anyway.”(goodreads.com) William Wilberforce spent most of his teenage years hooked to his faith. Although he encountered many problems along the way to defeat slavery his life definitely displays moral courage. He did not know what he was going to do with his life at this point, but I bet he had no idea what life had in stock for him. By examining moral courage, how he relates to the Holocaust, and how he impacts me it is clear that he speaks out for everything that he believes in, and he does whatever he can to announce his message to the whole world. He truly had a life worth waiting for.