“And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?”. Eloquently, Shylock, a notorious Jewish character from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, describes the mindset of many during the Holocaust. Despite the disgusting crimes committed every day during the Holocaust, the world refused to give up. Instead, from the safest corners of the world to the most perilous concentration camps, individuals rose up and opposed history’s most notorious regime.
Resistance is defined as “the act or power of resisting, opposing, or withstanding”. Therefore, the Jews of Europe resisted the Third Reich every single day; withstanding the constant fear, the desolate aura, and the habitual cruelty. Existing became a heroic act of defiance as Hitler’s wrath swept through
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Despite the horrific conditions, giving up was not an option. Even in the concentration camps, those grim dens of utmost terror, Jewish prisoners found the courage to oppose Nazi rule- their determined spirit provided hope and solace to all of Europe. And this electric idea of rebellion was widespread, especially after the Treblinka Rebellion of 1943. In general, resistance calls to mind an armed struggle against the enemy, hence the fame of the rebellion stories. However, for the Jews in a diaspora, this was ironically only possible when the Nazi persecution forced them into close quarters. But the entire definition of the word includes subtler incidents of resistance. For example, daring to preserve Jewish culture is certainly a brave opposition. And everyday, by living and breathing, the Jews defied “the Final Solution”. According to Barbara Coloroso, “The three characters in the tragedy of genocide are the bully, the bullied, and the bystander”. …show more content…
One incident that shaped his resolve took place in 1935, when Fry witnessed first-hand Nazi abuse of Jews. After writing a scathing review of Hitler’s regime for the New York Times, Varian Fry helped raise money to support European anti-Nazi movements. Later called “the American Schindler,” Fry’s biggest contribution came when the man smuggled several thousand intellectuals out of occupied France. An American journalist and Harvard graduate, Fry became the emissary to Vichy France in 1940. Tasked with choosing 200 lucky artists, poets, writers, and philosophers allowed entry into the United States, Fry instead saved more than 2,000. Despite having no clandestine background, or any experience with forgery or the black market, Varian Fry smuggled thousands of Jews and refugees across the French border and into neutral or allied countries. Along with several accomplices, Fry defied “the Final Solution” and turned his three week visit into a thirteen month stay. In fact, the man only left France when the US Department of State arranged for his expulsion. Describing his departure, Fry wrote “I thought of the faces of the thousand refugees I had sent out of France, and the faces of a thousand more I had had to leave behind”. During his stay in France, Fry was arrested and questioned by French police several times, but the man refused to leave- even when his passport expired. Later, co-conspirator Miriam Davenport would describe Fry as “an
The Holocaust was a time of unspeakable horror and violence. Many lives were lost during this grim period; however, numerous individuals stood up against Nazi tyranny by both actively and passively resisting.Those who chose to actively resist armed themselves and went into battle; on the other hand, those who opted for pastivity chose to preserve their identity and save their lives and family. In “The Diary of Anne Frank,” we learn about valiant individuals who passively resisted against the Nazis and preserved their culture and identity. This story proves that the best way to respond to conflict is to passively resist because it keeps hope alive, saves lives, and provides an alternative way to solve conflict.
They resisted in spiritual ways by going to the synagogues, by practicing religious beliefs even when they were not allowed and by not allowing the Germans to get into their heads. The Jews rebelled by starting underground groups, taking down SS soldiers and stealing their weapons. Another way the Jews rebelled was by escaping the ghettos and Nazi camps and joining the Partisans. The Partisans would plain attacks against the Germans, sabotage them, and would join with other countries to make themselves bigger so they could take down the Germans. Being put into the Jew’s position would be exhausting and would take so much strength just to survive. The brave Jews that chose to try and stand up to the Germans even though they already knew that their attempts would be useless they still to this day are considered heroes. It took great courage to try to escape a ghetto or Nazi camp and it would cause 10 to 25 other
Nazis which proved to the world the Jews are not that easy to extinguish. The Jews had several ways of exhibiting resistance, but "Organized armed resistance was the most powerful form of Jewish opposition"(Jewish Resistance). Armed resistance is an important aspect to revolting not only because it reinflicts the pain lashed upon the Jews, but it also shows the Jews have the ability to fight back and gives the world the knowledge that Jews do not go down easily. However, resistance is not only an act of violence since the Jews demonstrated several non-violent forms of resistance while locked up or being transported. Jews would escape into the forest and figured that by escaping they resisted the Nazi Party and reduced their chances of achieving their goal of exterminating all Jews on the planet(Acts of Resitance). By escaping Jews gave themselves a chance to live and warn others of their fate which was an excellent form of non-violent resistance since, generally speaking, no Germans were hurt. Resistance can take many shapes and forms which is why all Jews resisted one way or another, simply living is resistance(Acts of Resistance). The other reason Jews struggled so desperately to survive was not to merely see the light of another day, but to see the Germans become enraged by their "resistance", living.
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
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… resisted by refusing to comply” “Jewish Resistance”. This is an example of unarmed resistance because these young Jewish people did not fight with guns like the Nazis, they instead peacefully fought by escaping the ghettos before any more harm would be done to them. By doing this they could be physically free from the abuse and humiliation from the Nazis. Along with unarmed resistance, Jewish people also took a stand with armed forces in order to fight against the Nazis.
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...
As World War II occurred, the Jewish population suffered a tremendous loss and was treated with injustice and cruelty by the Nazi’s seen through examples in the book, Man’s Search for Meaning. Victor Frankl records his experiences and observations during his time as prisoner at Auschwitz during the war. Before imprisonment, he spent his leisure time as an Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist in Vienna, Austria and was able to implement his analytical thought processes to life in the concentration camp. As a psychological analyst, Frankl portrays through the everyday life of the imprisoned of how they discover their own sense of meaning in life and what they aspire to live for, while being mistreated, wrongly punished, and served with little to no food from day to day. He emphasizes three psychological phases that are characterized by shock, apathy, and the inability to retain to normal life after their release from camp. These themes recur throughout the entirety of the book, which the inmates experience when they are first imprisoned, as they adapt as prisoners, and when they are freed from imprisonment. He also emphasizes the need for hope, to provide for a purpose to keep fighting for their lives, even if they were stripped naked and treated lower than the human race. Moreover, the Capos and the SS guards, who were apart of the secret society of Hitler, tormented many of the unjustly convicted. Although many suffered through violent deaths from gas chambers, frostbites, starvation, etc., many more suffered internally from losing faith in oneself to keep on living.
Why resistance? There are so many different aspects of the Holocaust to research, so why focus on this particular one? Well, I think it’s a great way for students to learn about the “silver lining” per se of this event. I think it’s a not-so-well-known aspect of a very well-known event. It’s important that people are aware that Jews and some non-Jews didn’t just sit back and let these horrific events go on without a fight. One can also loosely apply this idea of resistance to society today by saying that, to a lesse...
We must first realize that resistance was in no way a survival strategy. Yet, even when it seemed obvious that death was near inevitable, why did they not put up a fight? This argument is still puzzling to many holocaust historians, yet the arguments of Raul Hilberg and Yehuda Bauer offer insight to possible reasons why they did not fight and that resistance was more widespread than most people think.
They came up with a solution to try to get the U.S. involved to help save everyone. So in 1943, directly before Yom Kippur, 400 Rabbis marched to Washington to speak with Congress on the matter of rescuing the Jews in Europe from the Nazi rule. America eventually set up a War Refugee Board to help settle the situation and to stop the protesting. The board was able to save over 100,000 lives; although, it is still tragic how millions of more people 's lives could have been saved, but instead were left to die. The Jewish resistance was mainly trying to foil the Nazi plan to dehumanize Jewish people, but did not succeed as they had hoped. Even the Jews in Europe themselves did not believe what was happening. They all believed that when they were told they were being sent to “work camps” or going to be “resettled in the East” was true. No one could imagine that the Nazi’s actually planned to murder an entire nation. By the time they could believe the rumors, millions were already dead and many lives had been affected
Thesis- when the Nuremburg laws had started, Jews had many restrictions and often resulted as rebelling against the Nazi’s, but the Jews were overwhelmed by the Nazi’s.
In the Holocaust, the Jews resisted the Nazi party by using both active and passive resistance. Some victim of persecution used violence to combat the Nazis in order to avoid a helpless death in a concentration camp. On the other hand, many opposed the tyranny using passive methods to defy the cruel tyranny. In “The Diary of Anne Frank”, “Violins of Hope”, and “Resistance during the Holocaust”, the Jewish people used many ways of resistance in response to the Nazi tyranny; some of whom’s goal was to save their own skin, others to make a change in the world. People can best respond to conflict, like the Holocaust, through non-combative methods since it preserves evidence of victims’ sufferings, victims’ human dignity, and the victims’ culture.
During World War II people decided to resist Nazi oppression, but in different forms; some people used active resistance and some people used passive resistance.There are many examples in history showing both passive and active resistance.By looking at the “ The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Resistance During the Holocaust,” and “Violins of Hope,” one can see that, although people believe active resistance led to the downfall of the nazi regime, but in truth, passive resistance brought hope, survival, and human worth.
For the Jewish people living during the Holocaust, defiance, whether passive or active, led to liberation from sorrow and tyranny, but also could lead to a brutal death. Some people chose to use means of force in an attempt to secure their survival or die with pride. Others would resist passively, protecting what little they had with hope that they could eventual return to their former lifestyle. “Resistance during the Holocaust” and “Violins of Hope” exhibits the successes of passive resistance during and after World War II. People can best respond to conflict by passively resisting because it protects others, preserves culture, and gives hope.
Life has been full of hatred and discrimination that people suffer from through horrible event that change their life from happy to sad , miserable life. One event that became historically was the Holocaust which said different things about people and other were jealous of their success.