On September 1st, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, which started World War II in Europe. The war between Germany and the Soviet Union was one of the deadliest and largest duels of all mankind. It caused an overall change in Jewish people 's lives because they lost family members, homes, and the reason to live. There was a political shift in climate during that time because of the mass genocide it caused. Germany went from a place where people lived to a huge European power that singled out on one race. The story "Under A Cruel Star" by Heda Margolius Kovaly takes place in Prague, Czech Republic from 1941-1968. Kovaly describes her life, everything the Jewish people went through during the Holocaust, and it also depicts how communism was a growing
Most thought this because of the consequences of communism and mass destruction it can cause within a country. Kovaly says "Rudolf could decide on the basis of statistics- mostly falsified, or course- that under communism people lived a better and happy life. I saw from close-up and with my own eyes that this was not true. (p.65) While it is great that citizens live under similar economic terms and are assured of the same paycheck every week, communism is not an environment that will allow businesses or people to flourish. On the opposite of a Capitalist society, where businesses are abled skyrocketed earnings, a Communist society affects businesses ability to grow. If each worker is given the same amount of money this can affect their motivation to do things and go above and beyond. Everyone who earns the same amount of money for the same amount of work seems like a peaceful agreement and a proletariat paradise but it does not always turn out that way. Unfortunately, communism can often lead to widespread corruption and sometimes encourages greed. Kovaly says "It is often said that power corrupts, but I think that what corrupted people in our country was not the power alone but the fear that accompanied it." (p.71) Communist nation 's ruling class tend to be greedy since it is impossible for classes that are beneath them to gain any insight into how the nation truly works. One last underlying cause on why post-war victims disliked the idea of communism was because there was no personal freedom. Capitalist societies often take for granted many personal freedoms that are completely eliminated under Communist Regimes. Freedom of speech is completely taken away, and those who criticize any workings of their government often subject severe and very harsh punishments. Communism often focuses on agriculture and production, things in which
COMMUNIST REGIME: WHY DIDN’T CZECHOSLOVAKIA RESIST? Heda Margolius Kovály’s memoir, “Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968” recounts her experience of the Holocaust and the Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia, during the 20th century.
Gerda Weissmann Klein’s personal account of her experiences during Germany’s invasion of Poland and of the Holocaust illustrated some of the struggles of young Jewish women at the time in their endeavors to survive. Weissmann Klein’s recount of her experiences began on September 3, 1939, at her home in the town of Bielitz, Poland, just after Nazi troops began to arrive and immediately enforce their policies on Polish Jews. On that night, which had only been the beginning for her and her family, Jews within Nazi Germany had already felt the effects of Adolf Hitler’s nationalist ideals for almost five years. From 1933 until 1939, when Weissmann Klein’s experiences began, “anti-Semitism was a recurring theme in Nazism and resulted in a wave of
The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel gives an in depth view of Nazi Concentration Camps. Growing up in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Wiesel, a young Jewish boy at the innocent age of 12, whose main focus in life was studying the Kabbalah and becoming closer in his relationship with God. In the memoir, Elie Wiesel reflects back to his stay within a Nazi Concentration Camp in hopes that by sharing his experiences, he could not only educate the world on the ugliness known as the Holocaust, but also to remind people that by remembering one atrocity, the next one can potentially be avoided. The holocaust was the persecution and murder of approximately six million Jew’s by Aldolf Hitler’s Nazi army between 1933 and 1945. Overall, the memoir shows
Communism versus Capitalism is a debate that has raged on for over two centuries. Whether to allow everyone equal opportunities and to do with those opportunities as they please or to mandate class equality in order to keep peace has in itself been the cause of wars. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels saw the working class of the world--the proletariat--being squashed by the greedy business owners--the bourgeoisie. In their view, the bourgeoisie owned too much and the proletariat had no chance to make their own fortunes. In Marx and Engels Communist Manifesto, they propose doing away with private property, nationality, and even countries in order to take power away from the bourgeoisie. However, according to Samuel Smiles, it is the laziness of the working class and the poor that put them in that position. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels would adamantly disagree.
Those who follow the belief of communism believe in equality for all. No-one is above another. They also believe in no private property; everything is shared by the population. He spread this belief through the Soviet Union by the use of propaganda. Within the Soviet Union he created a “cult of personality”. He used propaganda and mass media to present himself in a flattering light, where he could do no wrong. The people followed him, and did not believe he was responsible for many of the hardships he faced. But with this following, he strengthened communism.
Communism is the study of how everyone is at peace and works together. There is no need for competition or armies because no wars are going on. The gap between the rich and the poor is eliminated and everyone has the same wealth to make everything perfect and fair. All human activity goes towards benefiting each other. Private property and all private businesses are eliminated. Instead of working for yourself to make a living for yourself, you are making a living for the country or society that you live in. In document 3: Friedrich Engels says that “ above all, (the government)... will have to take control of industry and all branches of production out of the hands of… competing individuals, and instead institute a system as whole, that is for the common account, according to a common plant, and with the participation of all members of the society. It will… abolish competition...Private property must therefore be abolished.” This creates an equality in the economic system. There are economic equalities now, because equality in the amount of work will get you an equality in pay. This eliminates the amount of money between the rich and poor closing the gap between the two. All of this equality meets the needs of the proletariats. The Proletariats were the working people in the lowest class. The workers worked and then the bourgeoisie took the money from the products and the proletariats got nothing from their
Karl Marx 's writing of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 has been documented by a vast number of academics as one of the most influential pieces of political texts written in the modern era. Its ideologically driven ideas formed the solid foundation of the Communist movement throughout the 20th century, offering a greater alternative for those who were rapidly becoming disillusioned and frustrated with the growing wealth and social divisions created by capitalism. A feeling not just felt in by a couple of individuals in one society, but a feeling that was spreading throughout various societies worldwide. As Toma highlights in his work, Marx felt that ‘capitalism would produce a crisis-ridden, polarized society destined to be taken over by
Lukas, Richard C. Did the Children Cry?: Hitler's War against Jewish and Polish Children, 1939-1945. New York: Hippocrene, 1994.
America, throughout the ages, has always despised Communism and Communistic beliefs; however, during the 20s to around the 90s, there was a deeper hatred for Communism and a fear that lingered in most Americans’ hearts. Communism is a political theory that was derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. The majority of Americans strongly disagreed with
Trotsky thought that Communism could not survive in the USSR alone. He argued that the capitalist countries of the West feared Communism and would try to destroy it. For this reason, he said, it was necessary to spread Communism to the countries of Western Europe and to their overseas colonies. This would be done by giving help to revolutionary groups and parties in Western Europe.
Throughout the 19th century, capitalism seemed like an economic utopia for some, but on the other hand some saw it as a troublesome whirlpool that would lead to bigger problems. The development of capitalism in popular countries such as in England brought the idea that the supply and demand exchange systems could work in most trade based countries. Other countries such as Russia thought that the proletariats and bourgeoisie could not co-exist with demand for power and land, and eventually resorted to communism in the early 20th century. Although many different systems were available to the countries in need of economic change, a majority of them found the right system for their needs. And when capitalist societies began to take full swing, some classes did not benefit as well as others and this resulted in a vast amount of proletariats looking for work. Capitalists societies are for certain a win-loss system, and many people did not like the change from having there society changed to a government controlled money hungry system. On the other hand, the demand for labor brought the bourgeoisie large profits because they could pay out as much as they wanted for labor.
Since the end of World War II until the mid- eighties , most Americans could agree that communism was the enemy. Communism wanted to destroy our way of life and corrupt the freest country in the world. Communism is an economic system in which a person or group of persons who are in control. The main purpose of communism is to make social and economic status of all individuals of the same . Deletes inequalities in property ownership and wealth distributed equally to everyone . The main problem with this is that a person who is rich can be stripped of most of his fortune to someone else can have more material goods and be his equal .
Whether one thinks that the ideas of communism are good or bad, by taking a look a today’s society, we can certainly see the affect The Communist Manifesto and other books of its kind have had. Karl Marx’s ideas have shaped many programs and organizations to attempt following along the lines of equality.
In order to provide knowledge on how communism was unable to provide the benefits promised you must first know what communism is. Communism is “an ideology that seeks to create human equality by eliminating private property & market forces” (Karl Marx). So abolishing the personal ability to act freely will create fairness between one another. Freedom is “an individual’s ability to act independently without fear of restriction or punishment by the state or other individuals or groups in society” (O’Neil). The rights given to you in the U.S. constitution are an example of this. Equality is “material standard of living shared by individuals within a community, society, or country” (O’Neil). Gender rights and ethnic rights are examples of this. The link between equality and freedom is “tightly interconnected, and shapes politics, power and debates over justice” (O’Neil). O’Neil also states that the biggest question relating to the connection of freedom and equality is “must one come at the expense of the other?” In simpler terms you may also ask, does the more freedom given to the people directly the level of equality there is, and vice versa. The way communism creates equality by “eliminating private property and market forces” is, when the people can no longer compete through these freedoms, there are no more advantages creating separation between one another. So everyone is on the same economic level. There are many reasons why promised benefits of communism were not provided. I believe a combination of “Flaws in the line of thinking’ and ‘Misapplication of principles by those in power’” (Hoard). These both had parts in why the theory of communism did not flourish.
He saw communism as a way for all people to be truly free and equal. There would be no more class discrimination and everyone would have resourced based on what is needed. He exclaimed that communism would give individuals the freedoms that the bourgeoisie denied them. While this is what Karl Marx predicted and believed would be successful, the reality over time has taken a much different path proving that Marx’s ideas cannot be accurately applied