Holocaust Survivor Report: Roaul Wallenberg
During the Nazi regime the Nazis persecuted and jailed hundreds of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, and political prisoners. In class we have read that millions of people died in the Holocaust but we were never able to truly comprehend, and learn the Holocaust until we have read an individual story such as Raoul Wallenberg’s . kmhIt is amazing what people have done and really makes you think what you would have done if you were there.
Raoul Wallenberg was born in Kapptsta, Sweden, on August 4, 1912. He remained humble, kind and sensitive t o cruelty despite being born from a long line of successful businessmen, diplomats, and naval officers. He despised seeing animals being hunted and killed just for sport.
As a young adult Wallenberg traveled widely and learned the English, French, German, and Russian languages in addition to his native Swedish. From 1931 to 1935 he attended the University of Michigan where he studied architecture. After graduating he started working as a trainee with a Dutch bank in Haifa, Palestine. During his six months in Palestine, he met Jews who escaped Nazi Germany. The sick, inhumane, and repulsive stories they told him disgusted and deeply impacted him not only because his kind loving nature, but his great-great-grandfather had been a Jew.
He returned to Sweden in 1936 he wanted to go into the field of architecture, but his American architecture did not qualify him for such work in Sweden. So over the next several years he engaged in various business ventures business ventures. In 1941, he became the foreign sales representative of the Central European Trading Company held in Hungary. In 1939 Hungary became an ally of Germany because of this Americans could not save the innocent Jews who came under Nazi persecution. So Sweden agreed to send a special diplomat whose sole purpose would be to rescue Jews. For this assignment the Swedish people selected Raoul Wallenberg, because he spoke German and understood the Nazi ways.
Wallenberg felt that some German and Hungarian officials were beginning to fear post war punishment for what they did to the Jews. He capitalized on this opportunity and quickly got the German and Hungarian officers to change their actions, by persuading them with threats and bribery. He invented a new document known as the Schutz Pass, with seals, stamps, and three royal Swedish crowns, the document helped Jews escape Hungary and live freely in Sweden.
Born on December 31, 1908, Simon Wiesenthal lived in Buczacz, Germany which is now known as the Lvov Oblast section of the Ukraine. The Nazi Hunter came from a small Jewish family who suffered horrifically during the Holocaust (The Simon Wiesenthal Center). Wiesenthal spent a great amount of time trying to survive in the harsh conditions while in internment camps and after escaping the last camp he attended. Wiesenthal spent weeks traveling through the wilderness until he was eventually captured by the Allies, still wondering the entire time if his wife was even alive (The Simon Wiesenthal Center). Of the 3000 prisoners in the camp Wiesenthal escaped from, only 1200 survived and Wiesenthal was one of them (Holocaust Research Project).
The Holocaust will forever be known as one of the largest genocides ever recorded in history. 11 million perished, and 6 million of the departed were Jewish. The concentration camps where the prisoners were held were considered to be the closest one could get to a living hell. There is no surprise that the men, women, and children there were afraid. One is considered blessed to have a family member alongside oneself.
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
Prisoners in concentration camps committed small acts of rebellion against the Holocaust that outlived the guards and the Nazis. Even though their acts could not save their lives, they sparked questions that the survivors, such as Elie Wiesel, could recall years after the Holocaust ended.
He began by his German translation of the pentateuch and other parts of the bible. From this, the Jews learned the German language, German culture, and got a desire for German nationality. Mendelssohn put forward his plea for tolerance in Jerusalem " Oder Uben Religios Macht und Judenthum ". Mendelssohn was a great philosopher, and his contributions to the Jews were and still are great. Samson Raphael Hirsch lived between the years 1808 and 1888.
Oskar Schindler was a German Industrialist and a previous member of the Nazi Party (Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) ). Schindler had many jobs, including working in his father’s machinery business, opening a driving school, selling government property, and serving in the Czechoslovak army (Oskar Schindler). At first, Oskar was motivated by money and he did not care if the way he got that money was unfair or illegal, but then his mindset changed when he noticed all of the victims from the Holocaust (Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) ). He then changed his goal from making as much money as possible to saving as many Jews as he could from Plaszow and Auschwitz (Oskar
The Holocaust was a very impressionable period of time. It not only got media attention during that time, but movies, books, websites, and other forms of media still remember the Holocaust. In Richard Brietman’s article, “Lasting Effects of the Holocaust,” he reviews two books and one movie that were created to reflect the Holocaust (BREITMAN 11). He notes that the two books are very realistic and give historical facts and references to display the evils that were happening in concentration camps during the Holocaust. This shows that the atrocities that were committed during the Holocaust have not been forgotten. Through historical writings and records, the harshness and evil that created the Holocaust will live through centuries, so that it may not be repeated again (BREITMAN 14).
The Holocaust was a bloody, terrifying event that unfortunately happened during the world’s most bloody war, World War II. The end result of a portion of deaths of the Holocaust resulted in astounding number of about 6,000,000 Jewish people dead. However, there were about 13,684,900 other lives that were taken during this “cleansing period” that Adolf Hitler once said. Those lives included civilians in surrounding countries, resisters against the Nazi nation, opposing religious members, and many more. Although, over 6,000,000 Jewish people died, many others died who are just as memorable.
Those of half and quarter Jewish descent remain largely forgotten in the history of the Third Reich and genocide of the Holocaust. Known as Mischlinge, persons of deemed “mixed blood” or “hybrid” status faced extensive persecution and alienation within German society and found themselves in the crosshairs of a rampant National Socialist racial ideology. Controversially, these people proved somewhat difficult to define under Nazi law that sought to cleave the Volk from the primarily Jewish “other”, and as the mechanization toward Hitler’s “Final Solution” the Mischlinge faced probable annihilation. The somewhat neglected status of Mischlinge necessitates a refocusing on German racialization as well as reconsideration of the implications wrought by the alienation and ultimate persecution of the thousands of half and quarter Jews subjugated in Nazi Germany.
The Holocaust was a terrible time in history; many innocent people were killed, all because of their faith. The book Night by Ellie Wiesel portrays the vigorous journey Wiesel and his family undergo throughout this torturous time. The holocaust wasn’t just genocide against the Jews; it was also a long process of dehumanizing them too. Their valuables were taken and their heads were shaved stripping them of their identity.
There were many aspects in World War two, but the Holocaust is likely the most famous to date. A particular interest is shown for the Holocaust simply because of the unbelievable amount of inhumanity that was exhibited. Although saddening, the attention that has been focused on uncovering the truths of this terrifying event is necessary. Truly understanding how awful the Holocaust was helps to ensure that something similar will never happen again. The book Night and the movie Schindler’s List are two recollections of the Holocaust written from two, very different, perspectives.
During the rule of Adolf Hitler, many children who were Jewish lived a very frightening and difficult life. They never were given the love and compassion that every child needs and deserves growing up. The Holocaust is a story that will continue to be shared till the end of time.
He was one of many that helped hide Jews during the holocaust, and or helped Jewish people escape the holocaust horrors, proving that he is an upstander of the holocaust. Wallenberg decided to help many people for the couple of years that he was in Budapest. Raoul Gustav Wallenberg would be remembered for something like this until the day that he died. Raoul’s bravery, kindness, help, and support towards the Jewish people showed that he cared enough to help them when he could have stayed in Sweden and ignored the letter. Raoul Wallenberg is truly a holocaust upstander, because without people like him we would have ne Jewish people left to be our friends, or our family. This shows how Raoul Gustav Wallenberg is a holocaust
The Holocaust was one of the most tragic and trying times for the Jewish people. Hundreds of thousands of Jews and other minorities that the Nazis considered undesirable were detained in concentration camps, death camps, or labor camps. There, they were forced to work and live in the harshest of conditions, starved, and brutally murdered. Horrific things went on in Auschwitz and Majdenek during the Holocaust that wiped out approximately 1,378,000 people combined. “There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust.” –Fidel Castro