When people think of the Holocaust, they often times think of the bad images they have seen, and the many deaths associated with this tragic event. In some cases, many people around the world do not believe that the Holocaust occurred. Unfortunately, the Holocaust was an inhuman event that did happen in World War II, initiated by Adolf Hitler. Many people seem to think that only the Jews were discriminated against, but there were many more races effected by Nazi Germany. Everyone persecuted in the Holocaust were what we call today, “othered”. Meaning that they were set out from other people, in terrible living conditions, for any reason, and not allowed in the norms of regular life. Which made them face hardships that they have never imagined.
This event took place in 1938. “Nearly 1,000 synagogues were set on fire, and 76 were destroyed. More than 7,000 Jewish businesses, and homes were looted, about one hundred Jews were killed, and as many as 30,000 Jews were arrested, and sent to concentration camps to be tormented, many for months.” (Technology). The Nazi’s furthered their persecution against the Jews by forcing them to pay for the damages of “The Night of Broken Glass”. Making this event the beginning of the persecution the Jews would be facing.
Then, on September 1st, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France, had obliged by treaty to help Poland, declaring war on Germany. Now World War II had begun, and the harsh persecution of the Jews were being implemented into the war plans. Not only did Hitler have plans to demolish the race of the Jews, but also other competing countries he was fighting against. “Therefore, Hitler sent more than just his army into the Soviet Union; he sent mobile killing squads called Einsatzgruppen. These squads were to search out, and kill Jews, and other “undesirables” en masse.”
All the concentration camps in Europe were liberated by Americans, and many of the Jews who were still alive were transported to displaced person facilities. The prisoners left in the concentration camps were barely staying alive. Many of these prisoners, were dying from starvation, and disease. “Soviet forces were the first to approach a major Nazi camp, reaching Majdanek near Lublin, Poland, in July 1944. Surprised by the rapid Soviet advance, the Germans attempted to hide the evidence of mass murder by demolishing the camp. Camp staff set fire to the large crematorium used to burn bodies of murdered prisoners, but in the hasty evacuation the gas chambers were left standing.” (Museum). Liberators confronted unspeakable conditions in the Nazi camps, where piles of corpses lay unburied, and shown to the public. Only after the liberation of these camps was the full scope of Nazi horrors exposed to the world. This was when many people actually started to believe what had happened in Germany. The small percentage of inmates who survived resembled skeletons because of the demands of forced labor and the lack of food, compounded by months and years of maltreatment. Many were so weak that they could hardly move. Disease remained an ever-present danger, and many of the camps had to be burned down to prevent the spread of epidemics. Survivors of the
During the end of the 1930’s, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose into action. Hitler is commonly referenced and linked with World War II, and has become famous for his brutal dictatorship in Germany. Adolf Hitler began the persecution of Jews with the belief that they were insignificant to the human race. Along with Jews, he believed that handicapped, mentally ill, and elderly people did not deserve the right to live. This horrifying genocide killed over 2/3 of the Jewish population in Europe. 6,000,000 Jews were murdered in concentration camps and mistreated by the Nazis.
The Holocaust was the genocide of approximately six million people of innocent Jewish decent by the Nazi government. The Holocaust was a very tragic time in history due to the idealism that people were taken from their surroundings, persecuted and murdered due to the belief that German Nazi’s were superior to Jews. During the Holocaust, many people suffered both physically and mentally. Tragic events in people’s lives cause a change in their outlook on the world and their future. Due to the tragic events that had taken place being deceased in their lives, survivors often felt that death was a better option than freedom.
The word Holocaust comes from the Greek language, and is a word that was used to identify a terrifying event that took place in our history, A time we will never forget. During this time period people were burnt and cast into fire. This word is almost a synonym to “death”. A very shocking moment in people’s lives is when they were children and they live during the Holocaust. Children in the holocaust were beaten, tortured and killed in either a concentration camp or death camp. If they did survive they would have died of hard labor, starvation or diseases that were spread in camps. Even though the time of the Holocaust happened in the past, however everything is not as simple as it seems from the first sight.
Kristallnacht, a wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms, took place on November 9 and 10, 1938 and is often referred to as the "Night of Broken Glass." Organized by Goebbels and Heydrich, head of the Security Service, the campaign of violence resulted in the destruction of many synagogues and thousands of Jewish businesses. Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses, killed close to 100 Jews, and sent more than 30,000 to Nazi concentration camps. Starting on November 9 and continuing into the next day, Nazi mobs vandalized and even burned down hundreds of synagogues throughout Germany and damaged, if not completely destroyed, thousands of Jewish homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and cemeteries.
It is told that on the night of November 9 and early November 10, 1938, Nazis incited a pogrom against the Jewish in Austria and Germany. It is termed, “Kristallnact” (“Night of Broken Glass). This night of violence included pillaging and burning of synagogues, breaking of the windows in Jewish owned businesses, looting, and physically attacking of Jewish people. Approximately, 30,000...
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.
The Holocaust is considered the largest genocide of our entire world, killing more than 600,000,000 Jewish people during the years of 1933-1945. The memories and history that have filled our lives that occurred during the Holocaust are constantly remembered around the world. Many populations today “think” that constant reminders allow for us to become informed and help diminish the hatred for other races still today. These scholars believe that by remembering the Holocaust, you are able to become knowledgeable and learn how to help prevent this from happening again. Since the Holocaust in a sense impacted the entire human race and history of the world, there are traces of the Holocaust all across our culture today. As I continue to remember the victims of this tragic time period I think of all the ways that our world remembers the Holocaust in today’s society. Through spreading the word, works of media and memorials across the world, I am continually reminded of the tragedy that occurred.
Prejudice and the Holocaust Prejudice was the main factor that led to the holocaust. For some, resisting these forms of oppression was survival. Considering the dehumanizing the Nazis had forced upon the Jews, people took whatever courage and strength they had to get through this period of time. I believe luck also had a part to play in survival.
Superiority and discrimination have been the underlying problem in many world-wide events throughout history leading into present day. Whether it be a caste system issue or a race issue, there’s always a group that labels themselves greater than that of another. This affair was apparent in 1940s Germany. The German people would be persuaded into a dictatorship led by Adolf Hitler, who while in power would give rise to Nazism, allowing the mistreatment of Jews to commence. This extermination would be known as “The Holocaust” translated to “sacrifice by fire” and would affect many different people groups during and after the event.
As early as age thirteen, we start learning about the Holocaust in classrooms and in textbooks. We learn that in the 1940s, the German Nazi party (led by Adolph Hitler) intentionally performed a mass genocide in order to try to breed a perfect population of human beings. Jews were the first peoples to be put into ghettos and eventually sent by train to concentration camps like Auschwitz and Buchenwald. At these places, each person was separated from their families and given a number. In essence, these people were no longer people at all; they were machines. An estimation of six million deaths resulting from the Holocaust has been recorded and is mourned by descendants of these people every day. There are, however, some individuals who claim that this horrific event never took place.
For many years, people time and time again denied the happenings of the Holocaust or partially understood what was happening. Even in today’s world, when one hears the word ‘Holocaust’, they immediately picture the Nazi’s persecution upon millions of innocent Jews, but this is not entirely correct. This is because Jews
The Holocaust will forever remain one of the most horrific events in history and it is important to remember that there were many different endings for the many different Jews affected. It should not have mattered where the Jews lived, how old they were or the sex they were, none of them should have been persecuted in the first place. Reflecting on the tragic events of the war, all we can do is make sure that these horrific things never happen again.
There is no doubt that the Holocaust is one of the best remembered and most studied genocides in human history. There are very few who would be puzzled by the mention of the Holocaust in today’s world as it’s impacts have been immense and lasting. Many lives were lost during this time, and many atrocities occurred- torture and persecution were pushed past the boundaries of most people’s imaginations. Throughout modern history, the Holocaust has been documented over and over again as the worst genocide- and perhaps even the worst crime- in human history. Many historians have even said it was a unique occurrence that is unparalleled by other crimes in human history. This being said, it is not difficult to argue this statement when observing and analyzing the many components of the Holocaust and of other horrible crimes that have happened.
On April 1, 1933, the Nazis started their first action against the Jews by announcing a boycott of all Jewish- run businesses. About five months later, the Nuremberg Laws were issued on September 15, 1935. These excluded Jews from public life and also took away their citizenship as well. On November 9-10, 1938; burning of synagogues and destroying of Jewish business took place. Jews were physically attacked and about 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. This night was also known as “Kristallnacht” or “Night of Broken Glass”. Also on November 9th Hershel Grynszpan, a 17 year old Jewish boy, shot Ernest vom Rath because he was departed from his family. Rath was the third secretary in the Ger...
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