Holocaust Research Paper: The Survivors of the Holocaust
The Holocaust was the organized massacre of about 11 million people 6 million of them were Jews; different groups of people were murdered by an association called the Nazis. The Holocaust which is also known as Shoah was a time when Hitler and the Nazis came to power. It started in 1933 and ended in 1945 when the war ended. The mass murder of these people took place in all over Europe. The Nazis (National Socialist German Worker's Party) believed they were superior to all other races and religions. The Jews were the most targeted out of all the other ethnic and religious groups in Germany. Some of the other groups targeted by the Nazis were Gypsies, Poles, Russians, African-Americans and the disabled were also besieged. Imagine being horribly mistreated, beaten and battered for years, Imagine being in captivity for years and one day someone tells you you’re free. The feeling of freedom is exhilarating, overwhelming and sometimes even traumatic. My research essay is based on the experiences these people had to go through as survivors of the Holocaust.
About 6 million Jews were executed throughout the holocaust. Before the Nazis conquered Germany there were about 9.5 million Jews, which was about 1.7% of Europe. There were different Jewish cultures in Europe. At the end of the Holocaust only about 1/3 of the Jews survived, this left only about 3 million people. By 1950 1.5 million Jews lived in America, to escape the horror that Germany had become. Jehovah Witnesses’ were also eliminated about 30,000 of them were German. Only about 20,000 of them still practiced during the Holocaust. About 90% of them survived the Holocaust. Homosexuals also were targeted during this time...
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...sent to a concentration camp is unknown, it may because he was black and they didn’t think he would be Jewish or more likely because he had an American passport.
A survivor once said “ For me the Holocaust has not ended.” Being in the Holocaust was a very traumatic experience even for those who didn’t survive. Even though survivors’ children didn't experience Shoah, sometimes their traumatic because of what their parents had to go through.
Works Cited
• U. (n.d.). Survivors and Victims. — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved November 5, 2013, from http://www.ushmm.org/remember/the-holocaust-survivors-and-victims-resource-center/survivors-and-victims
• Starman, Hannah. "Generations Of Trauma: Victimhood And The Perpetuation Of Abuse In Holocaust Survivors." History & Anthropology 17.4 (2006): 327-338. History Reference Center. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
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Who survived the holocaust? What are their lives like today? What has been the government's response towards those who survived after World War II? Have the survivors kept their faith? How has the survivors next generation been affected? The survivors of the holocaust were deeply effected by the trauma they encountered. This unforgettable experience influenced their lives, those around them, and even their descendants.
Those who survived are here to tell the tragic and devastating history of their lives. The survivors have shared brutal but yet realistic stories from each of their experiences before, during, and after the Holocaust. History shall never repeat itself in the manner of racism, murder, and fear of our leaders. The burning hope of those who were involved still generates an enormous sadness upon the many who have heard the horror of the Holocaust.
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.
"A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims. University of South Florida. Web. 19 May 2014.
Many people including them went out of their way to help Jews that they felt needed to stay safe. Most rescuers did all that they could to help save the Jews from the many dangers that they were each in. Even when some rescuers were caught, they each helped save a life of a Jew in some way or another. These courageous and strong-hearted individuals or groups including others each risked their lives to make an impact on the Jews’
The Holocaust was a traumatic event that changed everyone that survived. The psychological effects that survivors experienced were Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”), shock and depression. PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs after you have been through an extreme trauma that involves a threat of injury or death. The prisoners in concentration camps were being tortured, putting them in constant danger of injury or death. People with PTSD experience symptoms such as flashbacks which cause these people to relive the trauma over and over. These people also experience nightmares which make them feel unsafe even when they sleep and physical symptoms such as their hearts racing or sweating due to instinct to fight or flight danger. PTSD may also result in avoidance symptoms such as staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of past traumas. The way people think about themselves as well as others around them often change because of the trauma they suffered. This interfered with their social lives as well as their relationship with themselves because they began to feel gui...
For some, it seems that the Holocaust in another lifetime, but for others it will be something they will never forget. Holocaust was a time for fighting. The Jewish would fight for the right to live as they were killed solely for being Jewish. The Holocaust began in 1939 and would continue through 1945. It was introduced by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, although he did not act alone. His mission would be to “exterminate” all minorities, but most abundantly, the Jews. Based on information given by About.com, it is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million of these were Jews.
Grenville, John A.S. “Neglected Holocaust Victims: the Mischlinge, the Judischversippte, and the Gypsies.” The Holocaust and History. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Abraham J. Peck. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998. 315-326.
"Women during the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
Over one million Jewish children died during the Holocaust. They were ripped out of their homes and taken away from their families, and stripped of their childhoods. Innocent lives were caught in a war that they were not able to stop. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he promised Germany that he would improve life their by getting rid of the one race that caused the problems, the Jews. Jews, including Jewish children, were sent to concentration camps, inspected, and if approved, were sent to work. All others would have been sent to be killed. Being sent to work did not ensure survival, children would be given very little food and water, and beaten severely, which caused their death. None of the children of the Holocaust will ever forget the experience they went through, they will always remember.
"Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. University of South Florida, 1 Jan. 1997. Web. 19 May 2014. .
Hilberg, Raul. "The Holocaust: Bystanders and Upstanders." Facinghistory.org. N.p., 2014. Web. 6 Feb 2014. .
“One of the most extraordinary aspects of Nazi genocide was the cold deliberate intention to kill children in numbers so great that there is no historical precedent for it.” (Lukas, 13 Kindle) About 1.5 million children were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust—one million being killed because they were Jews (ushmm.org) The Germans had a clearly defined goal of killing the Jewish children so that there would be no remnants of their race to reproduce, resulting in extinction. Not only were the children that were victimized in the Holocaust persecuted and murdered, but they were all stripped of their childhood. Children were not allowed to be children—they had to, for their own survival, be adults. The oppression of children because of race was a direct result of Hitler’s cruel policies and beliefs. In order to stifle the Jewish race from growing, the children were the first to be slaughtered at extermination camps (ushmm.org).
The Holocaust was an extremely horrific period of history. Millions were killed and lost everything, including money, family, and dignity. However, it has taught many lessons. We can study it today to make sure nothing like it ever happens again.
Ofer, Dalia, and Lenore J. Weitzman. Women in the Holocaust. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998. 1. Print.