Just before the second Great War, 6 million Jews were killed along with 5 million non-Jews (Miss Belevski, 2008, The Holocaust, slide #2). This atrocity and genocide of Jewish population was widely known as The Holocaust. The man who led genocide was Adolph Hitler, the leader of the Nazis, a fascist party that took control during the German Depression in the 1920s. When Hitler came in power, one of his promises was to end the “Question of the Jews”. A series of steps of the Holocaust was the “Stages of Isolation” (Miss Belevski, 2008, Stages of Isolation: Holocaust, p.1). This plan which was created by Hitler made millions die in vain. ‘In 1935, the law of Nuremberg Race was decreed’ (Miss Belevski, 2008, Stages of Isolation: Holocaust, p.2); this was the first step of the “Stages of Isolation”. With this new policy, Jewish people were stripped out of their rights; they were pulled out of schools, fired from work, and no longer held the title “persons” or a citizen of Germany. Step two was segregation. Jews were transported to “ghettos” and many died of starvation or disease.
Step 3 and 4 were concentration camps and extermination, where the mass killings began. Jews were forced into concentration camps where they would work till they die. In order to take away their identity and treat them as animals, they were not allowed to have hair or wear clothes. Many inhumane practices and terrifying stories happened in these deadly camps, such as laboratory experiments, human flesh purses, and the lady who swallowed her diamonds because that was all she had. Extermination killed millions of Jews, people who did not die from the concentration camps would be gassed in gas chambers, and mobile killing units were established to eliminate J...
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...soners’ (Miss Belevski, 2008, The Holocaust, slide “Cold heart Facts”). We learnt an important lesson from the Holocaust and now we must stand up and protest for what is justice and what we believe in. To ensure peace and humanity in our world we must take action and be part of the solution. Problems in our world today, such as global warming, poverty cycle in Africa and the war in Iraq all relate to us and we must use our powers and strengths to help in anyway we can. We must not think like the countries during the 30s, these problems are not far away and they do concern us indirectly and directly. We must not blame God for what have happened. God was simply testing our abilities to protect and stand up for what is justice and humanity. We must learn from our lesson and stay united to ensure mistakes such as the Holocaust and other genocides will never occur again.
“There was no God in Auschwitz. There were such horrible conditions that God decided not to go there.” Linda Breder, Holocaust survivor. If, all of a sudden, the population of Rio de Janeiro vanished one day, people would take notice almost instantly. However, when six million Jewish people were killed in the concentration camps during WWII, people turned a blind eye, even when they were fully aware of what was happening.
Elie Weisel once said this: “I know and I speak from experience, that even in the midst of darkness, it is possible to create light and share warmth with one another; that even on the edge of the abyss, it is possible to dream exalted dreams of compassion; that it is possible to be free and strengthen the ideals of freedom, even within prison walls; that even in exile, friendship becomes an anchor.” Compassion is not something that is easy to understand, or even easy to show sometimes. The Holocaust was a difficult time to comprehend: how could one man have so much power and hate towards a society of people that he started a genocide? There may never be the right emotional explanation to describe the disturbing events that happened during the Holocaust, but Elie Weisel was able to share his. His message was that compassion and friendship can refrain someone from sinking so deep into a dark sea like the Holocaust.
To understand the Holocaust you need to understand six words, definition, expropriation, einsatzgruppen, concentration, deportation, and death camps. The Germans define the Jews biologically based on religion of their grandparents. When the regime came to power in January 1933 part of the Nazi movement wanted to out rid or Jews overnight, what they did was they began to legislate against the Jews and rapidly the Jews were kick out not only in civil service but also in education, universities, teachers lawyers and doctors. The Jews became something that was not needed. The climax of this early period of legislation was the Nuremberg laws. The laws were there to determine officially citizenship in Germany, however the only definition that were given who is a citizen were definition for who was not a citizen and the only people define as not citizen of Germany were the Jews. In other time in history Jews could convert, they could hide themselves by assimilating within the host country. However under racial theory during the Nazi period Jews were Jews because of the blood that was coursing thought their veins. So the ultimate theory was that if you wanted to get rids of Jews that you couldn’t do it through conversion or any other way then to murder them.
At the start of Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror, no one would have been able to foresee what eventually led to the genocide of approximately six million Jews. However, steps can be traced to see how the Holocaust occurred. One of those steps would be the implementation of the ghetto system in Poland. This system allowed for Jews to be placed in overcrowded areas while Nazi officials figured out what to do with them permanently. The ghettos started out as a temporary solution that eventually became a dehumanizing method that allowed mass relocation into overcrowded areas where starvation and privation thrived. Also, Nazi officials allowed for corrupt Jewish governments that created an atmosphere of mistrust within its walls. Together, this allowed
Vanden Heuvel, William J. “The United States and Its Leaders Were Not to Blame for the Holocaust.” World War II. Don Nardo. Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Print.
According to Merriam-Webster, a holocaust is a destruction involving widespread death, specifically by fire. In 1943, World War II was at its’ peak. At that time, Jewish people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war, and homosexuals were all herded like cattle into concentration camps by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi army. Hitler’s goal was to form what he believed to be a “superior” race known as Aryan. Hitler believed that the Aryan race (blond hair and blue eyes) was “superior” to these groups of people. According to Hitler, “When human hearts break and human souls despair, then from the twilight of the past, the great conquerors of distress and care, of shame and misery, of spiritual slavery and physical compulsion, look down and hold out their eternal hands to the despairing mortals. Woe to the people ashamed to grasp them!” Here, Hitler illustrates how the Aryans are “conquerors” above the “despairing mortals”. The Nazi party was led by Adolf Hitler, a manipulative and cruel dictator. Although John Boyne describes the appearance of the prisoners in Auschwitz, he leaves out significant details when describing Berlin’s setting in 1943, what the Auschwitz Concentration Camp was like, and how the people in the camps were treated.
When the blame for the Holocaust is brought to mind, many immediately think to blame the Nazis, and only the Nazis. This is not the case, however. The Holocaust was a lesson to humanity, of utmost importance. Only blaming the Nazis for the atrocities is excluding an exceptionally important part of this lesson, which is unacceptable. In Elie Wiesel's book, Night, it is evident that blame be passed to Yahweh, the Jewish people themselves, and the non Jewish Europeans.
From 1933 onwards, Adolf Hitler and his Nazis began implementing simple discrimination laws against the Jews and others who they did not see part of their master race. Hitler and the Nazis believed that German power was being taken by the Jews. Hitler was able to convince his followers of this issue with the Jewish question as it was known, and get away with murdering millions of people in an attempt to cleanse society of anyone inferior to the master race. The Holocaust lasted for 12 years, until 1945. Starting as early as 1944, the Allies were finally advancing on the Germans and began taking over their camps. These liberations and takeovers by the Soviets, American’s and other allies slowly began to remove Hitler from power. In my essay I will go into detail on the final years of the holocaust and how it ended.(1)
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).
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.
The holocaust was a catastrophic event that killed millions of innocent people and showed the world how inhuman mankind can be. This dark period in world history demonstrated unmatched violence and cruelty towards the Jewish race that led toward genocide. Genocide did not begin with the Holocaust; nor was it a spontaneous event. Many warning signs within world events helped provide Germany and Adolf Hitler the foundation to carry out increasing levels of human depravity (Mission Statement). These warning signs during the Holocaust include; Anti-Semitism, Hitler Youth, Racial profiling, the Ghettos, Lodz, Crystal Night, Pogroms, and Deportation. However, their exposure comes too late for the world to help prevent the horrors of the Holocaust. For example, Anti-Semitism was never put into reality until the holocaust overcame the attitudes of its’ German Citizens. It also provided the driving force behind the education of the Hitler youth. Hitler’s persuasive characteristics consumed the people into believing all of his beliefs. This is how racial profiling came about; Hitler made it so that the Germans had the mindset that Jews were horrible, filthy, people that did not deserve to live like the Germans or have the same luxuries. As a result, they moved all the Jews into one secluded area away from the German citizens; an area called the Ghettos. One of these Ghettos was the town of Lodz, who kept meticulous historical records of everything that went on in the city. However, it was not a safe for Jews; never feeling at ease not knowing the uncertainties or dangers lying ahead. For instance, in Crystal Night, they did not know that it would be the last night for some of them to be with their families. In general, Jews were just living...
To many in the United States and Europe, World War II is an icon that represents unimaginable turmoil and tragedy. The hardships brought about by World War II raises the theodicy question of how a righteous God could allow the Nazi’s to reign. Elie Wiesel was one of the many Jews who were persecuted during this period of history. When he was fifteen years of age, Wiesel was a prisoner in the infamous Aushwitz concentration camp (Brown vii). In an introduction to the trial of god, writer Robert Brown takes note of what Wiesel witnessed.
The twentieth century was a time of change. With two world wars occurring within roughly three decades, it was no surprise that society became forever changed. These two world wars, however, resulted in perhaps one of the most significant and catastrophic events in history - the Holocaust. The Holocaust saw about six million Jews killed by command of German dictator Adolf Hitler. Despite resulting from World War II, however, Hitler’s massive genocide of European Jews was planned before the Second World War, and therefore was intentionalism, because of the blame from post-World War I Germany, the twentieth century movement of eugenics as a “racial hygiene”, and the actions to exterminate Jews before the outbreak of World War II.
Taking as much as a simple action can really help prevent the future genocide, also it can help save so many lives. You don’t have to do anything big or dangerous but to take small courage and spread out the words, to teach others about the Holocaust is the simplest thing you can do and it gives affection to the world. The Holocaust is an overpowering example of this terrifying genocide and persecution and in the memory of the Jews; the memory of its horror must encourage our younger generations to engage against such heinous crimes today and in the future.
The Holocaust was the murder and persecution of approximately 6 million Jews and many others by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The Nazis came to power in Germany in January of 1933. The Nazis thought that the “inferior” Jews were a threat to the “racially superior” German racial community. The death camps were operated from 1941 to 1945, and many people lost their lives or were forced to work in concentration camps during these years. The story leading up to the Holocaust, how the terrible event affected people’s lives, and how it came to and end are all topics that make this historic event worth learning about.