The Class System in 1939-1945
During World War II Poland suffered greatly under five years of German
occupation. Nazi ideology viewed "Poles"--the predominantly Roman
Catholic ethnic majority--as "subhumans" occupying lands vital to
Germany. As part of the policy to destroy the Polish resistance, the
Germans killed many of the nation's political, religious, and
intellectual leaders. They also kidnapped children judged racially
suitable for adoption by Germans and confined Poles in dozens of
prisons and concentration and forced labour camps, where many
perished.
German forces invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Polish troops
fought valiantly in the face of vastly better-equipped forces, with
fierce engagements around Warsaw. Exhausted of food and water, the
besieged capital surrendered on September 27, and fighting by regular
Polish army units ended in early October.
Hitler's pretext for military expansion eastward was the "need" for
more Lebensraum," living space," for the German nation. On the eve of
the invasion he reportedly stated in a meeting of high officials:
I have issued the command--and I'll have anybody who utters but one
word of criticism executed by firing squad--that our war aim does not
consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of
the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formation in
readiness--for the present only in the East--with orders to send to
death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of
Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living
space that we need.
In 1939 Germany directly annexed bordering western and northern
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...erless, less educated majority of peasants and workers as
unskilled labourers in agriculture and industry.
The Nazis believed the Jews were responsible for what they regarded as
the degeneracy of modern society. Hitler viewed modern ideologies that
stressed equality and emancipation as a revolt of inferior classes and
peoples led by the Jews. The Nazis viewed Bolshevism as the most
radical recent form of the ancient Jewish conspiracy that would lead
to national dissolution and disintegration. For Hitler, Nazism was
thus a doctrine of world salvation to redeem humanity from the
Jewish-Bolshevik doctrine. He believed that the German race had to
acquire and maintain total supremacy through total war against the
Jews. Such a war would be a fight in which the only alternatives, for
either side, were victory or extinction.
Growing up in The United States, people are given this idea of an American Dream. Almost every child is raised to believe they can become and do anything they want to do, if one works hard enough. However, a majority of people believe that there is a separation of class in American society. Gregory Mantsios author of “Class in America-2009” believes that Americans do not exchange thoughts about class division, although most of people are placed in their own set cluster of wealth. Also political officials are trying to get followers by trying to try to appeal to the bulk of the population, or the middle class, in order to get more supporters. An interesting myth that Mantsios makes in his essay is how Americans don’t have equal opportunities.
Poland was devastated when German forces invaded their country on September 1, 1939, marking the beginning of World War II. Still suffering from the turmoil of World War I, with Germany left in ruins, Hitler's government dreamt of an immense, new domain of "living space" in Eastern Europe; to acquire German dominance in Europe would call for war in the minds of German leaders (World War II in Europe). The Nazis believed the Germans were racially elite and found the Jews to be inferior to the German population. The Holocaust was the discrimination and the slaughter of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its associates (Introduction to the Holocaust). The Nazis instituted killing centers, also known as “extermination camps” or “death camps,” for being able to resourcefully take part in mass murder (Killing Centers: An Overview).
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
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
Since there were so many polish Jews, it was impractical for the Nazis to kick so many out of the country. Instead, the Nazis chose to oppress them, making them wear yellow badges, forcing them into hard labor, stealing their property and putting them into ghettos. Ghettos were cramped and had no sanitation, so diseases swept through. If a person could not work, he would not be given food tickets and would starve. The Jundenrat, the Jewish councils, were responsible for carrying out the Nazi's orders.
The fashion of the 1920’s varied in style, color, and material in comparison to the modern day fashion we have today. The 1920’s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, was a time period where people went against traditions and tried different styles and ideas. Fur coats, bow pumps, tailored suits, and wool sweaters are just a small portion of what people wore in the 1920’s. However, fashion from the 1920’s can be divided into more complex branches such as social class, sports events, and occupations.
In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson” there is no hiding what she intended to portray to the audience, the fact that there is a huge gap between the lower class citizens and the higher class citizens. This becomes apparent during one of Miss Moore’s infamous outings with the kids when she takes them to FAO Schwartz in Manhattan to teach them about money. Through this outing with Miss Moore the children realize that their way of life is far different than of those in Manhattan and that they belong to a different class of people altogether.
Social Classes Throughout History The gap between different classes has always been very prominent in
The ideal concept of American society is one in which all of the citizens are treated equal in all every realm and situation. Class, race or gender does not divide the utopian America; everyone is afforded the same opportunities and chances for success. In this chimerical state Americans are able to go as far as their dreams allow and with hard work and perseverance any thing is possible. Many Americans subscribe to this pluralist view of the Country, believing that within our democratic system it is the majority who maintains control and sets policy. Unfortunately this idyllic country does not exist nor has it ever existed. America is made up of distinct social classes and the movement within those classes is for the most part, limited to the various classes in the middle where the lines of demarcation are blurred. Although the majority of the Country's population would attest to the myth that America is a classless society, the distinctions definitely exist and influence the entire life scope of most Americans. Housing, health care, education, career prospects and social status are all dependent on the amount of wealth one has and their class standing. Our system needs the built in inequities of the class system in order to perpetuate itself and the upper class needs to have their interests as the dominant determiner of corporate and governmental power and policy.
There are many similarities and differences between the upper-class, middle-class, working-class, mixed income and low-income urban neighborhoods. There are many different social distinctions within each class and each class has their own way of living. Here are some of the difference and similarities between each class:
Social and economic class is something we as Americans like to push into the back of our minds. Sometimes recognizing our class either socially or economically can almost be crippling. When individuals recognize class, limitations and judgment confront us. Instead, we should know it is important to recognize our class, but not let it define and limit us. In the essay, “Class in America”, Gregory Mantsios, founder and director of the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education at the School of Professional Studies, brings to light the fact that Americans don’t talk about class and class mobility. He describes the classes in extremes, mainly focusing on the very sharp divide between the extremely wealthy and extremely poor. In contrast, George
My educational development has primarily been in the private school system. My younger sister attended public schools as well as my son so I have some experience with them as well. I am going to summarize three scholarly essays I have read and compare them to my own academic history.
If you have ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell, then an interesting topic may have crossed your mind. The way the classes of people break down can be quite similar, and very different at times. In the United States, we have classes like the lower class, the working class, and the middle class. In 1984, there were such classes as the Proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. The way the classes are broken down in 1984 reminds me a little bit of my old history class. When I studied medieval times and the classes back then were broken down into the nobles, the bourgeois, and the serfs.
In September of 1939 German soldiers defeated Poland in only two weeks. Jews were ordered to register all family members and to move to major cities. More than 10,000 Jews from the country arrived in Krakow daily. They were moved from their homes to the "Ghetto", a walled sixteen square block area, which they were only allowed to leave to go to work.
Atonement is set in England during the 1930’s in which during that time society was highly influenced by very segregated social class, in the novel both characters Cecilia and Robbie are the most affected characters by this segregated social class. Social class is one of the big themes in the novel “Atonement” it helps establish the background and foundation of the whole plot. It adds to the conflict the characters deal with throughout the novel. Social class is an example of social structure; class deals with the shaping of a cultural group who share many similar qualities as in race or economic standing. Social class also shapes the way people interact with each other, in other words how they interact with different social groups that already been established. This is demonstrated by even though Cecilia and Robbie both went to Cambridge together they never became friends because of the obvious social separations.