Arguments Against The Holocaust

According to the texts and eyewitness accounts, the Holocaust had horrendous effects on the people who lived through it. During this time Jews were being rounded up and put into concentration camps by order of the German government. Writings and testimonies from survivors of the Holocaust are around even to this day. According to these sources, Holocaust survivors suffered tremendously since they were treated as less than human , they lost loved ones, and were constantly abused.

The Holocaust started in the 1933, when the Nazis and Adolf Hitler took power in Germany. The Holocaust from the Greek words “holos” (whole) and “kaustos” (burned) cause chaos and tragedy for Jewish people. At this time Germany was a nation with a Jewish population of 566,000 people. Nazis thought that they were the most inferior race and no other race was better than the Aryan race. This cause a lot of discrimination and hate against other people based on their beliefs and looks. The Nazis provoked the outbreak of World War II, when they invaded Poland. The Holocaust lasted 12 years and it end it on May of 1945.

When many think of the Holocaust as a solely negative experience, and while it may seem easy to write the event off as a dark time in history that seems remote and unlikely to affect us today, there are some positive results, including the lessons that it brings for current and future humanity. The lessons that the Holocaust brings are applicable to every person in the world. While many of these lessons do focus on the negative aspects of the Holocaust, like what circumstances permit such a vast genocide and how many people can die because of widespread racial hatred, there are also those that focus on how some people, in all parts of Europe and throughout the world, retained their good human nature during the Holocaust. For example, what made some gentiles in Europe during that time willing and able to help Jews. Currently, Yad Vashem has recognized 26,513 rescuers throughout the world (Names), and the actual number of rescuers could likely be close to twice that amount (Baron,1). It is important that we analyze the reasons behind these rescuers’ choices to be upstanders instead of bystanders because we can learn about our own motivations when we face decisions between helping others and protecting ourselves, and possibly those we love, from harm. Fulfilling one’s self-interest was a potential motivation for helping Jews that will only be briefly addressed. This type of rescue potentially benefitted both the Jews and the Gentile rescuers; these Gentiles only helped Jews survive because they found personal gain, likely social or economic, in the action (Baron). However, in the situation that existed while rescuing the Jews, most efforts included the high possibility that both the rescuer and the rescued would end up worse off than they had begun with no potential for personal gain on either side. So those rescuers’ motivations are less easily explainable.

People that survived the Holocaust were optimistic and/or hid but today most are guilty. They have guilt in them because they survived while others were dying amongst them.Surviving World War II meant freedom but many did not get to that point, unfortunately. They were brutally murdered or died either from working too much , starvation, and/ or diseases that spread like wildfire. Unbelievably, smells from the gas chambers, where victims were poisoned with gasses, are still present at concentration camps locations . Many survivors have never been able to get over this horrific event that took place because of the terrifying memories from the camps. Memories of how ruthlessly people were being killed, disgusting food, and the hard work, haunt

From 1933 to 1945, millions of lives were thrown into chaos because of the Holocaust. Families were ripped apart and values were washed away as citizens were forcefully placed in concentration camps to either be immediately killed or to work until they died. Every person within the camps faced unthinkable trauma. Once everyone was released, the prisoners began to search for lost loved ones and a sense of normality. However, the anguish did not end with the end of the Holocaust. Following the Holocaust, first generation survivors developed abnormal values, societal dependence, and a need to avoid the topic of the Holocaust as an effect of their trauma; these side effects were then passed down to future generations

The implications of the Holocaust and the extent to which perceptions of the event have shaped Jewish views of identity are among the most crucial in today’s society. Literature revealed that although children of Holocaust survivors and perpetrators did not experience events directly, they might suffer in some form. Jewish descendants experience symptoms of trauma and bear the burden of replacing the dead. According to clinical experience and empirical research, this clinical population seems to have specific disturbances focused on difficulties in coping with stress and a high vulnerability to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This literature review will focus first on how trauma is transmitted and will then discuss the existence of any indicators of psychopathology in the offspring of Holocaust survivors.

The Holocaust, yet another unpleasant time in history tainted with the blood and suffering of man. Human beings tortured, executed and starved for hatred and radical ideas. Yet with many tragedies there are survivors, those who refused to die on another man’s command. These victims showed enormous willpower, they overcame human degradation and tragedies that not only pushed their beliefs in god, but their trust in fellow people. It was people like Elie Wiesel author of “Night”, Eva Galler,Sima Gleichgevicht-Wasser, and Solomon Radasky that survived, whose’ mental and physical capabilities were pushed to limits that are difficult to conceive. Each individual experiences were different, but their survival tales not so far-reaching to where the fundamental themes of fear, family, religion and self-preservation played a part in surviving. Although some of these themes weren’t always so useful for survival.

The Holocaust was a horrifying time period for the Jews. Nearly 2,700,000 Jews were sent to extermination camps, where they were immediately killed. Millions of others were sent to concentration camps, where they were either killed or used as slave labor. However throughout this hellish time period, there were still some people who managed to stay positive. Etty Hillesum said that “big things” helped people’s spirits survive. During the Holocaust, love laughter and nature were the things that helped many spirits triumph.

This investigation evaluates why common Germans took part in the Holocaust. In order to assess why common Germans took part in the Holocaust the investigation focuses on the participation and complacency of the German people during the Holocaust, specifically the extermination of the Jewish people, and the reasoning behind it. Different explanations for the German actions developed by a range of historians will be presented. The conventional reasons, like psychological and cultural, and the nonconventional reasons will be studied. There will be an in-depth look at the effect of Nazism and propaganda, human behavior, and anti-Semitism on the common Germans and the extent to which they led to the participation in the Holocaust. The scope will allow for analysis and conclusion to the most valid reason why common Germans took part in the Holocaust.

Many European Jews could make it and remain alive, but in reality, most of them are not really still alive from their inside. It is true that their bodies have healed; however, their minds are still psychologically sick. It is hard for many people to see their beloved ones dying because of the hanger or even the harsh treatment. Imagine how hard was for Vladek and Anja to see their little son Richu dying, and they could not do anything to him. Many survivors had this sense of regret about why they were the ones who get to survive while others died. They could see the images of dead people who were lying above each other. Aaron Hass from California State University, Dominguez Hills, California talks about a woman called Rose who was in her 19th year of age during the Holocaust. In his interview with Rose F., he explains how the Holocaust has shaped her life and personality. For example, Rose states that “I felt guilty for many years that maybe I should have run back and tried to get her [he sister] with me or stay with her. Maybe I didn’t do enough to stay together. Maybe I was too selfish about saving myself” (Hass 163). This shows how Rose could not and still can not get over the loss of her sister, and she keeps blaming herself for her sister’s death. The Holocaust and its brutality are hard to be forgotten by Jewish

The Nazis killed over six million Jews and millions of other Polish and Soviet civilians in the Holocaust. They also killed gypsies, physically and mentally disabled people and homosexuals. The number of survivors today are quickly dwindling down. Clinical psychologist Natan Kellermann defines a Holocaust survivor as any Jew who lived under Nazi occupation and was threatened by the “final solution” (Kellermann 199). This definition can be applied to not only Jews, but to anyone in general whose life was threatened by the Nazis. When these survivors were liberated, they believed the suffering was over, but for many, this wasn’t the case. The trauma of the horrors they faced is still evident in their life. By analyzing the effects of post traumatic stress disorder after the Holocaust, readers can see that the aftermath of the Holocaust is still prevalent in the survivor’s everyday life; This is important to show that while the trauma may not be overcome, the survivor can be more at peace with the events.

My goal with my research is to look into the resistance of both the Jewish people and the others in European society who assisted in Jewish escapes. The perceived image of the Jews during the Holocaust is of “lambs to the slaughter.” The pictured painted of the rest of European society is one of either knowing accomplices or silent spectators. The Jewish people had many forms of resistance, some small and some large. While many of their neighbors were silent spectators, but many people were actively resisting the tyrannical Nazi government by assisting Jewish escapes. Each of these individuals risked their lives and the lives of their families and friends to aid these hunted individuals. They all deserve to have their stories heard and honored. In a time of complete chaos and destruction many people would not have the ability or fortitude to save the life of another person. The people that I will discuss in this paper were not only able to take that step, but put themselves and their families in real and eminent danger for the life, at times, of a complete stranger.

Jewish Holocaust survivors enduring horrendous treatment of the Holocaust, and it impacted the aftermath of the event as well. Because of the emotional and physical trauma after liberation, Jewish Holocaust survivors struggled with rebuilding their lives and adapting to live a “normal life”.

Nobody really can get through life without help, eventually along the way there is something thrown our way that we cannot deal with alone. When you look back at one of the most confusing and unfair times in the world's history, the Holocaust, you can see that this was true for all of the families affected. George Gottlieb, Krystyna, and Elie Wiesel all needed help from upstanders on their road to surviving the Holocaust,and without it survival would have been nearly impossible, these are three different cases that all have one glowing similarity, that being the contributions of others to help them fight the persecution, and from all of these testimonies we can draw something that should be applied today.

When people started to believe this they treated the Jewish people badly. However, their conscience after the war made them feel guilty for all the actions they carried out. The people of the Holocaust’s actions may not be acceptable in today’s world, they are understandable for that time period and the problems they had to endure.