David Crowe: Understanding The Holocaust

Due to this complication, many authors struggle with their presentation of the Holocaust as a narrative, as “a number of scholars and writers view the Holocaust as virtually unrepresentable in language” (White 43). Words cannot do this phenomenon justice. Moreover, the narrative techniques different authors use may present different messages even though discussing the same horrific event of the Holocaust. Emplotment is the method of assembling a series of historical events into a narrative with a plot, which alters the perception of historical phenomena based on how the author chooses to represent the events. Some scholars view emplotment as a mode of deception to readers. If historical events are presented in a figurative sense, however, then the assessment of authenticity would be based on assessing the truth of fictions. Unless a story is presented as a literal representation of the real events, then readers cannot question it of containing true or untrue facts. White details this by saying, “if every story must be said to have a plot, and if every emplotment is a kind of figuration, then it follows that every narrative account of the Holocaust, whatever its mode of emplotment, stands condemned on the same grounds that any merely literary representation of it must be condemned” (White 47). White mocks emplotment since it is an ever present component of narrative. Another theorist, Foley, discusses that narratives should not be fixed into a certain category of truth. She quotes Doctorow, a great exponent of this historical outlook, as he says, “There is no fiction or nonfiction as we commonly understand the distinction: there is only narrative” (Foley 331). Narrative is on another level, and cannot be held to the rigid standards of being entirely true or

Horror struck on January 30, 1933, when Germany assigned Adolf Hitler as their chancellor. Once Hitler had finally reached power he set out to complete one goal, create a Greater Germany free from the Jews (“The reasons for the Holocaust,” 2009). This tragedy is known today as, “The Holocaust,” that explains the terrors of our histories past. The face of the Holocaust, master of death, and leader of Germany; Adolf Hitler the most deceitful, powerful, well spoken, and intelligent person that acted as the key to this mass murder. According to a research study at the University of South Florida, nearly eleven million people were targeted and killed. This disaster is a genocide that was meant to ethnically cleanse Germany of the Jews. Although Jewish people were the main target they were not the only ones targeted; gypsies, African Americans, homosexuals, socialists, political enemies, communists, and the mentally disabled were killed (Simpson, 2012, p. 113). The word to describe this hatred for Jewish people is known as antisemitism. It was brought about when German philosophers denounced that “Jewish spirit is alien to Germandom” (“Antisemitism”) which states that a Jew is non-German. Many people notice the horrible things the Germans did, but most don’t truly understand why the Holocaust occurred. To truly understand the Holocaust, you must first know the Nazis motivations. Their motivations fell into two categories including cultural explanations that focused on ideology and

The Holocaust, one of humanities most horrendous acts and a large topic in the history of World War II. Led by the German National Socialists, the Holocaust was an attack on innocent people for reasons of race, sexuality, nationality, and religion with their main target being the millions of European Jews who they saw as an ‘inferior race’. Hitler and his higher up stripped Jews of everything. He took their money, their homes, their jobs, their nationality, their dignity, and eventually he took their lives. In Peter Longerich’s Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews, Longerich takes an in depth look at Nazi politics and how it eventually led to their Final Solution of the Jewish Question. His research that began in the late 1990s, when he questioned both schools of Holocaust studies, the Intentionalists and the Structuralists. His studies in Europe led to a novel that that outlines the entire history of the Holocaust, the ideas of Judenfrage, and the implementation of Judenpolitik on the Jews of Europe from 1933 to 1945.

The Nazi slaughter of European Jews during World War II, commonly referred to as the Holocaust, occupies a special place in our history. The genocide of innocent people by one of the world's most advanced nations is opposite of what we think about the human race, the human reason, and progress. It raises doubts about our ability to live together on the same planet with people of other cultures and persuasions.

The Holocaust is the undisputed genocide of all genocides, and it has been contended energetically by numerous students of history that no other dim period in mankind's history very thinks about to it. Albeit subjectively valid in a few perspectives, current students of history no longer need to depend on shades of obscurity keeping in mind the end goal to break down genocide.

The Holocaust was a gruesome paradigm of how a prestigious amount of power in the wrong hands can heavily affect those near them. The misuse of power has been shown in various well-known literature works such as the classic 1935 novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and especially in the midst of World War II, when Adolf Hitler commenced the genocide of six million Jews, and engendered aftermaths so chaotic the Holocaust overall will remain as one of the most appalling historical events of all time. However, in the long run, the Holocaust laid the first stone for developing Jewish history to come by denouncing Europe’s views of antisemitism.

But today the world no longer sees it in that light, but rather understands its meaning differently. Today it refers to the mass murder of six million European Jews. Additionally, the German Nazis killed members of other persecuted groups during World War II such as homosexuals and Gypsies. This devastating Nazi moment in time has caused the world to wondering how it could have happened. According to the Adolf Hitler (a historical figure most people recognize) the Jews were an inferior race that was an alien threat to the purity of the German race and community. So as a result of his beliefs, the Holocaust happened during his Nazi rule. Unbelievably, common humanity was lost during this time in Germany with acceptance of Hitler’s solution to eliminate an “inferior race”.

Countless events in the world have been caught in history books but between the ones that have held to the memory of people is the holocaust. The Holocaust was a very disturbing event that triggered an eye-opener for individuals about how harsh humans can be. The purpose for this is since the vast number of victims and questions as to what was the actual motive behind the need to defeat a whole community. Holocaust is an organized, state financed torment and slaying of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi government run by Adolf Hitler. Separately from Jews, other groups considered lesser or anti-establishment, such as Polish, Gypsies, and Romans were killed. There were numerous reasons for these gruesome murders, insensitive imprisonment and enslavements of victims who were forced into labor while starving.

In public discourse surrounding an event like the Holocaust, it is not uncommon for one to want to summarize the event in some abstract concept, be it positive or negative. This type of thinking is especially prevalent in the conclusions drawn by those reading literary works relating to the Holocaust, in which the stories are so entrenched with stereotypes of suffering and the equivocal life-lessons that they lead to a rather shallow understanding of an emotive and difficult subject. This is not to say that drawing these types of conclusions is wrong or especially invalid, but rather the process of projecting these lessons onto the story without developing their further implications speaks to a superficial longing of externalizing the

During World War II, the Nazis persecuted and executed over six million Jews and placed them in concentration and death camps such as Auschwitz, Sobibor, and Treblinka. This event, named the Holocaust, is the worst known case of genocide in human history. Even though the Holocaust ended quite some time ago, the question “how could the Holocaust have happened?” still lingers in the minds of many. To answer this question, you must determine possible motives behind why this would happen. Another way to answer this question is to utilize different sources to help form some explanation as to how it was allowed to continue for so long. The purpose of this essay is to provide and explain some possible motives as to why the Holocaust happened while

What does the Holocaust mean to you? Some would say mass genocide, the extermination of the Jews or some may not be able to define it at all. The Holocaust – one of mankind’s worst atrocities committed in the past one hundred years, full of the thirteen years of prejudice and mistreatment that was endorsed by the fascist ideals. Over twelve million people perished due to this mass genocide of all races, ages, classes, and creeds. However, for some ignorance is bliss. Some do not acknowledge these atrocities against the human race caused by their own – it is a lie! They shout. They feel dignified for their supposed superior thoughts. Although people are able to have their own rights to thought and speech, their opinions are filled with hate, ignorance, and deceit. This is why the Holocaust did happen.

The Holocaust of 1933-1945, was the systematic killing of millions of European Jews by the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazis) (Webster, 430). This project showed the treacherous treatment towards all Jews of that era. Though many fought against this horrific genocide, the officials had already determined in their minds to exterminate the Jews. Thus, the Holocaust was a malicious movement that broke up many homes, brought immense despair, and congregated great discrimination. The Holocaust was an act of Hell on earth.

Being high school students, it is hard to connect to anything involving the Holocaust, but the way the story is written we get more of a connection to the people inside the

The Holocaust refers to the systematic genocide of over a million Jews perpetrated by the Nazi Regime during World War 2. Since the day it ended, historians over the world have attempted to uncover the true reasons behind the Holocaust, leading to the prominent debate over the exact date the Holocaust initially began. However due to a lack of considerable evidence, many opposing interpretations of the evidence has surfaced with the creation of several schools of thought: the Intentionalist, Functionalist and Opportunistic view. The Intentionalist view focuses complete blame on Hitler as the evil totalitarian leader of the Third Reich. From their perspective, the Holocaust is dated earlier, for it was always Hitler’s intention to implement the premediated genocide of the Jewish population. In contrast, the Functionalist view argues that Hitler wasn’t the driving force behind the Holocaust, but rather a weak dictator who was a willing slave to circumstance. They propose that the Holocaust was dated later and advocate instead that an accumulation of structural factors led to the Holocaust. Both these perspectives enhance our insight regarding the date of the Holocaust, they are however hindered by their reliance on the interpretation of certain pieces of evidence and as such are easily contradicted. As such the Opportunistic view offers the most comprehensive explanation, for it synthesises both these contributions while addressing their flaws to provide the better outcome.

The holocaust was a bleak and unrecoverable part of the history of the twentieth century that will always be remembered. Millions died for no reason except for one man’s madness. Although many people know why this war happened many don’t know when and what events lead up to this: the way Hitler came into power, or when the first concentration camp was established, and what city it was in, why Jews were hated so much by Hitler, and why the rest of the country also hated them as well as, and what the chronology of the Holocaust. These are some of the things I will explain in my paper.