Distinguishing Qualities And Connecting Them To Jews, Like

At the beginning of WWII in 1939 Jews were required to wear the yellow star of David stiched into each article of clothing to ensure easy indentification. Many would be forced into sterilization while many others were sterilized unknowingly as an attempt to stop the procreation and growth of the Jewish

At the “Wannsee Conference”, which took place in Berlin, on January 20, 1942 the German regime with its main protagonists Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler planned the ‘final solution of the Jewish question. Even if massacres of about one million Jews occurred before the plans of the Final Solution, with the decision to eradicate the entire Jewish population, extermination camps were built and industrialized mass slaughter of Jews began in earnest. The scene where a train of Schindler’s workers was wrongly sent to Auschwitz shows such an extermination camp were the Nazis systematically gassed thousands of Jews. Another example for the organized genocide is the mass cremation after the mass execution during the eviction of the ghetto in Krakow.

Other depictions of Jews is the big nose depicted on the face that is drawn, as well as, again, the Star of David.

Over the past few years, several deadly genocides have occurred. However, one of the most infamous genocides to occur was the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the “massive destruction of European Jewry during World War II, when millions were systematically persecuted and exterminated solely because of their social, cultural, ethnic, or religious characteristics” (Barel, Van Ijzendoorn, Sagi-Schwartz, Bakermans-Kranenburg). Contrary to popular belief, Jews were not the only group targeted in the Holocaust, as five million more lives were taken in groups other than the Jews. Three other groups targeted during his deadly event were the homosexuals, the mentally and physically disabled, and the ethnic minorities, whose death toll equaled 2,285,000, a combined total that clearly showed how determined the Nazis were in destroying their targeted victims in the Holocaust..

Imagine walking through a rusted metal fence, a lingering smell in the air that never really went away. You look to your left and see Nazi soldiers beating a man in a worn out striped suit. You look to your right and see a bulldozer moving piles of pale bodies from one building to another. This was nothing out of the ordinary during the troubling times of World War II, and with this, there came genocide. This horrifying act was shown through the Holocaust and concentration camps; one of the most notorious being Auschwitz. Genocide is the intent to terminate an entire race or religion. For example, Hitler had a plan of genocide towards the Jews. Not only were the people who were born from Jewish descent were tortured, but the people who also

“In April 1940, Hitler decreed that operation T4 would begin, namely the euthanasia of the mentally ill and the handicapped; this was the first chapter of the Nazi genocide.Sterilization and euthanasia were used to maintain the purity of the ‘community of people’, while extermination of the Jews - although itself seen as a process of racial purification - was essentially a fight against an enemy who was perceived as a threat to the survival of Germany and the Aryan race” (Minerbi, Alessandra).

From January 8th, 1933 to May 8th, 1945 one of the world’s largest genocides in history occurred. More than seventy years ago the lives of millions were taken by Dictator Adolf Hitler and his officers. More than six million European Jews as well as members from other groups such as the gypsies and homosexuals lives were taken. In 1933 the Jewish European population stood at over nine million people. And by 1945 the Nazi regimen had killed two out of every three Jews as a part of what they called “The solution” in order to get rid of the “inferior race.”

“If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example” (Vollhardt). Universally, genocide is viewed in various ways by every party involved and has eight specific steps. In Germany, Adolf Hitler’s persistent lectures on the Jews and their role in World War One created tension in the government and in the people. The Holocaust can be looked at through eight itemized stages. Genocide can only be stopped with intervention on a worldwide scale. It disheartens me to know that mass murders have taken place throughout Europe because the Nazi Party declared themselves the higher being and therefore gave themselves the right to be the judge, jury, and executioner of the people less fortunate. Finally, The Holocaust, driven by the power and influence of Hitler and the Nazi Party, was based on the belief that Jews, inferior to the human race, should be eradicated from existence.

The fifth stage of Genocide is polarization. Any communication or interaction that was done between Serbs and non Serbs was prohibited. Intermarriage between Serbs and Non-Serbs was forbidden by new laws. The sixth stage is preparation. The Serbs

The Jewish Holocaust could be, and is, widely accepted as one of the most brutal and damaging atrocities ever to occur in the history of humanity. The level of brutality brought on by this atrocity is to such a degree that whenever the word “Holocaust” is mentioned it is not the Greek origins of “offer burning” that comes to mind; but, instead, the thought that resonates is the death of approximately 6 million Jews and other minorities brought on by racial hatred, radical ideology, and established prejudice (p. vii). There is no question that a main goal, and often argued by historians as Hitler’s topmost priority, in order to create Third Reich, that would supposedly last 1,000 years, was to expel Europe of any Jewish presence. Nonetheless, similar to that of any large scale operation, an expulsion of Jews from Europe would take time and different phases to achieve efficiently and effectively. The Nazi program, according to Bergen’s ‘War and Genocide”, would attempt to accomplish this through five phases: support and encourage public oppression of Jews, isolation of Jews from the community, mass killings, and, lastly, the “Final Solution.”

Among the dead were children and pregnant women. Rape in villages by government officers and local police was, like in the case of the Darfur genocide, an often occurrence. Victims were disposed of and often their identifiable information, were burned (Spalding 29-33). The torture, mutilation, and disturbing murders of neighbors by average citizens, in addition to the governmental militia acts of ethnic cleansing show extermination throughout the course of the Rwandan genocide.

Human nature is an often debated topic. Some believe the natural state of humans to be good; some believe it evil. Catholic doctrine teaches original sin: the idea that all people are born bearing the primeval sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Jewish doctrine teaches differently: all humans are born without sin just as was created without sin. The second is certainly more appealing because it is far less damning of humankind. The Catholic belief teaches that humankind is born evil and is evil by nature and Jewish belief is that humans are what they make of themselves. Both traditions have similar origins and draw on much of the same scripture for their beliefs, though these traditions have a vastly opposing view on this fundamental point.

There are many religions across the world, 4,200 to be exact. However, the most practiced religions only come down to five, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Some of these are very similar, but each of these religions has unique and distinct characteristics that set them apart from one another.

This soon led to an increase of Jewish deportations to concentration camps where they would face numerous hardships and cruelty; the majority of them were lucky if they lasted a month. The sum of these events helps provide the foundation and road map to genocide during the holocaust. A better understanding of the magnitude and complexity of genocide will come to light by examining these events which served as warning signs that the world stood by and allowed to happen. Most importantly, while many agree that genocide should never have happened to any race, by breaking down genocide from its many elements and events, valuable knowledge and understanding will result on how not to let it happen again.

Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that your basic human rights had been taken from you based on your religious or ethnic background. You and your family are rounded up, corralled together, and shipped off to a secluded location to be made to work like animals, or slaughtered where you stand. Millions of humans have had this reality in the 20th century. The term genocide is an often debated one. Webster’s dictionary defines genocide as “The systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, or religious group.” (Merriam-Webster).