Jewish People After Ww2 Essay

These included organized attempts at escaping from the ghettos into nearby forests, non-compliance with Nazi demands on the part of certain Jewish community leaders, illegal smuggling of food into the ghettos, and spiritual resistance. Not all forms or resistance had to be presented through violence. Although many Jews didn’t get justice for this terrible event, they continued doing what they were best at. Believing in themselves and the future. “Concerts, lectures, theatrical productions, cabarets, and art contests took place in many ghettos, despite the hardships of daily life.” This quote describes the ways that the Jews stayed happy despite all the evil.

Since the start of the Nazi occupation in Europe, Jewish communities and individuals were struggling with survival, and fought for their existence. Many Jews tried to evade or overcome the degrading Nazi decrees, that stripped them of civil and human rights, triggered isolation and denied them a livelihood. The Nazis simply wanted to create a condition in which no human being, particularly Jewish, can live or even exist. For a long time, the Jews’ view on the sanctity of life, a duty to protect one’s life, encouraged them to endure the period of intense pain and suffering. From past experience, the Jews thought that the terrible events of the Nazis would pass, the same as the pogroms. Over a period of centuries, from the Crusades to the

Examining any issue pertaining to the Holocaust is accompanied with complexity and the possibility of controversy. This is especially true in dealing with the topic of Jewish resistance to the Holocaust. Historians are often divided on this complex issue, debating issues such as how “resistance” is defined and, in accordance with that definition, how much resistance occurred. According to Michael Marrus, “the very term Jewish resistance suggests a point of view.” Many factors, both internal such as differences in opinion on when or what resistance was appropriate, as well as external, such as the lack of arms with which to revolt, contributed to making resistance, particularly armed resistance, extremely difficult. When considering acts

Due to the inhumane methods towards the Jews during the Holocaust, many lost their faith and commitment to Judaism. Jews were appalled that God, who was supposed to be their savior, abandoned them in a time where they needed him the most. Although many Jews kept their faith and did not question God’s mysterious ways, many did not have the same outlook. People assume that hard times strengthen people’s faith, but that was not always the case. During great tragedy's, people’s faith may disintegrate and become completely absent from their minds. Many prisoners including Elie Wiesel could not accept God’s silence and rebelled against their religious upbringing during the Holocaust.

Resistance during the Holocaust, both Jewish and non-Jewish, is a daunting task to cover. Information abounds in relation to this which leads to the problem of putting all of it into one paper. Due to this, I will only cover the specifically Jewish Partisan fighters. The movements are divided into two groups of Eastern and Western Fighters. Partisans fought in almost every European country including but not limited to Belgium, Poland, Russia, France, Italy, Greece, and Lithuania.

to turn this away and try for a second life. He is like you or I and

In Germany in 1939, the German Nazis took down almost all of Europe, and on their way, 64.5 million people, including six million Jewish people. This war could have extinguished the Jewish culture. According to Holocaust Encyclopedia, this is some of the aftermath of the Holocaust (2).

“You call me misbeliever, cutthroat dog, And spet upon my Jewish gaberdine” (Shakespeare 34). Groups and people have helped resist during the Holocaust which helped the affected people and it may be important for young people to learn from these responses.The Armee Juive were a French Jewish partisan group during the Holocaust who participated in the 1944 uprising and smuggled money from Switzerland to help Jews escape and hide into neutral Spain. The Jewish resistance groups were the most direct form of Jewish opposition against the Nazis during the Holocaust. Attacking the German military trucks and trains, the Armee Juive conducted missions to sabotage Nazis and rescue Jews. The warsaw ghetto uprisings where hundreds of Jews fought against Germans and disobeyed them is an example of a resistance effort that was employed during the Holocaust.

One person who was linked to armed resistance, but not directly involved, was Albert Wielkabroda. It is stated that ‘in the second World War, Sutin managed a small group, consisting of Jewish partisans that gathered weapons and fought the Nazis in Poland’ (Hanson). Adolfo was fifteen when his armed resistance started. Adolfo would rust Nazi equipment by using chemicals and build detonators for resistance explosives. Adolfo once said that “For the first time, I didn’t feel entirely [powerless] following the death of my mother and friend” (Berger). Another quote was “I had the feeling I was avenging them” (Berger). As stated earlier, The Edelweiss Pirates were a group of youth, about 15-19, who would oppose the Nazi youth. The Pirates would often disobey the rules set by the Nazi government, and sometime, fight the Nazi youth. “As war progressed…many pirates became active in the underground resistance movement” (Faces of Courage). It was told that “Groups of Edelweiss Pirates made armed raids on military depots and deliberately sabotaged war productions” (Faces of Courage). Youra, Jean, and Robert

In her memoir, We Are On Our Own, Miriam Katin tells the story of how she and her mother escaped from Nazi soldiers during World War II. Katin and her mother are two Jews that are completely on their own. Katin has no other siblings and her father is fighting in the war(12) Jews were discriminated during World War II by the Nazis, who believed their Aryan race was superior to the Jewish race and all other races. Over six million innocent Jews were killed during World War II while the world watched, and countless other Jews were oppressed and discriminated against leading up to the war. In her moving memoir, Miriam Katin retells the story of how she and her mother escaped from Nazi soldiers and survived the oppression of Nazi Germany.

On May 14, 1940 Holland surrendered to German Forces, and Dr. Arthur Seyss-Inquart was appointed Reichkommissar, the highest governing authority. He watched over a German administration that included many Austrian-born Nazis. These Nazis, in turn supervised the Dutch civil- service. This configuration proved fateful for the Jews of the Netherlands.

Despite being severely under-equipped, outnumbered, and under-supported, anti-Nazi resistance groups throughout Europe continued to combat the Nazis, aiding and saving many Jewish citizens.

Who are the Jews and how did they manage to survive during the time of the Holocaust? This is a question that is often brought up among people and can be answered with help of those who survived and those who worked in helping save the Jews. The Jews are simply people who have their own religious beliefs and practices just like any other religious group. (www.remember.org “Who are the Jews”) The religious and cultural aspects of the Jews was often looked upon as elaborate and sophisticated to those who viewed it from the outside such as the Christians. (Kagan, Ozment, Turner 271) The Jews practices include dietary laws, the Jewish calendar, sabbath and festival observance , ritual clothing, and life cycle events. The Jews may not eat certain foods or foods that does not have the blood removed. In order to set dates, the Jews use both lunar and solar calendars. The Jewish people celebrate many different holidays and festivals that have their own rituals to go along with them. For example, “Rosh Hashanah” or the new year is celebrated and Jews do not attend school or do work on that day. The Jews also have different ways of dressing for occasions. During prayer, a male must wear a skull cap that covers the head, phylacteries which are Torah passages written on parchment with leather straps and are usually worn on the forehead and left arm, and fringed shawls are also worn. Every Jew must also go through certain life cycles. Every male will be circumcised on the eighth day

Some people may ask “why didn't Jewish people resist against the Nazi oppression that they faced?” Well they did indeed stand up against Adolf Hitler and his Nazi forces during the Holocaust. In 1939 Adolf Hitler sent his troops to invade poland, starting World War 2. After invading Poland, he then set up various rules against the Jewish population, First making them wear stars of david on their clothing while in public, then forcing them into ghettos where they were excluded from the rest of the population. This lead people to resist the Nazi oppression. During the Holocaust, there were various acts of armed and unarmed resistance in order to preserve the Jewish honor and faith.

Adolf Hitler came to power over Germany in January of 1933. He hated Jews and blamed them for everything bad that had ever happened to Germany. Hitler’s goal in life was to eliminate the Jewish population. With his rise to power in Germany, he would put into action his plan of elimination. This is not only why German Jews were the main target of the Holocaust, but why they were a large part of the years before, during, and after the Holocaust. Hitler’s “final solution” almost eliminated the Jewish population in Europe during World War II. At the end of the war and along with his suicide, the Jewish population would survive the horror known as the Holocaust and the Jews would eventually find their way back to their homeland of Israel