Le Chambon Research Paper

The article ‘Teens against Hitler ', by Lauren Tarshis, Describes the hardships and courageous acts of Ben Kamm, a Jewish ‘Partisan’ or fighter against Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust, and all Jews who faced the challenges during that tragic time. The Jewish only wanted a normal life, but German leader, Adolf Hitler, wanted to make sure all Jew would perish. So, they began piling Jews into concentration camps to kill them, Hitler would work them to death, starve them, and even murder them in gas chambers. Then, The ‘Partisans’ began to fight against Hitler and his army. This act of courage, despite the challenges and risks they faced, help many Jews survive the most horrific event in history, The Holocaust.

When the Starzynski family was taken from their home by the French police, the onlookers exhibited dehumanization. In this instance, dehumanization was portrayed in the form of indifference, “...shutters began to open, faces peered out from behind curtains... nobody moved, nobody said anything. They simply watched” (Rosnay 18). The onlookers did not view the Starzynskis as their human equals, and they allowed the police to take them to their death without saying a word. Their Jewish religion made them be viewed as less than human, and therefore they felt it was acceptable for them to be taken away to be killed. Once the Starzynski’s friends and acquaintances discovered that they were Jewish, by the yellow star on their clothing, they began to treat them differently. “...most girls stopped speaking to the children with the stars. Or... stared at them with disdain” (47). Once captured and inside the Vel’ d’Hiv, the Jewish people of Paris are treated as animals; the conditions inside the Vel’ d’Hiv are heartless and inhumane. “The girl had to squat against the wall to relieve herself, fighting against the overpowering urge to vomit, her hand clapped over her mouth. People were... defecating wherever they could... cowering like animals near the filthy floor” (30). The captured Jews are not only deprived the basic right of privacy,

The main theme of this story was to show the miraculous and courageous struggle of one loving and devoted family, who put their own lives at stake to protect the lives of many others. Every night, before they were placed in the concentration camp, the tiny family of three read a scripture from the Bible. While in the “hell”, they prayed that God would forgive the retched and brutal souls of the Nazi guards who beat and killed many people. They put their Christian beliefs above all else. It was more important to them that they gave up their lives to rescue others because it was the Christian thing to do

Many heroes worked hard to save Jewish people during the Holocaust, a genocide of anti-semitism, and their stories live on in the people who they saved. In September 1943, Bishop Giuseppe Nicolini received a letter from the Pope in Vatican that told him that the church should organize help for all refugees, especially the Jewish people and the Assisi Network was born. The “Assisi Network” began as a refugee camp with help from the surrounding Church community, but soon evolved into a huge organized operation. The people who risked their lives to run the Assisi Network helped to save hundreds of people and fought to hide Jews who would have otherwise been prosecuted. The story of the Assisi Network preserves the legacy of the Holocaust by using

In The Journal of Hélène Berr, we are given the first hand account of a young Jewish woman in Paris during the German occupation. This primary source provides a strong insight into how Paris was changing before Hélène’s eyes. Hélène started keeping a journal to preserve memories, but over time, as the German occupation started to change her life, it became something more. Her writing became darker, because so did her outlook. For one, towards the end of the

In Budapest there were anti-Semitic incidents every day and everywhere, the Jews lived in terror and fear. The Fascists began to attack Jewish shops and synagogues. The Jews in Sighet were not concerned by this serious situation, they believed that the Germans would not come this far, that they would stay in Budapest. In a matter of the days, German soldiers appeared on the streets of Sighet. Elie’s family didn’t pay much attention to the violence of war being reported on the radio. Instead, they only paid attention to the polite Germans in their community; they felt comfortable living amongst the German soldiers. “The officers were billeted in private homes, even in Jewish homes. Their attitude toward their hosts was distant but polite. They never demanded the impossible, made no offensive remarks, and sometimes even smiled at the lady of the house. The optimists were jubilant: ‘Well? What did we tell you? You wouldn't believe us. There they are, your Germans. What do you say now? Where is their famous cruelty?’ ” (Page 10). The Jews were blinded by the officer’s charm to notice the present danger that would soon

Over six million people died in the Holocaust. Family, friends, and other people with the same ethnicity that they didn't even know were killed left and right. From the crematory to getting hung. Was it best for them to help each other or was it to protect themselves and not care about anyone else? (Prompt 5)

As the war dwindled down, the Bilecki family lingered to their Polish home. Though they were rich in heart, the friction between the slips of tinted cash and the jangling of the metal coins were the only sound that seemed to be worth hearing. Sadly, for them there was a lack of it. The Jews that they saved acted as their guardian angel, as the Bilecki clan did for them. From all around the world, across the sea, the Jews kept them from malnutrition and naked chills. It wasn’t until 1998 that the secret of the Bilecki kindness was unveiled. Not only did they get the recognition they deserve, the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous had planned an infinitesimal surprise. Waiting, as the sounds of aircrafts roared, stood five of the survivors the Bilecki family had guided to asylum. The vulnerability of the raw moment was exposed as they shared their tears. The applause throbbed emphatically like the robust flapping of an angel’s wings. Their life saving feat did not go unacknowledged by the Righteous Among the Nations. Their unselfish deeds of valor and grace set themselves into being heroes.

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.

It is a tragedy that the terror and destruction of the Holocaust could have been avoided if the warnings were taken seriously. In Night, by Elie Wiesel, Moshe the Beetle tries to inform the community of his experience, but they do not adhere to his warnings. Similarly, my great-grandmother also sailed across the Atlantic, to warn her relatives. She informed them of the possible danger, but they too did not listen. Likewise, Jan Karski also saw the danger and tried to warn the allied leaders of the upcoming threat. In all three stories, warnings were given and then rejected. This essay will discuss responses to the Holocaust, by examining warnings regarding community members, family members, and Righteous Amongst the Nations. From the very beginning of Hitler’s rise to power, his ultimate goal, was evident in Mein Kampf and threats against Jews should always be taken seriously.

Between Dignity and Despair, a book written by Marion A. Kaplan, published in 1998, gives us a portrait of Jewish life in Nazi Germany by the astounding memoirs, diaries, interviews with survivors, and letters of Jewish women and men. The book is written in chronological order of events, from the daily life of German Jewish families prior to when the Holocaust began to the days when rights were completely taken away; from the beginning of forced labor and exile to the repercussion of the war. Kaplan tries to include details from each significant event during the time of the Holocaust. Kaplan

In the article “Righteous Christians Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust Honored for Their Sacrifice” it talks about many non-jewish people taking grave personal risks to save their jewish friends and neighbors from German extermination programs (“Righteous Christians Who” 1) and how they sacrificed pretty much all they had, to help others in need of material

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.

The average person’s understanding of the Holocaust is the persecution and mass murder of Jews by the Nazi’s, most are unaware that the people behind the atrocities of the Holocaust came from all over Europe and a wide variety of backgrounds. Art Spiegelman’s Maus: a Survivor’s Tale, Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution, and Jan Gross’s Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedbwabne, Poland, all provides a different perspective on how ordinary people felt about their experiences in the Holocaust both perpetrators and victims.

Throughout Celtic lands, there was a horned God that was revered. The name of this horned God varied since he was worshiped in different areas and among different tribes. One of the few names for this horned God that has survived is Cernunnos. Therefore, the name Cernunnos is the name that is used today to refer generically to the horned God of the Celts.