Taking a Look at the Holocaust

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.

The Holocaust, a morbid atrocity that made people question humanity, was the cause of millions of deaths. One of those victims of this brutality was Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who hid from the Nazis along with her family. Although she was merely ordinary, Anne Frank kept a diary which became a significant, historical artifact in the modern world as it details her account of concealing her identity from the outside world. Her story, told in an innocent perspective, allows individuals to reflect the dreadful events of the Holocaust and acknowledge how far we have come since then. Even though she died along with millions of other victims from the Holocaust, her spirit still exists thanks to her articulately written words in her diary which is now considered one of the most famous works of literature. Anne Frank’s legacy still lives on today because her story provides a primary source of a dark period in history, insightful contemplation of humanity, and motivation for people to stand up against unjustified persecution.

The human tragedy of the Holocaust was the systematic annihilation of millions of Jews by the Nazi regime during World War II. The adversity of this persecution influenced not only the European arena, but also peoples from all over the globe and their ideas.

The Holocaust was the Nazi attempt to wipe out the Jewish race (Rossel 12). The Holocaust took place from 1933 to 1945 (Rossel 12). The Holocaust took place in Europe, mainly Germany (“Introduction” par 3). Mainly Jewish and Nazi people were involved in the Holocaust, as well as some Gypsies (“Introduction” par 2, 3). The Holocaust was the persecution of 6 million Jews and millions of others forced to live in ghettos, deported to camps, and systematically annihilated until the Allied forces liberated the remaining survivors.

Treated like dirt through a majority of his life is all Shep Zitler knew, he was born into a religious family and a tough culture surrounding him, the Holocaust effected his life to the extreme but along with all his suffering and the tragedies in his life the Holocaust did not take him. He stuck by his believes and made it out alive.

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.

It all started almost eighty years ago and the history of it will never be forgotten. The Holocaust was the mass murder of approximately six million Jews that took place during World War II. There were nine million Jews who lived in Europe before the Holocaust, that means approximately two-thirds of them were killed. There were over one million Jewish children that were killed in the Holocaust, and there were almost two million Jewish women and three million Jewish men were also killed in the Holocaust. The Holocaust was controlled by a man named Adolf Hitler and his army of men who helped him. They were called the National Socialist German Workers, also known as “The Nazi Party” for short.

Most everyone reflects on and thinks of the Holocaust as a horrifying, heartless slaughter of the Jews. The Holocaust can be a very hard, depressing issue to discuss but it is a major part of history and cannot be ignored. The Holocaust affected countless numbers of people in the past and it continues to affect many to this day. The Jewish population was the population that most affected the most through the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler had way too much power and he used that position of excessive power to nearly destroy the Jews.

The Holocaust a tragic catastrophe in which six million Jews were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime. Who were the Nazi’s and what punishments were brought against these war time criminals. During the Holocaust the Nazis used a form of indoctrination that contrived others to believe that the Jews were the ones to blame for the country’s loss after WWI. This indoctrination then lead to the massive murder of the Jews. In later years to come the Nazi leaders were charged with many crimes.

The Holocaust was a terrifying time, it brought to light how important it was to fight for each other. Men and women either sat and stayed quiet out of fear or they got up and fought for what they believed in no matter the cost. These brave souls risked their lives and the lives of their families to save those prosecuted by the Nazis. They weren’t afraid to stand up to the Nazis. Some hid Jews in their homes, other snuck into ghettos and other places to help people in need. Some even falsified documents in order to help Jews escape. Individuals like these stand out in history for showing that standing up to oppressors can be done, and that it is the right thing to do as a part of the human race.

Holocaust began in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and ended in 1945 when the Nazis were defeated by the Allied powers. The term Holocaust is derived from the Greek word holokauston, which means sacrifice by fire. It refers to the Nazi persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people and others considered inferior to "true" Germans.

Imagine your normal days turning into dreadful nights for such a heartless reason. In 1930 the hatred of Jewish people extended, laws were passed changing every Jew’s life into a terrifying life full of torture, sadness, and lack of education.

In every moment, people make choices that impact society, continually shaping history. During the Holocaust, when the Nazi Party incarcerated millions of Jews, ordinary European citizens and their everyday decisions and shaped history through an amass of cause and effects. Their decisions were greatly influenced by their understanding of the universe of obligation, which sociologist Helen Fein defines as “the circle of individuals and groups ‘toward whom obligations are owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for [amends]’ (“We and They”56). The majority of society became bystanders to protect themself and their social status, leading upstanders to be a minority. Although multiple bystanders claimed to have no other options when

Sacrifice by fire. The Greek definition of the word Holocaust still serves as a haunting reminder of the tragic campaign waged by the Nazis during World War II, and their “systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder” of six million Jews and others who didn’t fit the specific vision or “perfect race.”

The holocaust could very well be the most catastrophic event that has occurred to date. When Hitler acquired power and assumed credit for a thriving economy, he labeled his position as a dictator. As a person of power, Hitler looked for change, and as you may imagine, needed followers. Like other extremists, Hitler had a tremendous prejudice against the Jews. While he was serving a prison sentence for nine months, Hitler composed a book titled “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle). From beginning to end, Hitler stated the Jews were to blame for all struggles. In 1919, Hitler gained attention from a few, but during the mid-1930’s, he had thousands of people listening to every word he said, which also included his feelings of extreme hatred directed towards the Jews.