THE HOLOCAUST: 70 YEARS LATER
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.”
Adolf Hitler, the known anti-Semitic Nazi leader, viewed the Jews as an inferior race and threat to what he viewed as racial purity. Under the guise of the war, Hitler’s solution revolved around mass killing centers constructed within the concentration camps of occupied Poland. One man’s orchestrated views and beliefs became a living nightmare for millions.
According to author Doris L. Bergen, “approximately 95 percent of the Jews killed between 1939 and 1945 lived outside Germany’s prewar borders. The Nazis used the war as a cover and excuse for the acts of murder. In the minds of Hitler and his associates, the only thing that could save Germany from collapse was the total removal of Jews and Jewish influence.
Prior to the Jews, the first large-scale killings under the “Euthanasia Program” targeted the mentally and physically disabled. And during the attacks of Jews, European Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Communists, Socialists, Afro-Germans, poles, Christian church leaders and many more unwanted people were attacked and persecuted.
ORIGINS
Doris L. Bergen writes that “antipathy toward Jews in Europe dated back much further
You have probably heard about a period of time, not so long ago, known as 'The Holocaust.' A holocaust, according to Webster's dictionary, is 'a complete destruction by fire' (Stadtler, 1). In Europe, during this period, there was a complete destruction by fire - of Jewish homes, Jewish businesses, Jewish neighborhoods, and Jewish people. This destruction was carried out under the direction of Adolf Hitler, during the years 1939-1945, but it actually began earlier, in 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany.
As Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel once said, “To forget a Holocaust is to kill twice,” that is why we are called to remember. Many movies, novels, and story representations of the Holocaust have been created in order to spread the memory of the past. An important part of remembering is learning, and therefore not repeating the same mistakes once again. Movies may find it difficult to represent the Holocaust accurately, while also giving it meaning and artistic expression. The writer, Edwin de Vries, and the director, Jeroen Krabbé, strive to represent the legacies of the Holocaust and Jewish culture in the film, Left Luggage (1998), based on a novel by Carl Friedman through a portrayal of the daily lives of Holocaust survivors and their children in late 1960s Antwerp, their direct confrontations with their memories of the Holocaust, and character development. The film shows us many examples of the legacy of the Holocaust as it is passed through the children of survivors, and how it continues to affect their daily lives. The audience understands the intentions through depictions of muteness and the necessity to remember.
The Holocaust was one of, if not the worst mass murder in history. The Nazis did one of the most horrifying things you could think of, killing so many innocent people. Many different groups of people other than jews were also victims of this tragic event. Some of those other groups were: LGBTQ individuals, the physically and mentally disabled, slavs, and members of opposing political groups. These groups of people were ripped from their homes and put into concentration camps. The Nazis would either separate them from their family or they would keep them together and they would have to watch the Nazis torture their family and friends. During this very tragic point in history, more than six million Jewish lives were taken, in total there were over 12 million victims of the Holocaust. Not only did this affect the survivors it also affected families of the victims, survivors and anybody else that was connected through this tragedy. The Nazis, came to “power” in January 1933, which was during a time Germany was going through an economic hardship. They believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, were "inferior.” Adolf Hitler played a very big factor in everything that went down. Adolf Hitler was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party and was also known as the dictator of the Holocaust. The Nazis did have others that were Hitler’s “army” and they took orders from Hitler to do awful things to the victims and they were commonly known as
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.
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
Most of us have heard of the Nazi party’s horrific, genocidal regime on destroying the Jewish race, but what events led up to their dire judgement? In this study I aim to uncover the events, reasons and changes which led to the Holocaust and the further changes in the treatment of the Jewish race by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.
During the reign of the Third Reich, the symbolization of the pink triangle was used to identify the thousands of gay prisoners who were sent to extermination camps under Paragraph 175, the law that criminalized homosexuality between men. Researchers say that an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 gay men died in these camps, however this figure does not include those who were interned and later released, let alone those who died undocumented and forever forgotten to history.¹ These thousands of men were forced through excruciating cruelties with little to no reprieve or recognition of the atrocities perpetrated against them. It is because of this that while they are not a distinct racial, ethnic, or religious group, the treatment of those who bore the pink triangle during the Holocaust follows the genocidal process and as such gay Holocaust victims should be considered sufferers of genocide.
While examining the works of Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi it becomes apparent that the holocaust was a horrendous time in our human history. However, although both writers went through similar experiences during this time; both seem to reflect and dwell on things differently such as their point of view and lives in the camps as well as the different themes they focus on. In this analysis the stories of the two authors will be compared and as stated above will also focus on how they recount their experiences.
It’s about the jews and how and what happened to them after the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the time where about six million jews and one million other people dying. Most people were killed because they belonged to different races and religions. The Nazis wanted to kill people that weren’t from their same religious group. The Nazis also killed people who disrespected Hitler. Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party.
The Holocaust began on January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, to May 8, 1945, when the war in Europe officially was over. About six million Jewish civilians perished because of it. There were some people that survived. What impact did the Holocaust have on its survivors? When the Holocaust ended, all survivors suffered from different emotions because they survived the tragedy. The survivors lost loved ones, and they had to keep that memory of the event with them for the rest of their lives. As a result of these emotions, they coped in many negative ways. Survivors of the Holocaust experienced guilt, isolated themselves, and suffered from a mental illness.
There were many groups of people, other than the Jews, that were victims of persecution and murdered by the Nazis. The groups affected by the Holocaust were the Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other Slavs, political dissidents and dissenting clergy, people with physical or mental disabilities, Jehovah’s witnesses, and homosexuals. According to A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust, There is evidence as early as 1919 that Hitler had a strong hatred of Jews. As Chancellor and later Reichsfuhrer, Hitler translated these intense feelings into a series of policies and statutes which progressively eroded the rights of German Jews from 1933-1939 (“Victims”).
Despite Hitler's many accomplishments, one goal he failed to achieve was to “exterminate” all of the Jews and non-Aryan races. Despite the mass genocides performed in concentration camps, Hitler failed at completely removing the population. Today, many Jews are still standing tall and healing from the effects of the Holocaust. In order to understand Hitler’s actions, one must take into consideration the many misconceptions he had about these people. His hatred towards the Jews hindered him from understanding and ultimately this lead to his downfall. In Hitler’s eye the Jews were not a religious community. In fact, the Jews allegedly had their own mission to exterminate the whole of mankind, therefore the world needed to unite in order to eliminate
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
An abstract is a brief summary—usually about 100 to 120 words—written by the essay writer that describes the main idea, and sometimes the purpose, of the paper. When you begin your research, many scholarly articles may include an abstract. These brief summaries can help readers decide if the article is worth reading or if addresses the research question, not just the topic, one is investigating.
Known as one of the most horrific events in history, World War II (WW2) caused tremendous adversity and suffering amongst the lives of people across the globe. However, what is most concerning about the war, was what happened behind closed doors, specifically within Germany. The Holocaust is still considered one the worst ethnic cleansing attacks in the world. Although there is an endless amount of research and hard evidence of the Holocaust occurring, certain groups of individuals strongly reject it. Known as “Holocaust Denial”, this conspiracy theory has always been personally intriguing due to several reasons and will be analyzed more thoroughly.