The Holocaust : An Unfair Period For The Jews

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum defines this period of time as the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The word Holocaust comes from the greek origin meaning “sacrifice by fire,” but since 1945 this word has been given a completely different meaning, the mass murder of 6 million European Jews. The holocaust was a war between two main parties, the Nazis, who came to power in 1933, and the Jews. Nazis were lead by Adolf Hitler, who had as a motive to kill all minorities in Germany. The Nazis believed they were the superior race and jews were considered to be inferior.

The Holocaust was a disaster affecting many people's lives, mainly targeting Jewish people. They were also against Poles, Gypsies, Russians, The Disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses and Homosexuals. During the Holocaust six million Jews were murdered and many others were treated inhuman and killed. People who were affected by the Holocaust were discriminated, segregated and hated. This people were mistreated and their freedom was taking away, just by having different beliefs and have a different looks.

The Holocaust was an extermination of Jews. Adolf Hitler, a powerful dictator, tried to wipe out the entire Jewish population with his Nazis. He sent the Jews to his concentration camps, where they were starved, beaten, and shot. The rest worked, and some even managed to survive. When Hitler killed himself, the war came closer to an end, and the remaining Jews were saved. The Holocaust was truly a horrific event, and changed the course of history forever.

The Holocaust was a mass slaying of groups of people which that Germany saw as inferior. This included the jews, Soviets, disabled, gay people, etc. The holocaust mostly ran from January 30, 1933 - May 8, 1945. During this time period, concentration camps were made in most of Europe, mostly the nazi occupied territory. These camps

The Holocaust was a period of terrible experience the Jews faced throughout European history. The Nazis led by Hitler altered life of many Jews politically, socially, and economically. Jews were treated horribly in Nazi Germany, they were forced to work until they passed out, or died. The Nazis also tried to execute all Jews to exterminate the entire population of Jews in Europe. The rise of the Nazi Party in 1933 impacted negatively on the lives of many Jews throughout Europe because it changed life of Jews economically, socially,and politically, they were treated horribly, and many Jews were executed when the Nazis implemented their “ Final Solution.”

While fighting for freedom a lot of important lives were lost trying to stand up for their own beliefs and rights. The Holocaust was a Jewish massacre including the lives of six million Jews. On the other hand, The Civil War was America's central event that took the lives of 625,000 people in-exchange for freedom. Both of them included acts of injustice and violence, beliefs of inequality, hatred, and societal changes. These events caused disparity in the society in which live on today.

The Holocaust was one of the most shocking events in history that had in impact on everyone. It was not only the extermination of Jews, but also everyone who was not considered perfect. It was a terrible time to live in Germany, especially being a Jew. Since the Holocaust occurred somewhat recently, in history’s perspective, there are many primary sources and documents that explain and identify the situation of Germany in the 1900’s. Hitler is primarily responsible for the atrocities that occurred in Germany as well as key factors such as his rise to power, heavy propaganda, and the hatred towards Jews.

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.

The holocaust was a time of pure darkness. The German Nazi’s thought their race would be better off without Jews and so they decided to kill them off. The Nazi’s were a group who was under Adolf Hitler’s control and had the power to kill Jews. The Nazi’s were basically Hitler’s soldiers. Adolf Hitler was the current Chancellor of Germany during that time. The Nazi’s however did not only target Jews which accounted for nine million of Europe’s population alone, but also homosexual’s, Jehovah’s witnesses, Gypsies, disabled individuals, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, communists and socialists. The holocaust plays a role in the start of World War II. During the war, the Nazi’s managed to wipe out hundreds of Jewish communities and ended up killing around six million people total. They used to make Jews wear a badge on their clothes when going anywhere to show everyone they were Jewish. It used to be a law for Jews to wear such garments up until the nineteenth century and if they failed to do so, there was severe punishment. This is how Nazi’s chose whom to persecute.

The Holocaust of 1933-1945, was the systematic killing of millions of European Jews by the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazis) (Webster, 430). This project showed the treacherous treatment towards all Jews of that era. Though many fought against this horrific genocide, the officials had already determined in their minds to exterminate the Jews. Thus, the Holocaust was a malicious movement that broke up many homes, brought immense despair, and congregated great discrimination. The Holocaust was an act of Hell on earth.

In 1933 the Jews made up only a small percent of the German population. Nazis later began taking over Jewish businesses and depriving them of their jobs. There were characteristics that classified you as a Jew. If you had three or more grandparents that were Jew, you yourself were one. In 1938 tragedy stroke the Jewish fate. The night of the broken glass which resulted in the burning of the German synagogues and the shops of Jewish shops were destroyed.

The Nuremberg Laws effectively banned the Jews from any citizen rights. The ‘Blood Law’ or Reich’s Citizenship Law banned Jews from marrying Germans, it banned them from sexual relations with Aryans, it banned the Jewish people from displaying the National flag and effectively stripped them of their rights to citizenship. The debate about what defined a Jew tested Hitler in the weeks following the Nuremberg Rally eventually creating the ‘mischlinge’ category of 1st or 2nd degree half Jews, all of which were subject to less but varying degrees of discrimination. The two years that followed were also relatively quiet as far the Jewish question was concerned

By 1933, the Jewish population in Germany was around 525,000 people which was only one percent of the total German population. During the years to follow, Nazis established an “Aryanization” of Germany. Non- Aryans (non- Germans) were dismissed from civil service, Jewish- owned businesses were liquidated, and Jewish layers and doctors were stripped of their clients. Later in 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted by the Nazi government. The Nuremberg Laws were composed of two new racial laws, the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law to Protect German Blood and Honor. The Nuremberg Laws restricted Jews, it declared that anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents would be deemed as a Jew, and anyone with two Jewish grandparents would be deemed a Mischlinge (half-breed). The Nuremberg Laws led to Jews becoming targets of wide-spread discrimination and persecution. These laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship and outlawed marriage and sexual intercourse between Jews and non-Jews. They also prohibited Jews from obtaining certain jobs (such as jobs in the government, medical field, and in law). They prohibited Jews from certain entertainment and recreational activities (such as parks, beaches, theaters, sporting events). Under the Nuremberg Laws Jews were also prohibited

In the tumultuous period leading up to World War II, a series of laws were devised in Nazi Germany that subjected the Jewish people to prohibitory and discriminatory forms of treatment. Although the Jewish people only accounted for 503,000 of the 55 million occupants of the country, Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship preached the incorporation of anti-Semitism into law and practice in order to quell the people he considered to be the enemy of the country.

To begin, before the initiation of WW2, Hitler enforced extremely strict policies on the country of Germany. For instance, Hitler emphasized amongst the population, a clear divide between those who were Volksgenossen (pure German blood) and Gemeinshcaftsfremade (outsiders) (Adolf Hitler: Man and Monster). Visible distinctions were forced to be worn by the latter group such as the Star of David on those who were Jewish (Adolf Hitler: Man and Monster). The divide amongst the population was created mainly due to antisemitism which was extremely prevalent throughout the time. For example, Jewish people were blamed for Germany’s loss in WWI and in return, their businesses were boycotted, those who were lawyers got disbarred from practicing and their German citizenship was revoked (Adolf Hitler: Man and Monster). Additionally, police