Essay on The Holocaust

Yet, the Nazi occupation created a reality where the Jews were cut off from society in their countries of residence, thus casting the initial acts of persecution upon the Jews. Following the occupation, the Jews of France, the Netherlands, and other countries were subjected to discriminatory legislation that revoked their citizenship and banished them from economic life. Consequently, the Jews had to reorganize themselves separately in order to function as a self-sufficient group. In the course of time, the Jews in these countries, like those in Germany itself, were forced to wear the yellow star or the equivalent of such. Ultimately, Nazi policy became more extreme and Jews of Central and Western Europe were deported to death camps in Eastern Europe.”

From 1933 to 1945, hiding Jews was a massive event in Germany. Many Germans risked

In pre-war 1933-1934 the first set of legislations were announced the first major law was “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service” and was passed in April 7th 1933. This law excluded Jewish from “state service” which was the exclusion from organisations, professions, university and other aspects of life. May 10th 1933 was the first burning of books publicly written by Jewish authors and peoples who spoke out about the status of Germany. 1935 was a tough year for Jewish citizens. May 21st the army expels Jewish peoples from their respected roles. September 15th was the day that the “Nuremberg laws” passed, these laws we’re the REAL wave of anti-Semitic laws these laws were Jewish people where not considered to be part of the German race, they’ve been disconnected as citizens and now are just “Jews” and is where we get to see the hatred of the “different/inferior” races. They’ve also defended the word “Jew” even though that’s kind of impossible, and that is “Anyone with three Jewish grandparents; someone with two Jewish grandparents who identifies as a Jew.” Things only got worse with time, as in 1936 three major laws were pass to limit the Jewish communities occupations. They were banned from being: Tax agents, Advisors (January 1936) Veterinarians (April 1936) and lastly they’re banned from working as teachers in government school (October 1936) they’re being limited of where they can work and are slowly being forced out of Germany. 1939 august 1st laws past that Jews are not permitted to buy lottery tickets. Many other laws were passed such as limiting number of Jewish students going to schools and university, Jews aren’t allowed to enter bars, banning midwives from having an

“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

Over 400,000 Jews were moved from their homes to ghettos. In May 1944, deportation began. Some Jews escaped to Romania, neutral countries, or Budapest. Zionists helped Jews by providing fake passports, food, clothing, and places to hide. Unfortunately, Budapest did not always remain a safe haven for Hungarian Jews. The majority of these Jews were sent to ghettos. By January 1945, nearly 98,000 Jews from Budapest had died on marches to Austria. At the end of the war, about 565,000 Hungarian Jews perished (Jewish Virtual Library).

During World War Two the Jewish people were being “exterminated” by their fellow neighbors, own government and even their own loyal worshipers. They were not even being attacked for a valid reason, this was all set into motion by the beliefs of Adolf Hitler, German Dictator. Hitler held beliefs known as anti-semitism, he was not the first person to hate the Jewish people as a whole, but he was the first person to establish an entire army and country against them. Many of the Jewish people began to flee the country, in hope to escape the genocide. This task became extremely difficult when neighboring countries realized why they were fleeing. The refugees were denied access into the United States and Cuba, but later were taken in by very few countries in Europe and in the surrounding areas .

The holocaust, or Shoah was a systematic, planned program of genocide to exterminate all Jews. This government based program was carried out by Hitler, and its allies in the Nazi army during world war two. Approximately 6 million Jews were killed, and if the murder of the Romani, Soviet civilians and prisoners, the disabled, homosexuals, and others who apposed to Hitler’s religious, political and social views were counted, this number would be more like 11 to 17 million. The holocaust is generally described with two periods, 1933-1939, and 1939-1945, the end of WWII.

In 1935 however, Jews were excluded from the Armed Forces, shops were destroyed and the Nuremberg Laws were established. These laws excluded German Jews from citizenship within the Reich and also prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with people of German blood. With the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany once again had a time period of relative quietness regarding antisemitic policy. This period continued until 1938 when Austria was annexed and the Jewish population increased by about 200,000 (Bauer, 113). Throughout 1938, more laws were established to besiege the Jewish professional. Jewish doctors could no longer treat non-Jew Aryans as of September 1938. Jewish lawyers were forbidden to practice law by November. Both a synagogue in Munich and Nuremberg were destroyed. On June 15, 1,500 Jews who had minor felonies were sent to concentration camps (Bauer, 115). Perhaps the largest pogrom against the Jewish people occurred the night of November 9, 1938. Kristallnacht, as it became known, saw the destruction of 7,000 Jewish businesses, 900 synagogues, and the death of 91 Jews at the hands of the Nazi storm troops. By this time, any Jews remaining in Germany were either stubborn as a mule, or could not overcome the many obstacles which stood in their way of immigrating. Germany was becoming increasingly hostile towards the

Life for Jewish people changed drastically between 1933 and 1939 in Germany. This was warranted by Jewish life and beliefs before 1933, Hitler’s rise to anti-Semitic Beliefs and Power,Kristallnacht ‘the night of the broken glass’ and Nuremburg Laws.

They no longer had control over their economic or legal status. Many people joined forces with the Nazis to help imprison Jews in death camps. After they suffered

Throughout the 1920’s, Adolf Hitler campaigned openly with a bitter tone of anti-semitism. Furthermore in April of 1933, the Nazis began their government with a one day boycott of Jewish stores and factories. This event sat as a benchmark of the rise of Adolf Hitler, leading to a strong centralized government with social and economic control. Fervent patriotism was shown when the towns being tormented were controlled by Adolf, a dictator. In september of 1935, the German government enacted the Nuremberg Laws which systematized the racial definition of Jews denying them the citizenship and fundamental rights. This event was another major cause that lead to the

Many German and Austrian Jews now attempted to flee Hitler's Reich. However, most Western countries maintained strict immigration quotas and showed little interest in receiving large numbers of Jewish refugees. This was exemplified by the plight of the St. Louis, a ship crowded with 930 Jews that was turned away by Cuba, the United States and other countries and returned back to Europe, soon to be under Hitler's

Finally, as a result of the Nazis invading the continent of Europe, the life of a Jew was painful, short-lived, and most of all, rough! Many like Ivo Herzer, a fellow Jew himself, was borned into a Jewish family. Once the Germans found out about the birth of any child that came from a Jewish family, they were stamped with a serial code or identity stamp. After that, they didn’t have much freedom. Jews were banned from government and university positions unless they converted to

During the early 1930s, at the time of the Nazi rise to power, Germany was undergoing great economic hardships due to World War I. When Hitler came to power, he used Jews as a scapegoat, blaming them for Germany's economic problems. During that time, Jews were very successful in business, and well represented in the professions. It is assumed that these reasons were why Hitler blamed them for the economic problems. Despite all assumptions, it is obvious that treatment of the Jews worsened after his rise to power.

The persecution culminated in Kristallnacht (Broken-glass night). Goebbels had ordered this in reprisal for a Jewish attack on a German embassy official in Paris. More than 8,000 Jewish homes and shops were attacked. 100 Jews were killed and 20,000 arrested. Goering blamed the Jews for the violence and they were fined one billion Reichmarks. Many Jews, including Albert Einstein, emigrated at this time. The world was shocked and so were many Germans who could not speak out openly.