The Holocaust : The Dehumanization Of The Holocaust

The Holocaust which was one of many of the controversial events that have happened in the history of our world demonstrated a significant amount of cruelty and dehumanization. Because of such a controversial event, many have suffered through physical and unfortunately psychological upheaval and distress. With previous knowledge and novels’ read on the Holocaust, it came to be known that the event was triggered through obedience and conformity due to the not specifically the Germans’ beliefs of anti-Semitic and propaganda, but more of leader Adolf Hitler. The time of the Holocaust was used to dehumanize which enhanced the understanding of mental health and human psychology. During the Holocaust, many psychological principles affected individuals forever. The principles include groupthink and of course knowing the outcome of the event. Such principles sooner explain the reality of life because it stresses how individuals react due to their past experiences like the Holocaust and most importantly how traumatic events build them as who they are today.  Innocent Jews went through starvation, terrible working conditions, and the elimination of race through torture such as gas chambers. Furthermore, the history of this controversial event is now being used to be alert of the health and wellness of those who have gone through such events that sooner change their behavior and mentality for the better or even worse.

Throughout the duration of the Holocaust numerous tragedies transpired. Among these tragedies was dehumanization, the process by which Nazis gradually reduced the humanity of the Jewish population. In Night, a memoir by Elie Wiesel, Elie depicts the dehumanization he experienced and the devastating effect it had on his life while on the transports to Auschwitz, again in the concentration camps, then finally and perhaps worst of all, on his father’s death bed.

Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel, a Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, acknowledged that “There is so much injustice and suffering crying out for our attention: victims of hunger, of racism, and political persecution, writers and poets, prisoners in so many lands governed by the left and by the right. Human rights are being violated on every continent. More people are oppressed than free.” When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, they believed that the Germans were “racially superior”and that Jews(their biggest enemy) were to be called “inferior.” As the “Final Solution” came, no Jew was safe. The Germans figured every way to get rid of them. One single gunshot wasn't enough. During this

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 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

When the war ended in 1945, millions of Jews had perished. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime had almost entirely wiped out a single race of people in what would become known as the Holocaust. However, the Jews were not the only people who had been stripped of their dignity and killed. There were other groups who the Nazi’s persecuted against. The Roma, homosexuals, the mentally and physically disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Political Prisoners were all systematically gathered up and killed. When the Holocaust gets mentioned, many don't talk about the other millions of innocent people who were murdered alongside the Jews. Many don't see these people as victims at all. The number of people murdered during the Holocaust reaches close to eleven million people. “Contragenics” is the term used to talk about all of the groups who were murdered under the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. These innocent lives were lost in the Holocaust, and while history hasn’t forgotten, humanity has.

Beginning on January 30, 1933, the Holocaust had begun. 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust, and within the 11 million deaths 6 million of them were Jews; that means that more than half of the people who died due to this genocide were Jews. This genocide was also known as the Holocaust. Fortunately, this massive genocide ended on May 8, 1945. There are many other genocides, such as the Rwandan genocide that had 800,00 deaths and only lasted about 100 days. The most captivating one is the Holocaust because many people died and during the period of the Holocaust not a lot of people knew what was going on. There were many victims of the Holocaust, and most of which could not get help. The Nazis were able to get away with a massive number because they had a secret weapon called dehumanization. Dehumanization is the process of depriving a person or group of positive human qualities. Many wonder how the Jewish population became dehumanized; circumstances such as propaganda, experimentations, and the Jews always being blamed for everything show how the Nazis dehumanized the Jews easily during the Holocaust.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]”- Ephesians 6:12. This verse from a book of the Bible holds true in the event of the Holocaust. Dehumanization is the process in which the Nazis reduced the people of Jewish religion to nearly nothing just because the Nazis viewed the Jewish people as a nuisance. The horrendous effect of this process reduced the Jews not only in number, but also in spirit through many different unethicical actions. This helped the Nazis in many different ways. The German persecution of the Jewish as well as many other groups, had a generarion gapping effect on the people of

Dehumanization means to deprive one of their human qualities. Dehumanization is a very harrowing act that the Nazi soldiers used to create fear in the Jews. After creating this fear in the Jews, the Nazis would force them to obey their orders. The fear that comes from dehumanization makes one more likely to obey, because how can someone take a stand and say that they are not going to listen when they have been brought down to a point where they feel as if they are nothing. By using Dehumanization, the Nazis were reducing the Jews to no less than objects, positions which meant nothing to them, belongings that were just a nuisance. In Night, it is quoted that “I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less…” (pg. 52). The minorities of society fell victim to dehumanization at the cruel hands of SS guards and the inhumane camp where they were held captive for what seemed to be endless periods of time.

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 dark time in human history. It was a time full of discrimination, and a time full of hate. An event that was caused by one man, an Adolf Hitler. In spite of this, the Holocaust, albeit a dark time, inspired artwork of many kinds with many meanings that we still see to this day. Artwork coming from those who lived through it, were inspired by it, respect those who went through it, and by those who mock it.

To be at the top of the world with ultimate power, alienation of people is important. In order to do that, degrade the civilians surrounding the destination. During the Holocaust, the Jews of Europe are deemed unworthy and useless. People who are not considered Aryan; the superior race, and therefore sent to camps to be disposed of. In other words, Jews are dehumanized with the sole purpose of being exterminated. Degrading another human being is an effective force that can be taken to the top of ultimate power. Eliezer Wiesel comments on Night, on how the Nazi power forces the Jews out of humanity using degradation as an effective tool for dehumanization. Brutal and abusive; physically and verbally forces the Jews to dread and fear about what will happen to them next. Paralyzing them in place. Taking the Jews rights as a citizen is important to make room for the creation of the all mighty Aryan race. Night showcases that to get to the top, degradation is the effective tool for dehumanizing the unwanted.

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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.

The dehumanization study, “The Ascent of Man” conducted by an assistant professor of management and organizations, shows that the intent of dehumanizing can occur within anyone. The study featured American participants rating how evolved six races are from a monkey to a human. Some races were ranked human, while other races were ranked less evolved. Dehumanization can occur anywhere at any time, although it does not have to be as bloody as the Holocaust; it can be acts such as rape, not being able to choose nor control one’s lifestyle, racism, etc. Masses of people can dehumanize humans by acting upon the intent of annihilating human rights, mental or physical shame, and imbrute actions.