The struggles people faced during the holocaust did not end in the liberations of 1945, the aftermath was equally devastating. The systematic mass murder of marginalized groups during World War 2 is an event that can never be forgotten. Under Hitler’s command, many concentration camps were built on European soil and were meant to get rid of unwanted groups of people. Although the conditions of these camps seemed unable to sustain human life, many people survived and were able to tell their tales after the days of liberation. Life after captivity wasn't always easy and many had to persevere through the challenges that came with liberation. Despite the fact that many survived the war, survivors still had to reunite with loved ones and heal both mentally and physically. The word liberation often brings resounding joy and thoughts of freedom along with happiness, but to those who survived the concentration camps liberation meant becoming displaced …show more content…
After liberating Buchenwald, Harry J. Herder described the conditions they had found in the camp as something that had haunted him for decades. “The things we found then were grotesque enough without knowing some of the other things we did learn later” (Herder 1). As they explored the camp, they discovered what had been happening to the people that were kept captive. Similar to many concentration camps, Buchenwald had a high death rate, starvation, and sickness. There was a nauseating stench that had permeated throughout the air because health and sanitation were the least of the Nazi’s concerns. Bodies were systematically stacked throughout the camp, ready to be burned. “Human bodies neatly stacked, naked, ready for disposal (Herder 4). The Germans couldn’t dispose of the bodies as quickly as they accumulated. The conditions of the living were equally horrifying to the
During the Holocaust many things that occurred in concentration camps caused despair among its prisoners.Mr. Wiesel tells about the treatment in death camps in his book Night by Elie Wiesel. He faced starvation, physical, and mental abuse. In 1944, Wiesel and his family were deported from Hungary. He lost everything including his family, religion, identity, and faith in humanity. Wiesel and his father were sent to Birkenau where they were held, but were later moved to a different death camp.
In his testimony, Harry Herder is trying to cleanse himself yet remember all of the horrific sights he saw at Buchenwald in a way that will put them to rest. He describes how intricately the way the corpses were stacked one on top of another, in layers, almost. They were about five feet high. The one detail that is similar to Belsen, however is the awful stench of the camp. "It was then that the smell of the place started to get to me. Our noses, rebelling against the surroundings they were constantly subjected and were not functioning anywhere normally" ( Herder 3). Herder explains the way they react to the American troops almost calming. "We said we were, and the reaction of the whole mass was immediate: simultaneously on their faces were relaxation, ease, joy..." (Herder 2). He described the prisoners as "...skeletons covered with skin--nothing more than that--there appeared to be no substance to them. Out of all of the things he saw, he explains how he and his men had aged years in a matter of a few hours because of all of the indescribable
People that survived the Holocaust were optimistic and/or hid but today most are guilty. They have guilt in them because they survived while others were dying amongst them.Surviving World War II meant freedom but many did not get to that point, unfortunately. They were brutally murdered or died either from working too much , starvation, and/ or diseases that spread like wildfire. Unbelievably, smells from the gas chambers, where victims were poisoned with gasses, are still present at concentration camps locations . Many survivors have never been able to get over this horrific event that took place because of the terrifying memories from the camps. Memories of how ruthlessly people were being killed, disgusting food, and the hard work, haunt
The Nazis killed over six million Jews and millions of other Polish and Soviet civilians in the Holocaust. They also killed gypsies, physically and mentally disabled people and homosexuals. The number of survivors today are quickly dwindling down. Clinical psychologist Natan Kellermann defines a Holocaust survivor as any Jew who lived under Nazi occupation and was threatened by the “final solution” (Kellermann 199). This definition can be applied to not only Jews, but to anyone in general whose life was threatened by the Nazis. When these survivors were liberated, they believed the suffering was over, but for many, this wasn’t the case. The trauma of the horrors they faced is still evident in their life. By analyzing the effects of post traumatic stress disorder after the Holocaust, readers can see that the aftermath of the Holocaust is still prevalent in the survivor’s everyday life; This is important to show that while the trauma may not be overcome, the survivor can be more at peace with the events.
It was extremely difficult for survivors to rebuild their lives back in their home town. This is because “Jewish communities no longer existed in much of europe”(United States Holocaust Museum). And when the survivors tried to return to their houses most “just didn't feel welcome”(United States Holocaust Museum); “ they found that in many cases, their homes had been looted or taken over by others”(United States Holocaust Museum). On top of their houses often being stolen from their possession, there had been “anti-Jewish riots [that] broke out in several Polish cities” (Levine). Struggling with PTSD and attempting to find their lost relatives and friends that were more times than not killed in the holocaust, survivors really did not have a place to call
“For many others not even liberation prevented their eventual deaths. For those who did survive, liberation proved to be a joyful and a sorrowful experience”(White Rose 1). Liberation takes place when the Americans or any member of the allies comes and frees those who were imprisoned in the concentration camps. Whether this experience is good or bad is the question. Many believe that liberation was a symbol of freedom, but others think maybe liberation is not a great time. There is the fact that many people lost their loved ones during the holocaust and don’t want to live life without them or maybe some feel just too weak to try and start over. Liberation was not gratifying for many prisoners and life after liberation was less than satisfactory.
According to the 3 texts, the Holocaust survivors suffered through many miseries and seclusion in the Ghettos or concentration camps. The Jews had been abused, lost loved ones, and put in prison or concentration camps for no apparent reason. The Jews were getting robbed by storm troopers and they had nothing left afterwards. The Nazi party also loved to torture people, so for punishment they would secure a prisoner’s wrist behind their backs and hang them. In which this would cause dislocation in their shoulder. The Jews also lost many of their loved ones due to separation and most of them never saw them again. The reason in having concentration camps was only because they ran out of room in the prison cells. All in all, Holocaust survivors
Throughout World War II, people endured tremendous loss, leaving behind their belongings and identity in their hometowns in which they were taken from. Jews were forced out of their homes and taken to ghettos and concentration camps throughout Europe. In America, many people along the west coast of Japanese descent were sent to labor camps due to prejudice after the Pearl Harbor attack. All minorities suffered through immeasurable pain, coping through the loss of family members, friends, and their homes. Elie Wiesel tells his story of suffering during the Holocaust in his biography, Night.
Jewish Holocaust survivors enduring horrendous treatment of the Holocaust, and it impacted the aftermath of the event as well. Because of the emotional and physical trauma after liberation, Jewish Holocaust survivors struggled with rebuilding their lives and adapting to live a “normal life”.
To begin, during the holocaust, many people’s lives were at risk. Most activities that you do in your everyday life would get you killed in a concentration camp.
Eighteen million Europeans went through the Nazi concentration camps. Eleven million of them died, almost half of them at Auschwitz alone.1 Concentration camps are a revolting and embarrassing part of the world’s history. There is no doubt that concentration camps are a dark and depressing topic. Despite this, it is a subject that needs to be brought out into the open. The world needs to be educated on the tragedies of the concentration camps to prevent the reoccurrence of the Holocaust. Hitler’s camps imprisoned, tortured, and killed millions of Jews for over five years. Life in the Nazi concentration camps was full of terror and death for its individual prisoners as well as the entire Jewish
Although it may not seem as if the Main Camp, Auschwitz, is as old as it should be compared to the age it has, Auschwitz is very much true indeed.” The crema/gas chamber in the Main Camp (Auschwitz I) has been accurately restored to its historic role as a
Everyone experiences emotional and physiological obstacles in their life. However, these obstacles are incomparable to the magnitude of the obstacles the prisoners of the Holocaust faced every day. In his memoir, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, illustrates the horrors of the concentration camps and their mental tool. Over the course of Night, Wiesel demonstrates, that exposure to an uncaring, hostile world leads to destruction of faith and identity.
At the time of the Holocaust, the Jews put into concentration camps reacted in several different ways. Some of them lost all hope and were destroyed because of their circumstances, however others thrived and grew because of this time. Also numerous things may have been thought to cause these responses to tragedy. The main reason that caused the different results in people, was the self motivation that they stored inside. Without motivation and encouragement, their souls could become destroyed; In response to the effects of the camps they become immune and aren’t devastatingly affected. The future of their lives depends on how they perceived this situation. To them it could have been a new beginning or an end to all.
“You just can’t understand it, even when you’ve seen it”, Percy Knauth an American reporter claimed. (Abzug 45). The Holocaust is without a doubt the epitome of all trajectories.On the topic of the Holocaust, the focus points are the functions of the concentration camps and its survivors.The liberation of these Nazi camps is somewhat overlooked. The photos and the testimonies of the camp liberations allowed for the American people to comprehend the depths of the atrocities that had occurred. Without the witnesses, photos and testimonies the concentration camps wouldn’t have been liberated, if not for the supported evidence from the liberations the American people wouldn’t have face the true depth of the ghastly crime that is the Holocaust. In “Inside The Vicious Heart Americans And The Liberation Of Nazi Concentration Camps” Robert H.