Writing As Resistance: Bearing Witness In The Warsaw Ghetto

Eleven million individuals were victimized by the Holocaust. Six million of those victims were Jewish, while the other five million were groups targeted by the Nazi’s because they didn’t fit their discriminative criteria. Inhumane practices were used in attempts to purify and unify the German state (Novick, 225). When the Holocaust is discussed, the Jewish victims are usually the main focal point of the massive “genocide.”

Everyone’s experience during the Holocaust is one of a kind. All of their experiences have things in common and things that make them unique. For example, we can use an excerpt from Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night and “Roll Call,” by Charlotte Delbo. To show the things that make their experience unique and similar.

When analyzing scholar’s interpretations of significant past events, it is crucial to take into consideration the preconceived notions that they may transport into their research. It is also important to consider the time period in which the area of focus took place, in this case, the Holocaust, and the time period in which the historian is conducting his research. After analyzing the many different ways specific academics went about analyzing the roles of the Judenräte, it become extremely transparent that scholars did not agree on many aspects of the Judenräte.

In contemporary society, our knowledge of the past is articulated through the interplay between history and memory, which work to expose the elusive truths of the past, and exemplify the strength of humanity. Richard White, a historian, posits; “History is the enemy of memory...History forges weapons from what memory has forgotten or suppressed.” This definition postulates that there is an inevitable dichotomy between the accretion of factual evidence and the subjectivity of personal experience by shaping the collective past of humanity. However, as indicated by Mark Baker’s memoir, The Fiftieth Gate and Cathy Wilcox’s Cartoon, both of which explore perceptions of the Holocaust through an array of unique and evocative literary

The Holocaust is one of the most darkened events in human history, as it serves as a horrible event that took place 80 years ago. It stands as a chilling reminder of unchecked bigotry and intolerance of humans across the years and how a supreme leader can influence hatred in the souls of others. In the book ‘Night’, Eliezer Wiesel endured physical and mental pain while he was living in the camp. He was treated inhumanely like the rest of the inmates in Auschwitz who had lived there for years. This event shattered families across the nation, leaving permanent scars for generations to come, Elie was one of the millions of people who were affected by this event, and he bravely shared his memoir of some of the horrifying instances that he endured

Throughout the Holocaust, Jews organized resistance movements in ghettos, concentration, and extermination camps. Although they had virtually no weapons and faced one of the largest arsenals in the world, the Jewish people fought for their honor and freedom. Without any hope victory and in the face of death, resistance fighters found the courage to take on evil in its purest form. Their efforts must not go in vein; to them we must accord our respect. This is a brief testimony of their fight against the Nazi regime.

The Holocaust was a horrible event that treated people less than human. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night shows the dehumanization of the Jewish race during the Holocaust while violating most, if not all, of the rights of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( UDHR ) . The UDHR declares all the rights that every human being is inherently entitled to. By using Article five and thirteen of the UDHR one could see how horribly the Jews were tortured, their lack of freedom, and the pure dehumanization the prisoners of concentration camps had to go through.

There has not been another genocide that has killed the amount of people that the Holocaust did. Mr. Steinberg’s historical recollection is significant because as time passes we are losing these brave survivors and eventually there will be no survivors of the Holocaust left to tell their story. Thanks to the Shoah Foundation we are able to observe the testimonials of Holocaust survivors for years to come and the stories of those who survived will live on forever. Hearing someone tell their story is astonishing and has a more superior impact on the audience than reading something from a book or screen. A testimonial offers personal reflection and allows the audience to personally reflect on what they are hearing.

Each of these histories reveal a story of suffering that is endured by both Gentile and Jew, but also a story of humanity and salvation. In Five Chimneys: A woman Survivor’s True Story of Auschwitz, Olga Lengyel tells of her family assisting other Jews fleeing the Nazi military. Later, after her own ordeals in Auschwitz, she was saved by citizens in a small Polish village. An essay written by Vera Laska is included in Women and the Holocaust: Different Voices, which is an anthology of essays about women in the Holocaust. In addition to the many stories of survivors and rescuers, I am using several scholarly articles

The resistance of the Holocaust has claimed worldwide fame at a certain point in history, but the evidence that the evil-doers themselves left crush everything that verifies the fantasy of the Holocaust. For an example, in Poland, the total Jewish population of over thirty-three hundred thousand suddenly plummeted to three hundred thousand. Ten percent of the population survived the Holocaust in Poland. Almost every country that the Nazis have conquered has the same percent of survival as Poland. In Elie Wiesel Wiesel’s memoir Night, the activities in the concentration camps, the suffering of Jews, and the disbelief of the inhumane actions of the Nazis result in making people resist the truth.

Many Jews across Europe tried to organize resistance against the Germans. Many Jews did this by smuggling homemade weapons. The most famous attempt at resistance against the Germans was, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The Holocaust is widely known as one of the most horrendous and disturbing events in history that the world has seen; over six million lives were lost, in fact the total number of deceased during the Holocaust has never been determined. The footage of concentration camps and gas chambers left the world in utter shock, but photos and retellings of the events cannot compare to being a victim of the Holocaust and living through the horror that the rest of the world regarded in the safety of their homes. Elie Wiesel recognized the indifference that the

The audience can only fully understand what the people of the Holocaust feel and went through. Yvonne Engleman (‘Holocaust Survivor reflects on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz’) states that “many people like her have no pictures of family that died in the Holocaust, so returning to the camp is a way of remembering their loved ones”. This indicates how commemorating the Holocaust is very important as it brings families closer to other family members that they did not get to meet or know. Bernie Sanders (“The Holocaust and Jewish identity”) makes a comment in a democratic debate talking about his family that has been in the Holocaust and says that he is very proud to be Jewish. This shows how even though the Holocaust happened many years ago; it still affects the people of today.

Like sheep led to the slaughter; this is one of the most famous analogies used to refer to the Jews during the holocaust. The Jews were being systematically murdered, beaten, and abused day after day, and there was almost no refusal on their part. Almost no one fought back. This however was not the case in the Warsaw ghetto.

“Germany's Holocaust Memorial Problem-and Mine” is an article that analyzes the complexities of creating a memorial that will represent a great amount of Jewish people that perished in the hands of the Nazi Germany during the 1930's and early 1940's. James E. Young author of this article, was part of a five member committee that would agree whether or not to build a memorial and the process was very difficult because they had to make sure that the jewish community accepted the memorial and the Germans would not feel offended or targeted. What made things awkward in a way was that Young was Jewish so he would be responsible of the criticism for either accepting or denying a memorial option. What was significant in the article was that the topic