Shelby Hendrix 102 117 - Holocaust Essay

7/30/2019 Shelby Hendrix 102 117 - Holocaust Essay

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The Holocaust, seventy years later, is still the worst case of genocide in human history.

Millions of people died during the course of only a few years and many more were unfairly

treated for reasons no person should ever be. Religious views, political views, even sexual

orientation were some of the reasons for mistreatment and often death. The Holocaust was more

than a political movement which got out of hand, spearheaded by the distaste Germany had after

the Treaty of Versailles. It was a reign of terror held over much of Europe for years. It is the

most notorious mass murder in modern history.

Nazi rise to power

The Treaty of Versailles was not the cause of the war or even the Holocaust but more like

the spark that vaulted the Nazi party to the top of Germany. After the

treaty Germany was suffering greatly. The Allied countries forced

Germany into a time of poverty and hardship with the treaty by making

them admit fault for the war, limiting their military, and paying

reparations to cover the cost of the war since they were held responsible

for the war. These reparations were so great that the German

government increased taxes on its citizens to help pay for them.

Through these hard times a political figure in which the German people

could believe in and rally behind arose. Adolf Hitler was that figure. Hitler used the money from

wealthy business men to fund his elections and propaganda campaigns. Propaganda, Hitlers

ability to speak, and great organizing skills all helped him to rise to the top and influence the

German people to adopt his way of thinking and views. Tony Howarth, a modern historian, says

[Hitler's policies] were half-baked, racist clap-trap... but among the jumble of hysterical ideas

Hitler showed a sure sense of how to appeal to the lowest instincts of frightened masses.

A 1936 poster that says "Hitler- our

last hope"Source: http://bit.ly/ZnxTHm


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(Hitler's Rise to Power) While it may be hard for a modern historian to tell know exactly how

Hitlers appeal worked there are quotes from the 1920s such as Karl Ludecke, an early follower

of Hitler. Ludecke said in 1924, He was holding the masses, and me with them, under an

hypnotic spell by the sheer force of his beliefs. His words were like a whip. When he spoke of

the disgrace of Germany, I felt ready to attack any enemy. (Hitler's Rise to Power) Hitler used

his influence to create and eventually follow through with his anti-sematic agenda.

Nazis views on jewsanti-Semitism

The Nazi party viewed Jews as an inferior race that could

not be trusted. A lower class of person is what Jews were viewed as

to the Nazis. The Nazis had a superior race of person which

would be viewed as the perfect human being. These people are

called Aryans. Aryans were the type of human that Hitler wanted

to represent Germany in the future. The 1936 Berlin Olympics were

the stage which Hitler looked to prove his Aryan race was better

than the rest of the world and most certainly the Jewish people. (The

Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936) Not only did Hitler and the Nazi party

view the Jewish people as inferior people they also made them out to be the scapegoat for all of

Germanys problems after WWI. The Nazis tried to make the Jews look like untrustworthy and

evil people.

Nuremberg Laws

Once the Nazis came to power in 1933 the Jewish people soon found themselves

restricted by over four hundred separate regulations and laws. From social to personal, Jews were

A German anti-Jewish propaganda

poster that reads "The Jew is an

infection to the people."

Source: http://bit.ly/15btX48


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not allowed to participate in a symphony orchestra or even own a pet cat. These laws and

regulations are known as The Nuremburg Laws. These laws did more than just limit what

animals Jews could own for pets but they tried to protect German blood from non-German blood.

The Germans did this by prohibiting marriages and extra-marital intercourse between Jews and

Germans. The German citizenship of all Jews was taken away thanks to The Reich Citizenship

Law. The Nuremburg Laws made official the measures already taken against Jews up to their

creation. (Noakes) The Laws were finalized September 15, 1935.

Propaganda

The views of the German people had of Jews at

this time was not a view they were born with. Their

views came from Nazi propaganda and maybe even

brainwashing. There was a Reich Ministry of Public

Enlightenment which was responsible for educating the

people of Germany about political ideas and even

attacking the Jewish people with their anti-Sematic

words, slogans and teachings. The Ministry used the

mediums of art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press to spread

their views and hatred. (Nazi Propoganda) Among the people of Germany there were several

audiences and the Ministry tried to cater to them. Propaganda campaigns created an atmosphere

tolerant of violence against Jews in periods preceding legislative and executive measures against

Jews. The Ministry also promoted passivism toward the Nazi government and painted a picture

where the Nazis were restoring order and peace among the rattled German people.

This is a perfect example of anti-Semitism propaganda as the

sign reads "The Jews are our misfortune"

Source: http://bit.ly/YdPxhd


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Kristallnacht

On November 7, 1938 Ernst Vom Rath, a

secretary of the German ambassador to France, was

assassinated. This opened the door for Joseph

Goebbels, Hitlers Chief of propaganda, to launch a

pogrom against the Jews of Germany. Since

Goebbels viewed the assassination of Von Rath as

an attack by the Jewish community he launched one

of his own. Rampaging mobs took to the streets on

the nights of November the 9th

and 10th

to take revenge on the Jews of Germany and Austria. The

mobs attacked Jews in the streets, their homes, and places of worship. The assault was more than

just against the Jewish people but their businesses and properties as well. The mob smashed

windows and burned Jewish businesses and synagogues. About one hundred Jews were killed,

hundreds more were injured, more than one thousand synagogues were burned, almost eight

thousand Jewish businesses were destroyed, and about thirty thousand Jews were arrested and

sent to camps or ghettos. (Kristallnacht) Three days later the Nazis looked to hold the Jews

responsible for Kristallnacht or theNight of Broken Glass.

Rounding up Jewsghettos

After Kristallnacht, Jews were arrested and taken to small areas where they were no more

than refugees. These small areas could either be in rural areas or a closed off section in a slum

part of town. Never the less these areas were called ghettos and were terribly overcrowded, filled

with diseases, and starvation. The Jewish Ghettos were never meant to turn into a long term

Germans Passing Glass of a Jewish owned shopSource: http://bit.ly/Yr01ds


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establishment, instead a temporary holding pin

for the Jews before the final solution thought of

and carried out. (Bard) Though in the ghettos,

people stayed long enough to die of starvation. If

someone was not strong and did not have a will to

live they most likely would not make it. The

conditions inside the Warsaw ghetto were so bad

that one in ten people died while inhabiting it. Jews

caught circumventing the Nazi rule over the

ghettos to get food or other necessities were often put to death. (Ghetto)

Resistance

The Jewish people were no doubt weakened and helpless through much of the Holocaust.

They were pushed around, abused, and led to their deaths. The Jews did not want this to happen

to them and would have loved a way out at any cost other than a helpless death at the hands of

the Nazis. As unlikely as the chances of a uprising against the Nazis was among the Jews it was

even more likely they would succeed in their attempt at freedom, revenge, or justice. Though the

odds were not in the favor of the Jews, some still preceded in some valiant but mostly

unsuccessful uprisings. One of the earliest uprisings against the Germans happened in the Tuchin

ghetto on September 3, 1942. About seven hundred Jewish families escaped from the ghetto in

Ukraine, yet only 15 survived while the rest were hunted down. It seems a turn out such as this is

about as good as it could get as the Jews had nowhere to go once they got out of the ghetto. The

Jews also took a stand against the Germans in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943. The inhabitants of the

ghetto had arranged about one thousand fighters who were unarmed. When the S.S. entered the

Homeless Jewish children in the Warsaw ghetto

Source: http://bit.ly/YYSAO6


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ghetto for a new shipment of Jews to take to the death camps they were met by the fighter who

hurled homemade weapons and fired a few guns, which were smuggled into the ghetto, at them.

Twenty S.S. soldiers were killed. The Nazi military was then brought in and reduced the ghetto

to no more than a large pile of rubble. It was a valiant effort but fifteen thousand Jews died and

the rest were shipped off to death camps. (Jewish Resistance to the Nazi Genocide)

There is at least one resistance story that has

a good ending. In 1941 the Bielski brothers are a

group of brothers that lead about one thousand and

two hundred Jewish refugees in the forests of the

Soviet Union. These brothers took in all kinds of

people and every able bodied person did their part in

order to stay alive and out of reach of the Nazis. (The

Bielski Brothers - Jewish Resistance and the "Otriad")

Wannsee ConferenceThe Final Solution

As the Holocaust progressed the amount of Jews in ghettos and work camps became

increasingly larger than the capacity for them was. The Nazis needed a Final Solutions to

relieve some of the building pressure. The Final Solution was the code name for the systematic

extermination of the Jews. It was intended to be a deliberate and physical annihilation of the

Jews of Europe. It was decided upon at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. A villa owned

by SS-Nordhav Foundation in Wannsee was where the conference was held. There were over a

dozen Nazi officials and doctors in attendance at the conference. Many versions of the Final

The Bielski Brothers

Source: http://bit.ly/11dVICH


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Solution were discussed but many were discarded as they were either not practical or would

lead back to the Nazis and their officials. (Wannsee Conference)

SelectionSelektion

Once being deported from the ghettos to concentration camps, the Jews were loaded up

on trains where it was standing room only. Aboard these trains there was next to little food, heat,

and no place to go to the bathroom for the long ride to the camp. Upon arrival the Jews were

escorted out of the train into lines where divided by variables such as age and gender. From there

they were either selected to stay at the camp or sent for execution. The man making this decision

would normally be a S.S. physician who

would direct them left or right. If a Jew got to

stay at the camp, they were used for hard

labor, which often led to the result of being

sent to the other side of the physician at the

selection process. (Nazi Camps) The other

side of the physician would be the gas

chambers where the Jews were sent to be

exterminated in an efficient manner.

Another side to the selection process is the experiments the Nazis did on Jews inside the

camps. Most notorious for these experiments is Dr. Josef Mengele, also known as The Angel of

Death. At Auschwitz he did a number of experiments on Jewish twins. Often the experiments

were ones such as injecting dye into the eyes in order to change the color. Unfortunately

Deportation from the Westerbork transit camp. The Netherlands,19431944.

US Holocaust Memorial MuseumSource: http://bit.ly/Z3qL7p


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injections to the eye were one of the more humane experiments he conducted at Auschwitz. Even

more unfortunate Dr. Mengele was never caught and brought to justice. (Dr. Josef Mengele)

Extermination Methods

After being sent left of the line upon entrance to the camp the Jews were to be executed

in a quick an efficient fashion. Among the methods of execution there were mass shootings or

firing squads, gas trucks, and gas chambers most famous for being

disguised as showers. These were the most common three methods of

extermination. It didnt take long for the firing squads to stop though.

The squads were an extreme waste of ammunition for the Nazis

considering they were now fighting a losing war and needed to

conserve what ammunition they could. On top of being viewed as a

waste the squads took a huge toll mentally on those in charge of

carrying out the orders to pull the trigger. As much as the Nazis are

viewed as something that isnt human, even this got to them. So many

days of murdering crying and terrified people is more than enough to break down even some of

the less human people. Gas trucks were another common form of execution. The Jews were

loaded into the back of a truck and forced to breathe the exhaust of the truck taking them to their

grave. By the time they got to their graves they were already dead and ready to be buried. This

was a much more efficient process than the firing squads but it left evidence of the mass murder

behind and the Nazis feared being caught if they lost the war. The third method of extermination

was the gas chambers. Gas chambers were often a shower room with a simple hatch in the roof.

Through the hatch a Zyklon-B was dropped. Once all the Jews inside the chamber were dead,

they were moved to the crematorium where the evidence of the murder was destroyed. This

The brick chimney to the

crematorium at Auschwitz

Source: http://bit.ly/113hDxp


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proved to be the best fit for the Nazis, extermination wise, as it was cheap, effective, and

disposed of any incriminating evidence.

The death camps

Death camps were something different form the traditional concentration camp in the

sense that they were specifically for killing. Death camps existed for the systematic

extermination of people who were considered to be undesirable to the Nazi regime. Jews,

Gypsies, homosexuals, and the mentally retarded were

all considered undesirable to the Nazis and there for

persecuted and murdered in the camps. Upon arrival

at a death camp the prisoners were quickly dealt with

by being sent to the gas chambers. Death camps were

not for forced labor or breaking their prisoners, but

they were for the killing of their prisoners. (Inside a

Nazi Death Camp, 1944)

Liberation

Near the end of the war the Allied forces were sweeping across Europe, pushing back the

Axis forces. As they moved the came across Europe they found thousands of camps filled with

Jewish prisoners. These prisoners were starving and had diseases due to the overcrowding that

took place. The living prisoners were not all that the Allied troops found when they came to

these camps. They found piles of dead bodies. The Nazis were unable to hide the horrors that

took place at the camps from the Allies. (Liberation of Nazi Camps) The guards of these camps

were executed for their crimes.

A look inside the barracks of a concentration camp

Source: http://bit.ly/113npPz


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After Liberationuntil 1948 when Israel is formed

After liberation many former

prisoners found it hard to adjust from the

terrible conditions they had endured

during the Nazi reign of terror. Thousands

of survivors actually died from over

eating, pandemics, and exhaustion.

Thousands of people were suddenly free

and had nowhere to go and no way of

getting there. When the survivors eventually made it home they found their homes and families

didnt exist anymore. Some survivors even encountered hostility and violence as they returned to

their home towns. Many looked to leave Europe and start over. (The Holocaust)

The Holocaust was a terrible time in human history. Though it was the first time the

Jewish people have been persecuted, but it very well might be the worst. The Germans may have

been the people who did it last but thats not to say it couldnt happen again. Any country or race

is capable of the horrors that took place during the Holocaust and maybe even worse now. The

Holocaust is still going on today in anti-sematic groups all around the world. It may not be near

the scale that it was but all it would take is another great leader like Hitler to rally people again.

Thankfully the world wont allow another Hitler to rise and repeat history again.

Modern day Jews now living in IsraelSource: http://bit.ly/15fZ9zh


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Works Cited

Austin, Ben S. "Kristallnacht." Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia. The American-Israeli Cooperative

Enterprise, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

Bard, Mitchell. "The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising."Jewish Virtual Library. The American Israeli

Cooperative Enterprise, 2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

"Dr. Josef Mengele." The Holocaust, The Shoah, The Nazi Genocide. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr.

2013.

"Ghetto."Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

"Hitler's Rise to Power."Hitler's Rise to Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.Hitler's Rise to

Power. n.d. Web. 10 April 2013.

"Holocaust History." Nazi Propaganda.N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

"Inside a Nazi Death Camp, 1944."EyeWitness to History - History through the Eyes of Those

Who Lived It. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

"Jewish Resistance to the Nazi Genocide."Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web.

16 Apr. 2013.

"Liberation of Nazi Camps." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 17

Apr. 2013.

"Nazi Camps." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Noakes, Jeremy, and Geoffrey Pridham.Documents on Nazism 1919-1945. New York: Viking

Press, 1975. 10 April 2013.

"The Bielski Brothers - Jewish Resistance and the Otriad."Jewish Virtual Library -

Homepage. Holocaust Education and Research Team, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.

"The Holocaust." - Yad Vashem. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936.Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

"Wannsee Conference." The Holocaust History Project Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr.

2013.


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Points AvailableScore

40Content paper demonstrates understanding

and confidence about topic35

20Sources uses only primary and secondary

sources18

40

In-Text Citations integrates sources within

text with effective use of signal words and

phrases

25

35 Formatting properly uses MLA formatting

28

25

Works Cited works cited page has the

required number of sources and is properly

formatted

17

15Pictures uses pictures to enhance the text

with effective captions and source information15

25 Writing Mechanics Paper is free from errorsin spelling, punctuation, etc. 20

Total = 200

Total Score

158