WWII

Emily Rizzo

LIVING IN AMSTERDAM

TIMELINE

August 23, 1939: Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Agreement

September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe

September 17, 1939: The Soviet Union occupies Poland from the east

July 6, 1941: Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) shoot nearly 3,000 Jews at the Seventh

Fort, one of the 19th-century fortifications surrounding Kovno

November 30, 1941: Einsatzgruppen shoot 10,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto in the Rumbula

Forest

December 11, 1941: Nazi Germany declares war on the United States

January 16, 1942: Germans begin the mass deportation of more than 65,000 Jews from Lodz to

the Chelmno killing center

May 15, 1944: Germans begin the mass deportation of about 440,000 Jews from Hungary

January 18, 1945: Death march of nearly 60,000 prisoners from the Auschwitz camp system in

southern Poland

January 25, 1945: Death march of nearly 50,000 prisoners from the Stutthof camp system in

northern Poland

April 29, 1945: American forces liberate the Dachau concentration camp

April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide

May 9, 1945: Germany surrenders to the Soviets

M Y J O U R N E Y T H R O U G H W O R L D WA R T W O

Being Jewish during this time, was terrifying. This star

represented our faith, our past and our future. Having this

star on us separated us from the “good” and “bad” people.

WHEN IT BEGAN

Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves.

The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars

to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they're sending all the

Jews....If it's that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and

uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most

of them are being murdered. The English radio says they're being gassed.“

- October 9, 1942

Deportation was very scary. We didn’t know

What to expect, where we were going or why

This was happening.

MAP OF THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS

Life in the camps were petrifying. We never knew if we

would make it to tomorrow. All the work you do for noting.

These camps were everywhere. There was no stopping Hitler.

GETTING SENT TO THE CAMPS

After getting out of the camps, I remember seeing newspaper articles about

other peoples experiences in the camps. Yet, I always thought those articles

gave us no justice as to what we went through.

L A B E L I N G

These numbers caused us lots of pain. Not just physical,

but emotional pain. They made us feel like labeled

animals. After this point, our lives were forever changed.

DAILY LIFE

Our lives were filled with constant work, little food and

multiple deaths a day. We had no enjoyment, nothing to strive

for. We were separated from our families, friends and truly,

life.

LIFE AFTER THE CAMPS

The day had finally arrived. We got to leave the concentration camps.

However, at this time I really had nothing to live for. My family had been

killed and so had my friends. I had no where to go and I was brutally scared

from the torturous camps. After a long time of depression, I decided to move

somewhere completely new. The United States!

WORKS CITED

"Diary Excerpts." The Anne Frank Center USA. N.p., n.d. Web.

Gregory, Derek "Holocaust." The Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford:

Blackwell Publishers, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 9 April 2014.

"Holocaust Reparations." CQ Researcher by CQ Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr.

2014.

"The Aftermath of the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013.

Web. 07 Apr. 2014.