Alyssa Anderson

Period: 3
3/26/15
The Holocaust
Is the Holocaust the first event in history where Jews were mistreated because of their
religion? Was the history of the Holocaust the most gruesome event in the history of the Judaism
religion? Is Judaism the only religion that is disliked by other religions? Even though answers to
these questions may not be all yes, what happened in the Holocaust was still pretty horrible and
what happened in history did effect the outcome of Jewish history. The gruesome events in the
Holocaust include the treatment of the Jews, the conditions of the concentration camps, and the
Germans reasoning, playing a huge part in their gruesome history.
During the ruling of Hitler is when the Jews started to be treated poorly, as they have
throughout their history. Since the Holocaust to place during Hitlers rule, this shows the way the
Jews were treated, do to Hitlers and the Nazis hatred toward them and their religion. There was
a large amount of deaths during the Holocaust, such as the 5,933,900 approximate number of
Jews dead in the end of the Holocaust. These deaths where the outcome of the Jews being treated
harshly, blaming their deaths on the Nazis that caused them harm. This was even worse for those
who were thought to be useless to the Nazis. Death had come sooner to those who were of no
importance to the Nazis, for there was no use for them because they were unable to aid the Nazis
in what they wanted. Proving this to be true is the interview of Joseph Sher by John Menszer.
This now grown man was only a child, almost thirteen, when he experience the hatred the Nazi
Germans had for him and his people. Feeling it all of the time even in school. Sadly it was not

just him who was treated this way, but many in fact were treated that way. In fact the hatred was
so bad that Jewish mothers would have to come and get their children from school because it was
so unsafe for them to walk home alone, luckily women were treated with a little more respect by
the Nazis. However this hatred was in their neighborhood every Monday, in fact Mondays were
named Bloody Mondays. They were called this do to the Jewish men having to lay down on the
hot concrete and being able to get up because they would be shot, yet the tenth or twelfth person
would still be shot to prove a point and also keep the men scared. Sadly Joseph had seen this
throughout his childhood, but it unfortunately continued when he went to his new home, if a
concentration camp can even be called that. The sad thing about the shooting now, was that it
wasnt to scare anyone. As he went from one place to another, Sher learned that Nazis shot or
shot at people to scare them into listening, and to also make the time fly by, so just for fun, no
reason just because they wanted and could do it. Luckily he was lucky enough to find Germans
that did not agree with the way the Jews were being treated and helped Joseph get out of this life
and become a survivor of the Holocaust and its horrors. In fact he was saved by a doctor and a
professor. This helped him become stronger, since he was able to survive the Holocaust
unharmed, except for the loss he suffered in his life. Not only did the Holocaust bring fear and
heartache in to the world but, in modern time it has helped people come to realization that their
beliefs are in fact their beliefs. The Holocaust caused war, fear, sorrow, and heartache to enter the
world because of the horrors in the way Jews were treated. Shers life history shows the history
of religious disagreements at its worst and what happens to the people who just want to believe
in what they want. Sadly the treatment of the Jews is not the only thing that makes the Holocaust
so horrible.

Unfortunately, the way the Jews were treated was not the only reason the Holocaust could
be called gruesome, but the way the concentration camps were ran, gave it the extra step it
needed to be classified as horrendous. In the concentration camps, some people, the people who
were no longer useful to the Nazis, were taken to the showering house where they were told
they would be showering, except that is not what happened. In fact, they were ready to shower
but instead of the water coming on instead, the gas poured in killing the people inside the area.
This was, of course, the reward the Jews were given after they gave all they had, to make sure
they did not die. They did as they were told and did it well in order to make sure they continued
living because those who were to weak or old were killed because they were not giving the Nazis
anything to make their live worth some sort of value. Since they would not be able to work for
the Nazis, the Nazis had no use for them or their lives and killed them by shooting them or
putting them in the gas chambers or other terrible things. Their live in the concentration camps
were not so great even before the Nazis started to kill those who no longer had any use for them,
in fact they were given two kilos of bread to live on while they slaved away in the concentration
camps. Also they had to sleep on piles of hay as their beds, mostly only giving them lice to go
along with their mistreatment. Sad as it may be a survivor named Meta Doran was interviewed
by John Przyby to find out her story and what was found was that she was subjected to the loss
of her parents, her father dying of starvation and her mother was unknown of what may have
happened to her, along with the mistreatment she faced in the concentration camps. The only
reason Doran was saved was because of the fact that she could speak four different languages
and that was useful to the Nazis. Only because the Nazis could use her was her safety. Yet there
were many people were not as fortunate to have the gifts she did and were treated like those who
were worthless to the Nazis. Sadly the concentration camps werent the only thing that added on

to the Holocausts horrible history, there was more that made it even worse to be a Jew at this
time.
The thing that is the most saddening about the way the Jews were treated, was the reasons
why it happened this way. What was it the German Nazis hated about the Jews that drove them to
do such horrible things? Why did the Nazis treat the Jews the way they did? This all comes down
to the reason the Nazis hated the Jews so deeply, and what made them act upon their feelings. It
was already well known that Jews were not the most liked people or religion, but no other person
nor religion had a greater hate then the Nazi Germans. Why is that? There were only two
differences in between the Nazis hatred and the other religions dislike that drove the horrible
things that happened to happen and cause the damage it did. As it is said in the interview of the
English Historian, David Cesarani, by Laurence Rees, the Germans hate was so strong because
unlike the other religions, the Nazis had unusually more radical and biological hate that made
their hatred so strong. The Nazis believed that there was a biological struggle for dominance
against Jews and everyone else. It is easily seen that there would be no debate between the two
and that the Germans must have believed this very much because the acted on it. Yet this doesnt
just so the hardships of what they went through but, what they had to survive in order to live a
better life. In modern time this shows people to be strong and show the harships of the past so
that in the future people may be able to fix the world. Which has happened because in the
modern world it is seen that anyone is allowed to follow whatever beliefs they want to follow, in
fact it is a right of the people. This shows the thought of the Nazis at this time and how their
beliefs played a huge part in what happened throughout history, just as the Jews did just by
following their own beliefs. Sadly though, there were just two things that caused such a large
amount of people, 5,933,900, to have so much pain, agony, and heartache, where if this hatred

could have been solved there would not be so many people dead. Though this shows the Nazis
reasoning behind the way they treated the Jews and what made them do the things they did to the
Jews. This playing a huge part in their gruesome history, but sadly not being avoided and hurting
more people in the process.
The horrendous events of the Holocaust, such as the mistreatment of the Jews, the
concentration camps conditions, and the reasons of the Germans, prove to show the part it plays
in the Jewish history and how it contributed to the unfortunate events presented in their their
history. It shows the pain and hatred the Jews had to face in order to survive this small event in
their timeline. Though not only did it cause the Jews to feel the terrible things they did but, it
helped them develop strength and love to continue believing in what they though was right and
not caring what other people may say about their religion. They realized that it only mattered
what they wanted to believe and that helped modern time be as it is. If it wasnt for their example
people would not take the time to fight for what they believed and the modern world would not
have the rights they do. Showing the huge effect this event had not only in Jewish history but
also in the modern world and its history.