Research Paper Holocaust Overview

Zach Morris

Mr. Neuburger Eng. Comp 102-118 4 April 2013

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The Holocaust is an event that is remembered by just about everyone. Some, however, choose to believe that this terrible case of mass genocide did not happen. None the less, the Holocaust did in fact happen, and there are multiple aspects that need to be examined in order to fully understand the Holocaust. The ones responsible are known as the Nazis, or the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party. Heading the group, as their voice and overall mastermind, is Adolf Hitler. This is the man that drafted the Final Solution, or the plan to exterminate the Jewish people. Of course, this atrocity did not just simply happen in the blink of an eye. Hitler and the rest of the Nazi party gained political favor by playing along with their own political system.

Nazi rise to power The aftermath of World War I, and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, sends Germany into an unforgiving depression. The collapse of their economy allows for the population of Germany to develop a lack of faith in their government; the Weimar Republic. Hitler is drawn to attend a meeting of the National Socialist German Workers Party. He gave an exceptional speech that put him in the seat of their spokesman for all their gatherings. Hitler was a powerful and spellbinding speaker who attracted a wide following of Germans desperate for change(Hitler Comes to Power). After gaining a large amount of followers, Hitler formulates a plan to seize control of Germany by force. This attempt of rebellion is known as the Beer Hall Putsch. In short, Hitlers plan was a failure. He is sent to prison for his treasonous acts. It is here, in a cell, where Hitler dictates his book, Mein Kampf. Within this book, there is a very strong opinion of Anti-Semitism. Hitler goes on to say, I have often been a prophet in my life and was generally laughed at. During my struggle for power, the Jews primarily received with laughter my prophecies that I would someday assume the leadership of the state....and then, among many other things, achieve a solution of the Jewish problem. I suppose [that the laughter] of Jewry in Germany is now choking in their throats (qtd. In Final Solution to the Jewish Problem). Hitler gets

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released from prison, and returns to his post as head of the Nazi party. On January 30, 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler with the Chancellor position. Not long after Hitler enters office, the Reichstag is burned down. Hitler claims the act was committed by communists. The people were outraged and allowed Hitler to manipulate them into letting him turn Germany into a police state.

Nazi view on Jews Anti-Semitism is not exactly a new idea; it has been around for ages. The

Mein Kampf http://bit.ly/171Mlee

Jews in Germany at the time, were unfortunate enough to witness the practice of severe anti-Semitism. The Nazis had a distaste for the Jewish people. The Nazi party believed in what they called the Aryan race, or the master race. This looks like the stereotypical German; blonde hair and blue eyes. Jews were not seen as equals next to the average German, so obviously they are not even close to the master race. The Nazis made life increasingly difficult for the Jews as their power in the Government increased. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Nazis set in place about 400 decrees and regulations that restricted the public and private life of the Jewish population (Anti-Jewish Legislation in Prewar Germany). These rules included things such as Jewish children not being allowed in public schools. Also, Jewish peoples had to sport a star of David on their clothing. This was so people could identify who was a Jew, and who needed to be avoided. The Nazi party deemed the Jewish people as unclean and not worthy on any note, compared to the Aryan race.

Nuremberg Laws

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The German government has been soiled with the minds of the Nazi party leaders and their influences. Evidence of this becomes clear, when new laws are passed and enforced. These laws limit the Jews on their daily lives in many ways. They are not to reproduce, or even have relations with German women. The reason for these laws is to attempt to protect and strengthen German blood; the betterment of the master race. The Nuremberg Laws has a very in depth system set
Jewish men wearing the start of David. http://bit.ly/12kTvJA

up to ensure the laws are enforced to satisfactory. The system is built strongly upon lineage, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They would look at a citizens family tree and trace their lineage back to

their grandparents. If a German citizen has anywhere from three to four Jewish grandparents, then they are considered a Jew. Thus, they are also associated and grouped with the rest of the Jewish community (The Nuremberg Race Laws). Once labeled, of course, the Jewish population is made vulnerable. True evidence of their vulnerability is seen through an event that is known as Kristallnact. Kristallnact This event really marks the beginning of the Holocaust. Kristallnact is the first Government approved act of violence towards the Jews. Kristallnact, in English, is translated to, the Night of Broken Glass. This is primarily for the fact that when all the chaos had died, the streets were covered in broken glass from the windows of Jewish homes and businesses. The SA storm the streets and destroy buildings associated with the Jewish community. The book Kristallnact, by Martin Gilbert, takes an in depth look at the event. In

SA March http://bit.ly/15jC0fR

Kristallnact http://bit.ly/11eWC BL

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Kristallnact he writes, on Hitlers orders, more than 12,000 Jews were expelled from Germany; The 12,000 expellees were taken from their homes under the guns and bayonets of the Gestapo to the nearest railway stations, where they were put on trains to the Polish boarder (Gilbert 1). Interestingly enough, the Night of Broken Glass is the fault of one Polish-Jew named Herschel Grynszpan. According to the book The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan, by Gerald Schwab, this seventeen year old kid assassinates the third Secretary, Ernst vom Rath in the German embassy in Paris. Hitler uses the assassination Ernst vom Rath of rationalize the catastrophe that is Kristallnact (Schwab). After the event has come to an end, Hitler forces all remaining Jews to literally pay for the actions of Grynszpan. Richard J. Evans writes in his book, Third Reich in Power,The Jews were ordered the same day to pay a collective fine of 1 billion Reichsmarks as atonement for the murder of vom Rath (Evans 595). It is not long after this event until the Jewish population is organized, collected, and put into ghettos.

Rounding up Jews The SA move the Jewish population out of daily society in Germany. Hitler has gained through military force, or fear of, Austria and half of Poland. The other half went to Polands neighbor, the Soviet Union. Hitler creates ghettos for the Jews to be relocated to. The Jews are told they are being moved away so that they can acquire work. They were ushered tightly fitted into cattle cars and delivered to their destinations. The ghettos, although intended to be a living space, are not at all equipped to support all the inhabitants that are being shuttled in. The living quarters are tight, commonly shared between multiple families. The living conditions not only brought discomfort, but also created disease through low sanitation. Krakow, Lotz, and Warsaw are just a few of the many

Jews being gathered for ghetto relocation http://bit.ly/10iYgFE

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ghettos that were established. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum delves further into what life was like in the ghetto. Germans deliberately tried to starve residents by allowing them to purchase only a small amount of bread, potatoes, and fat; Every day children became orphaned, and many had to take care of even younger children (Life in the Ghettos). Even though they are suppressed by a superior strength, and suffering terrible conditions on all accounts, there is still evidence of Jewish uprisings. Resistance It becomes apparent that life in the ghetto is becoming unbearable. There are a few cases in which Jewish rebellions made attempts at fighting back against the German army. The largest case of an uprising is that of the one that occurred in Warsaw during 1943. A small group of Jewish activists formed up an underground resistance. They gain a formidable following, and strategically took the Warsaw ghetto by force. Publishers Weekly acknowledges the head of the resistance fighters within Warsaw, Isaac Zuckerman, a charismatic prewar Zionist youth leader, was the organizations co-founder and driving force. Furthermore, Zuckerman figures out a way to cross over to the Aryan side of Warsaw. He acquires methods of fire power and orchestrating a plan to get everyone out of the ghetto through the sewers (Brzezinski). Within the same group of Jewish fighters in Warsaw, was a lady named Irena Sendler. Sendler was able to help in a few ways during the terrible times that befell the Jewish population of Warsaw. She was able to provide Jewish residences with false papers that identified them as Polish Citizens. Moreover, she also helped to relocate Jewish children within the ghetto (Acosta) The resistance fighters were fighting against the professionally trained, well fed, and well rested German forces; they were ill equipped,

Warsaw resistance fighters http://bit.ly/11jlQxu

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weak, and diseased. As a result the resistance movement was put to rest by the force of the German military. Wannsee Conference The Wannsee Conference is an official German governmental meeting. Furthermore, the Wannsee Conference is a gathering of fifteen government and military officials that would be representing their branches. For instance, State Secretary Wilhelm Stuckart, Understate Secretary Martin Luther, and SS major General Otto Hoffman; just to name a few (The Wannsee Conference). These few people will be responsible to fulfill whatever is asked in order to set the last preparations for the Final Solution in place. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum perfectly and elaborately explains exactly what the Final Solution refers to. The Final Solution was the code name for the systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews (Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution). Moreover, this meeting was set up to discuss the support of the plan amongst the branches present. None of the officials present at the meeting objected to the final solution policy (Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution). With not a single refusal to the Final Solution, the plan gets set into motion. Jews are taken harshly into death camps and concentration camps. They are forced to work on basically no sustenance. The Nazis use numerous methods of exterminating the Jewish people in the masses. Death Camps Of all the camps set up to hold the Jewish population, there are only six camps that were engendered with extermination in mind. Non
Attendees of the Wannsee Conference http://bit.ly/17HUNR6

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of the so called death camps reside with in Germany. The names of these camps are as follows, Chelmno, Belzec, Treblinka, Sobibor, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and finally Majdanek (Extermination Camps). Auschwitz and Majdanek differ from the other camps in the sense that they are the only two camps that incorporate both camp types, extermination and concentration (Extermination Camps). Jews would be transported to the camps via the railways in the cattle cars, tightly packed. When they arrived at the camps they would line up into two lines, male and females. Thus, the selection process had begun. This is the process by which they determined who would be exterminated and who would be taken to the barracks for work detail. In Auschwitz, when the selection process is finished, the chosen victims are told they are going to be given a shower. When they step into the Shower location gas seeps in through the vents and fills the air, killing all inside. The method of extermination used differs with just about each camp. For instance, Chelmno, the first extermination camp, used the Gas van method, where as Auschwitz used the crematorium. Furthermore, roughly three million fell victim to these death camps collectively (Extermination Camps). The Holocaust is not an event that is likely to be totally forgotten any time soon. The images, film clips, and literature that are available from the time period are proof of the atrocities that were committed by the Nazi party and their subordinates. The Jewish population was put through an incredibly trying and, surely, traumatizing ordeal. Many innocent people lost their lives
Auschwitz entrance http://bit.ly/17HZB97

in a tragic, inhumane way. The Holocaust, the statistic of murdered Europeans,

and the start of World War II can all be traced back to one man; Adolf Hitler. He was able to play and manipulate the German political system in his favor to the point that exterminating a whole

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religion or, in his mind, race of people was a feasible goal. As stated above, however, there are many things to look at when examining the Holocaust. The Holocaust should be seen and acknowledged so that nothing of this caliber is ever allowed to occur again.

Works Cited Acosta, Sheila. Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto. Library Media Connection 30.2 (2011): 60. Print.

Anti-Jewish Legislation in Prewar Germany. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 11 May 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Brzezinski, Matthew. Isaacs Army: The Jewish Resistance in Occupied Poland. Publishers Weekly 359.36 (2012): 59. Print.

Evans, Richards J. The Third Reich in Power. New York: Penguin Press, 2005. Print.

Gilbert, Martin. Kristallnact. Great Britain, 2006. Print.

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Hitler Comes to Power. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Life in the Ghettos. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Schwab, Gerald. The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan. New York: Praeger, 1990. Print.

The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem. Oracle. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

The Nuremberg race Laws. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Vogelsang, Peter, and Brian Larson. Extermination Camps. The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 2002. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 11 May 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Im not exactly sure what happened with your pictures.

Morris 11 Score Points Available

40 20 40 35 25 15 25 Total = 200

Content paper demonstrates understanding and confidence about topic Sources uses only primary and secondary sources In-Text Citations integrates sources within text with effective use of signal words and phrases Formatting properly uses MLA formatting Works Cited works cited page has the required number of sources and is properly formatted Pictures uses pictures to enhance the text with effective captions and source information Writing Mechanics Paper is free from errors in spelling, punctuation, etc.

32 18 25 25 17 7 18
Total Score

142