Nikki West

Civil War

Mark Tate

22 April 2018

The Holocaust

Webster’s dictionary defines a holocaust as destruction or slaughter on a mass

scale, especially caused by fire, or nuclear war. Sixty-eight years after the end of the civil

war, another battle within the nation began in Germany known as the Holocaust. From

1933 to 1945 Jews endured something so tragic that no one will ever know the true

feeling. There is no way to calculate a set number on how many people were murdered

during the Holocaust but it is estimated that six million Jews were killed during the event,

and more than eleven million were murdered in total. This number includes Jehovah’s

Witnesses, Homosexuals, the disabled, and Gypsies. The United Nations has assigned

January 27th as International Remembrance for the Holocaust Day. The 27th is significant

as it represents the liberation from Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps and also

honors the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Countries around the world

celebrate this day different than each, or more than one day a year is designated to the

remembrance of those whose lives were taken too soon. From Adolf Hitler’s rise to power,

his starting of concentration camps, his sparking of World War II and the United States

beginning rescue forces, Adolf had a significant impact on world history.

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria. Hitler was the

fourth of six children. Adolf’s father died suddenly in 1903 and two years later his mother;
Klara, allowed Hitler to drop out of school. Hitler moved to Vienna after his mother’s death

in 1907 and worked doing causal labor and as a watercolor painter. Adolf applied to the

Academy of Fine Arts more than once but ended up short every time. Not having enough

money for schooling, Hitler was homeless as well. Adolf soon moved to Munich,

Germany. He soon applied to become part of the German Army when World War I broke

out. In August of 1914, Hitler was accepted into the German Forces. Hitler did not go to

the front lines much at all, but when he did, he was present at significant battles. Adolf

was wounded at the Battle of Somme, Hitler received the Iron Cross First Class and the

Black Wound Badge. When Germany surrendered in 1918, Hitler was shocked and

believed that the Army was betrayed. Adolf continued to work for the Germany Army as

an Intelligence Officer. Adolf joined the German Worker’s Party (DAP) in September of

1919. The name was changed to Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei but often

abbreviated to Nazi. The swastika placed on a white circle with red in the background

found on the Nazi party banner was designed by Adolf himself. Adolf replaced Drexler as

the Nazi party chairman in 1921. He soon began giving speeches at the Fervid Beer Hall,

to which he attracted regular audiences. On November 8th ,1923 during a public meeting

held by the Bavarian Prime Minister, Gustav Kahr, Hitler and Captain Ernst Rohm (head

of the Nazi Paramilitary Organization of the Sturmabteilung) barged in insisting that a new

formation of government was needed due to a “national revolution” that had just begun.

Hitler was arrested for high treason and spent nine months in jail. During this time, he

began writing his philosophical autobiographical, Mein Kampf. He published his first

volume in 1925 and the second volume just two years later in 1927. The Germany Great

Depression provided a solid political opportunity for Hitler to rise to power. Hitler was
running against Paul Von Hindenburg. Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor in order

to promote political balance. On July 14th, 1933, Hitler declared the Nazi party as the only

legal political party in Germany. In October of 1933, Hitler allowed Germany to pull out of

the League of Nations. In August of 1934, a day before Hindenburg’s death, the cabinet

passed a law abolishing the President’s powers to the Chancellor. With all this power,

Hitler was head of the state, head of the government, and became the supreme

commander of Germanys armed forces. On April 1st, 1933, Hitler began a national

boycott of Jewish business and on April 7th of the same year he excluded Jews from

working for the state. November 9th and 10th of 1938 an anti-Jewish wave of violence

swept through Germany, Austria, and parts of Sudetenland. During this wave one

hundred Jews were murdered and almost thirty thousand Jewish men were sent to

concentration camps. This was only a glimpse at all the horror coming.

Between the years of 1933 to 1945 more than forty thousand concentration camps

were established by Nazis in Germany. Hitler wanted the “perfect Aryan race”, so

concentration camps did not just consist of Jews. Poles, Communists, Homosexuals,

Jehovah’s Witness, and trade unionist were all included as well. Hitler left Heinrich

Himmler in charge of the concentration camps locations, systems, and administration of

the camps. It has been said that Hitler never once visited any of the concentration camps,

but did have Nazis keep paper work on each and every one who entered a camp and all

the documents were burned. The first concentration camp was built in Dachau, Germany

in 1933. What everyone endured at concentration camps is something you would never

want your worst enemy to go though. Often they would make people stand naked, still for

hours upon hours in all kinds of weather conditions. The “enemies” that the camps
consisted of would wake up and be put to hard labor work immediately. The Nazi would

make the people work in all types condition’s. They mainly worked to expand the camps,

or build more camps to fit all the enemies they were bringing in and to bury or burn the

dead bodies. Age did not matter to the Nazis; children and young teens were also forced

into camps. When it came to children during the Holocaust, any child under the age of

twelve was killed. For children twelve and older, they served as laborers for medical

experiments. Everyone was subjected to starvation. The little food they did get was watery

soup, and half a slice of bread once a week. When people died, the bodies were just

stacked on top of one another and left there to rot and the awful smell would consume

the entire camp. In photos that can be found, the people’s appearance is absolutely awful;

skin and bone to the point where their own body began to eat itself to stay alive. Prisoners

would walk past other prisoners and could not tell whether they were alive or dead. Camps

began to get so crowded that there was not enough room for everyone to stay in shelter

to sleep or stay away from harsh weather, so prisoners began sleeping anywhere they

could find. In 1941 Chelmno was the first killing center opened. Many officials would wear

what looked like a white lab coat, telling the prisoners coming through that they needed

to bathe and disinfect. Once all were naked, they would walk them through a cellar to the

back of a big truck. These trucks could hold up to seventy people, but the Nazis would fit

as many as possible. Once the truck was full they would close the back of the truck and

start it. This allowed for Carbon Monoxide gas to pour into the back of the truck where all

the prisoners were killed by asphyxiation and anyone left alive was shot. In 1942 Belzec,

Sobibor, and Treblinka were new concentration camps that were opened along with the

new invention of gas chambers to increase the killing efficiency. The Nazis would lure
them in saying they would get to shower. After getting as many prisoners as possible

inside, they would shut and lock the door then begin allowing carbon monoxide into the

sealed chamber. Around six thousand people were gassed and murdered each day. At

Auschwitz the Nazis came into a new gas to play around with called Zyklon B. These

small pellets turned into a gas once they hit the air. The Nazis found that this gas was the

quickest method to conduct mass murder. Throughout all that was happening in Germany

with the Jews, Nazis, and managing of concentration camps, World War II had begun.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1 st of 1939 sparking the start of World

War II. Only two days after the Poland invasion, Britain and France declared war. Hitler

used bombs to destroy Poland’s railroads, communication lines, and air capacity. Then

German forces went through finishing off anyone remaining. By the one-month mark

Poland was defeated by Nazi Germany. Then Nazi Germany went on to invade Norway

and Denmark. By May 10, 1940 Germany began to start invading the Netherlands,

Belgium, and Luxembourg. In July of 1940 to October of the same year Nazi Germany

was in another battle known as The Battle of Britain, where the Nazis lost in an air war

with England. Germany the invaded Yugoslavia and Greece in April of 1941, securing the

Balkan region. On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, which was a

violation to the German-Soviet pact. The Red Army resistance did not allow Germany to

advance and capture Leningrad and Moscow. The Soviet troops sent a counter attack to

drive German forces out permanently. After this happened, Japan, part of the Axis

powers, bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States immediately declared war on

Japan. Then Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, over

one hundred and fifty thousand allied soldiers landed in France, soon to be liberated in
August. The first United States troops crossed into Germany on September 11, 1944.

Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945 and Germany surrendered to Western allies

seven days later. World War II had an estimated fifty-five million deaths worldwide and is

known as the largest, destructive, and most fatal conflict in world history.

In August of 1942, news about what was going on throughout Germany made its

way to Dr. Gerhart Riegner, a representative of the World Jewish Congress in

Switzerland. Riegner then proceeded to tell Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, America’s prominent

Jewish leader. Wise was not told by the state department, but did soon learn of the

message from Riegner. Wise was told to keep all the information he came across to

himself until it could be verified. After three long months, the information about the

treatment of Jews under Nazi regime was released prompting Wise to hold a press

conference on November 24, 1942. The next day, the New York Times ran the story on

the tenth page. Throughout the rest of the year, newspapers did not give any coverage

to the Holocaust. Many Americans were so worried about the war locally that they did not

pay any attention to what was going on in Germany. The American Jewish community

did respond and pressured their governments to take the appropriate action needed. With

all the pressure from the United States and Britain, they held a conference in Bermuda to

come up with a plan to help rescue all the victims throughout Germany. Both the U.S and

Britain were worried about what they would do with the Jews they rescued, since they did

not want to interfere with the Immigration laws. Peter Bergson led the “Emergency

Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe” and turned to rallies and newspapers

to spread the news about the Holocaust in Germany. This forced President Roosevelt to

allow government agencies to develop a plan to rescue Jews from all over Germany. On
January 22, 1944 President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9417 which created the

WRB, War Refugee Board. John Pehle was the Board’s first Executive Director. Although

this did not resolve the problems regarding American rescue efforts, it did allow for them

to come up with a number of rescue plans. It is estimated today that the WRB saved two

hundred and twenty thousand Jews. After allied armies liberated concentration camps at

the end of World War II, Americans found out the full extent of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust will be remembered throughout history forever. Teachers are

teaching their students about it, even college professors tie it into their classes and

lectures. Through Adolf’s rein of power, he changed history forever. Hitler always wanted

the perfect and dominant race. During the depression in Germany he took hold of that

perfect opportunity and ran with it. Once he had full control is when he began taking

control over Jews, Homosexuals, disabled, and Gypsies. He soon opened the first

concentration camp which lead to thousands more by the end 1944. In these camps the

most horrific things happened, prisoners were forced to work in all weather conditions no

matter their age. The dead bodies were left in the same place until other prisoners were

told to move them or burn them. For eleven years the Nazis kept what they were doing a

secret, until word got out and the United States began figure out ways to step in. Once

the U.S found out that the Holocaust was truly happening the WRB board began to draw

up plans to try and help the ones suffering across the country. As for the all the citizens

among the United States did not really learn about the Holocaust until it was over. After

Hitler’s control, to the awful endurance he caused trying to get a perfect race, starting

another World War, and eventually other countries began to step in it was too late, all that
could be done now, is to learn from this tragedy keeping it known that the Holocaust did

happen.
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