Annette Jones

Mr. Neuburger
English 102
8 April 2011
Holocaust
The holocaust may very well be the most devastating event to happen in h
istory. When Hitler gained power and took credit for an improving economy, he ma
rked his position as a dictator. As a man of power Hitler sought for change, and
of course, needed followers. Like other extremists, Hitler has a great prejudic
e for the Jews. While serving a prison term for nine months, Hitler wrote a book
titled “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle). From start to finish, Hitler blamed the Jews for
the cause of all troubles. In 1919, Hitler grew attention from few, but by the
mid-1930’s, he had thousands of people listening to his every word, which included
his feelings of extreme hatred towards the Jews.
Anti-semitic cartoon. http://bit.ly/hdA3dU
The word anti-semitism means prejudice against and hatred for the Jews.
It was clear that Hitler had a severe hatred for the Jews, but he was not alone.
Some people think it was not only the Nazi’s who brought on the Holocaust. In “Mein
Kampf” Hitler states, “For the Jew was still characterized for me by nothing but hi
s religion, and therefore, on grounds of human tolerance, I maintained my reject
ion of religious attacks in this case as in others. Consequently, the tone, part
icularly which of the Viennese anti-Semitic press, seemed to me unworthy of the
cultural tradition of a great nation”. This doesn’t seem like it’s coming for the worl
d’s biggest anti-semite. Hitler’s anti-Jewish views made him loved by Germans everyw
here. His deep hatred for the Jews came from personal life experiences and the n
otion that they had caused nothing but trouble for the German people. Any anti-J
ewish views people had in those days gave Hitler the perfect opportunity to rise
to power. Some would say he was very good at manipulating public opinion, and w
ith his policies and programs that instilled trust with the German people, it wa
s a piece of cake for him to slowly plan his agenda for hatred. At any rate, it
was clear that he had a plan, and that the Jewish people would pay.
Protestors against Nuremburg Laws. http://bit.ly/eGmIhw
After Hitler took over power in 1933, he created the Nuremburg laws. The
se were anti semitic laws. These laws restricted the rights of German Jews. Afte
r identifying who was Jewish, they prohibited marriage between Jews and others,
and even banned sexual intercourse between Jews and non-Jews. Following the Nure
mburg Laws on 1935, Nazi laws were issued to where the Jews were stripped comple
tely to their rights as human beings.
One of the houses burning. http://bit.ly/14tTBJ
In November 1938, “Kristallnacht” (The Night of Broken Glass) occurred. The
Germans wanted the Jews to get out, to go anywhere. Twelve thousand to seventeen
thousand Polish Jews were rounded up and beaten across the border. Jewish synag
ogues were burnt to the ground, Jewish businesses were destroyed, and Jewish hom
es were torn to bits. The glass left over from all the destruction is why it was
called the night of broken glass. “… And overnight it all went up in flames. The Je
ws finally got the message: It was time to leave.” (Rabbi Ellis)
Ghetto. http://bit.ly/hanlXS
Round-up of the Jews. http://bit.ly/aiN96S
The process of rounding up the Jews varied from region to region. Some n
otices were put up telling all Jews to assemble into a certain area and the ghet
tos. Some Jews were threatened and forced into ghettos, and taken right from the
ir own houses. Jews were put into ghettos to isolate them from other non-Jewish
communities. The Germans established these ghettos as a way to keep all the Jews
in one place while plans were made on how to remove the Jewish population. Jews
residing in the Ghetto’s were forced to wear armbands or badges for identificatio
n. Appointed officials watched their day-to-day life and they were forced to man
ual labor. Some Jews tried to resist orders and it brought on violent revolts. M
any Jews knew that if they rebelled the Germans would react to violence with vio
lence, and many innocent Jews would die. Many also tried stealing food, medicine
and weapons within the ghetto walls. Although death was lurking in every corner
, many Jews tried to make the best of the situation by forming groups who told j
okes and stories. Some even got married and had children in the ghettos. Many Je
wish lives were lost in the ghettos due to starvation and spread of disease. “Duri
ng the Holocaust, ghettos were a central step in the Nazi process of control, de
humanization, and mass murder of the Jews.” (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
The final solution was the most deadly phase of the Holocaust. It was ba
sically a plan to get rid of the entire Jewish population by mass killing/ destr
uction. The Wannsee conference is basically where fifteen high-ranking Nazi s me
t and discussed the best strategy for genocide. Reinhard Heydrich was chief exec
utor of the Wannsee Conference and when he presented his plan to Hitler, it was
approved. The Wannsee conference documents held horrifying plans which six mill
ion Jews fell victim to. The effect this would have had on the Jews if they succ
eeded would have been Location of Wannsee Conference. http://bit.ly/gG1Hhk
total extermination of Jews in Europe. The Germans no longer kept their plans se
cret. Methods like gas chambers were put into camps to exterminate Jews. No Jew
was safe in Germany. The Nazi s weren t affected in any way besides the fact tha
t they were getting pure enjoyment knowing their evil plans were being put into
action, Jews didn t know what was coming. To implement these plans the Jews were
worked to death and/or exterminated.
Auschwitz- Selection. http://bit.ly/goObzM
Mainly in the extermination and labor camps of Auschwitz and Majdanek is
where “selection” occurred. SS men would wait for the prisoners to arrive on train.
Jews were separated into gender, and then told to either go left or right. Cer
tain Jews were selected for work, and the rest were disposed of as soon as possi
ble. The young and healthy were forced to labor. Others, like children, women, p
regnant women, unfit people, and old people were sent to the gas chambers. The n
ew arrivals were sometimes selected to dig graves and help officials sort out vi
ctim’s belongings.
Gas Chamber. http://bit.ly/htKMD9
Extermination methods for the Jews were quite gruesome. The Jews were ca
ptured and arrested, then forced to dig their own grave. Germans would then star
t mass shootings, letting the bodies fall into the graves. Mass shootings began
in Chelmno (the first extermination camp). They also used gassing trucks. These
mobile gassing trucks were sealed, and with the Jews inside, the exhaust gas fro
m the engine was led into the truck … suffocating the Jews. In Belzec, Sobibor and
Treblinka (three other extermination camps), the Jews were put into gas chamber
s were exhaust fumes were used to slowly kill the Jews. In Majdanek and Auschwi
tz, Zyklon B was used. Zyklon B was a cyanide-based pesticide used to kill Jews
inside the gas chambers. Auschwitz death camp was the only camp that ended up co
nstructing facilities and its own crematoria. Five out of six extermination camp
s constructed gas chambers. In Chelmno 152,000 were gassed to death using exhau
st gas. In Belzec, over 600,000 Jews fell victim due to the gas chambers. In Sob
ibor, 250,000 died in gas chambers. In Treblinka, 900,000 Jews died. Majdanek be
gan gassings/mass shootings where 60,000-80,000 Jews died. Auschwitz was the lar
gest killing center, where an estimated one to two million Jews were killed (gas
sed to death). All in all the gas chambers, gassing trucks, mass shootings and o
ther forms of death for the Jews were devastating and in-humane to say the least
.
“So I was hiding out in the heap of dead bodies because in the last week w
hen the crematoria didn’t function at all, the bodies were just building up higher
and higher. So there I was at nighttime, in the daytime I was roaming around in
the camp, and this is where I actually survived, January 27, I was one of the v
ery first, Birkenau was one of the very first camps being liberated. This was my
, my survival chance.” (Bart Stern). “The train arrived in the middle of the night,
so we were greeted by very bright lights shining down on us. We were greeted by
soldiers, SS men, as well as women. We were greeted by dogs and whips, by shouti
ng and screaming, orders to try to empty the train, by confusion... There is no
way to describe your first coming to Auschwitz.” (Fritzie Weiss Fritzshall). “And th
ey said, “From now on you do not answer by your name. Your name is your number.” And
the delusion, the disappointment, the discouragement that I felt, I felt like I
was not a human person anymore.” (Lilly Appelbaum Lublin Malnik). These are just
quotes from a few survivors who made it through to liberation. When Soviet troop
s entered the concentration camps, they found corpses, bones and ashes everywher
e. This was a result of the years the Germans spent mass murdering. Many of the
survivors were suffering from starvation and disease. Liberation can be most eas
ily described as the time when allied troops came in and freed all remaining Jew
s. Germans tried to hide evidence of mass murdering by burning down crematoria’s
where thousands upon thousands had been killed. Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the
largest camp, in January 1945. Soviets only found a few thousand Jews alive whe
n they entered the camp. In the Liberation. http://bit.ly/f9r3NF
following months, the Soviets liberated additional camps. Liberators spoke of tr
agic conditions in the camps, where many corpses laid unburied. Only after liber
ation was the true horror of the Holocaust exposed to the world. The few who did
survive all looked like skeletons from lack of food, and much spread disease. O
ne thing for sure is that the Jews faced a long road of recovery and realization
.
After liberation, Jews returned to their homes in fear because anti-semi
tism was still going on. Many Jews who returned home feared for their lives. Bec
ause many Jews who had survived no longer had homes, they migrated westward. The
re they were housed in refugee centers and camps. Some Jewish agencies tried to
help the misplaced Jews. Eventually the Jews were able to move on but never for
get what happened to them.
In conclusion, many Jews were never the same after the Holocaust. From s
tart to finish it was an in-humane and devastating tragedy that changed many, ma
ybe even the whole world. Many put the blame on Hitler but there were many other
s involved that contributed equally to the Holocaust. Many doctors and leaders w
ho sat there and killed these innocent Jews without an inch of remorse. People w
ho helped poison Jews by the hundreds. I have watched many survivor testimonies
and the one where one of the doctors went to the holocaust grounds with a Jewish
survivor was my favorite. He actually felt some kind of responsibility for what
he did. I don’t understand how some people can live with themselves after perform
ing those acts. I don’t think any of the Jews that did survive were ever the same.
Many had flashbacks or certain ways of doing things and living their lives as a
n effect of the holocaust. For example if Germans were even mentioned, they woul
d cringe. Some would never let food go to waste, just because their mind takes t
hem back to the days where they starved, and they never want to be in that circu
mstance again. I don’t know how some of them even survived in the first place. Som
e of the Jews were in camps and ghettos for years, living on very little food an
d being slaved to work every day. I think the fact that while in ghettos and suc
h some Jews actually made lives for themselves is quite a heroic act in itself.
To take a terrible situation, and I mean terrible, and try to turn it into somet
hing not as bad, is quite remarkable. They would play and laugh and marry and li
ve together. I’m sure many bonds came of the Jews during this time. Many families
stuck together until one fell victim. Some survivors even had the mentality of y
ou go, I go. Meaning that they weren’t going to let another crumble under the heav
y foot of German power. I can’t say that I would have that kind of attitude if I w
ere put in that situation. Watching some of the survivor testimonies and trying
to picture what they’re explaining is gut wrenching. When you’re reading it on a web
site it’s one thing, but to imagine and try to put an image in your head it’s someth
ing else entirely. Researching information about selection was very difficult fo
r me. Knowing that some children were put right into the death line pretty much
was very hard to hear. Having a son myself I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I
would have to give him away to someone who would eventually kill him. And knowi
ng that these Germans, these animals, could sit there and kill an innocent child
above anything else is the most disgusting part. Needless to say, it’s a shame th
at the world didn’t get light of this situation till way after it was done and ove
r with. The only thing we can go off of now is survivor testimonies and knowledg
e of the subject. War and killing is definitely a part of this world we come to
know and love, to say that we should live in a world of peace is almost too asin
ine a thought. I hope nothing like the Holocaust ever happens again. Too many in
nocent lives fell victim to what essentially was a racist/prejudice issue. May t
hose Jews rest in peace.

Works Cited:
"Australian Memories of The Holocaust." Jewish Board of Deputies. Web. 20 Apr. 2
011.
"Final Solution": Overview." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 20 Ap
r. 2011.
"Ghettos." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
"Hitler s Rise to Power." Rossel Home. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
"Liberation of Auschwitz." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 20 Apr.
2011.
"Liberation of Nazi Camps." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 20 Apr
. 2011.
"The Ghettos." Rossel Home. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
"Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?" Answers.yourdictionary.com - Answers to Question
s. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
"Why Hitler Hated Jews." MajorityRights.com: A Site for the Discussion of Issues
Affecting Western Societies. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
"World War II in Europe Timeline: September 15, 1935 - The Nuremberg Race Laws."
The History Place. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.