During WWII a rich German man by the name of Oskar Schindler owned a company, which still stands today, called Enamel Factory. In that factory he had 1000 Jews working for him. When the Jews were gathered up and sent into the camps, Schindler’s Jews sent also, by a faulty. They weren’t supposed to be sent away. So Oskar, and his trusted Accountant, Itzhak Stern, also Jewish, came up with a plan to save his “company” as he excused, but was really saving lives! He did some string pulling, which took a long time, and sold (or bribed) his way into getting those people back. By the time Germany was bombed, Schindler being a former Nazi, was hunted down by the Nazi Party. He had to leave Germany, and when he did the 1000 Jews made him a ring, Oskar,
Hitler and the Nazi’s were resposible for what later came to be called the “Holocaust” (a term not in common when the mass murders were taking place). While jews were staying in the ghetto’s hitler decided to move the jews to concentration camps. The jews were ecstatic and thought they were being moved into their own little community. Smiles and amatuer laughter as the jews didnt know what was really coming. They soon came to realise that auschwitz was not that the jews thought it would. The jews were treated terribly. They were beaten, whipped, shot, or hung if they mistreated or tried to escape. A sign in front of auschwitz says in german “arbeit macht frei” in english that means work for freedom. The jews would sleep in dirty stone beds and would get diseases from the cuts on their backs or hands. When they arrived they were given striped robes with the star of david on top of their heart. The star of david is the jewish symbol just like the cross is the symbol for christianity but we aren’t going to get into all
In his memoirs entitled Inside Third Reich Albert Speer depicts his time as Adolf Hitler’s head architect and a very close personal friend. Their friendship lasted nearly 12 years ending when HItler committed suicide in his bunker. After the war Speer was certain that he would be sentenced to death by hanging like many of the other nazi generals were. Instead he was sentenced to a 20 year sentence in Spandau prison. He was granted this sentence and not death because of his convincing case he made at the Nuremberg trials. Speer claimed that he had was aware of the use of Jews as unpaid slaves, however he was unaware of the Final Solution(1) or the horrendous conditions in the labor camps. Yet the Gauleiter of Thuringia, Ernst Sauckel reported
Yet, the Nazi occupation created a reality where the Jews were cut off from society in their countries of residence, thus casting the initial acts of persecution upon the Jews. Following the occupation, the Jews of France, the Netherlands, and other countries were subjected to discriminatory legislation that revoked their citizenship and banished them from economic life. Consequently, the Jews had to reorganize themselves separately in order to function as a self-sufficient group. In the course of time, the Jews in these countries, like those in Germany itself, were forced to wear the yellow star or the equivalent of such. Ultimately, Nazi policy became more extreme and Jews of Central and Western Europe were deported to death camps in Eastern Europe.”
In this journal article, the author discusses a story that took place in 1943 “known to only a few close students of the Third Reich.” The author begins this article by briefly explaining that the event that took place in 1943 was a street demonstration, and that it is so significant because it “marked the single instance of group protest by Germans of the Third Reich in behalf of fellow citizens who were Jewish--and it worked.” Because the author claims this occurrence is so unheard of, he or she further notes that the purpose of this journal article is “to tell the story of that protest.” This story begins with the background of Hitler’s plans. The author claims that the only Jews exempt of the “Final Solution” were those married to Aryans “until early 1943.” Until “unannounced, the SS burst into Berlin 's factories at daybreak…and arrested all Jews, kidnapped Jews from their homes, and anyone on the streets wearing the Star of David was carted off without explanation and taken with other Jews to huge ‘collecting centers’ in central Berlin, in preparation for large-scale deportations to Auschwitz,” (Dissent in Nazi Germany). The author states that this was called “Judenschlussaktion” or “the final roundup of Jews.” This plan did not exactly work because of the Aryan wives of the Jewish men. The claims, “A protest broke out when the hundreds of women at the gate began
At the “Wannsee Conference”, which took place in Berlin, on January 20, 1942 the German regime with its main protagonists Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler planned the ‘final solution of the Jewish question. Even if massacres of about one million Jews occurred before the plans of the Final Solution, with the decision to eradicate the entire Jewish population, extermination camps were built and industrialized mass slaughter of Jews began in earnest. The scene where a train of Schindler’s workers was wrongly sent to Auschwitz shows such an extermination camp were the Nazis systematically gassed thousands of Jews. Another example for the organized genocide is the mass cremation after the mass execution during the eviction of the ghetto in Krakow.
Throughout the novel, a miniscule act of heroism goes a long way. While working for Oskar Schindler, a Nazi, at his factory, Schindler portrays kindness. Leyson informs us that, ‘A true Nazi observing such an action, such humane treatment of a Jew, would have murdered them both’ (141). By simply making
The Nazi’s went day after day without feeding the Jewish individuals. When the Nazi’s gave the Jews food, it was extremely scarce while it still had to be rationed out to others. The documentary stated that “ if they were given food it would be stale bread and the guard would toss water at them.” Not only were the Jewish starved as if they were animal, but they would be called by a number on their arm rather than their name. The tattoo on their arm was a reminder that they were not people, but they were simply the number on their arm. The Nazi’s also killed thousands of people appoximatly an hour after they arrived at camp. After the Jews were killed the Nazi’s would strip the Jews of their values such as gold teeth, jewelry, etc. Whether the Jewish individuals were dead or alive, they were treated like animals with no way
The German worker recalls the day he had to pledge his loyalty to the Nazi regime:“Under the law, I was required to take the oath of fidelity… I was given twenty-four hours to ‘think it over’. In those twenty-four hours I lost the world... He said, “Do you take the oath?” and I took it. That day the world was lost, and it was I who lost it,” (Stomer 198). In a fleeting moment. this German worker could have changed history by not complying with the Nazi regime and motivating others to do the same. By choosing to be complacent, this German worker became another pawn in Hitler's plan and “lost the world.” He had the ability to make a change, to save lives and to essentially change the course of history. Perpetrators during the Holocaust were aware of their actions and the horrific effects their actions would have, and still chose to murder innocent lives. Likewise, the German worker knew that Jews including his Jewish friends were at risk of harm. He was also conscious of the countless options he had besides pledging his loyalty. Regardless, he took the oath and allowed his actions to be dictated by the Nazis. This German worker was pressured to take the oath because he feared that if he refused, he would lose his job, become unemployed for the rest of his life, and hurt the well-being of himself
The film ‘Schindler’s List’, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel Schindler’s Ark, by Thomas Keneally, gives us an insight into the corruption and destructive capabilities of humans. This film portrays many themes, all of which are evoked due to the factual historical event of the Jewish Holocaust which occurred in Germany during WWII. The exploration of the themes of hope, use and misuse of power, the nature of evil and courage makes this film prominent over others. Spielberg’s purpose in making this film was to raise awareness of the
There is nothing worse than being herded up and shipped of to camps where Jews can be beaten and killed. Where you have to watch your loved ones die right in front of your eyes. Jews in general had to deal with this problem there was little hope. Oskar Schindler a wealthy man who was determined to save jews during this time period did many things to help these people in distress . but the real question is why did he do it ?.
Schindler broke the law by treating the Jewish people better than the Nazi’s wanted them to
But many proud Germans didn’t mostly agree with the ideas that Hitler was going with. Oskar Schindler was a proud German who had saved the lives of Twelve-million Jews by putting them in his personal concentration camp. But this concentration camp had the jews fed and healthy. In “Resistance during the holocaust” rescuers were not who most people think. “Rescuers were friends, acquaintances, or even total strangers” (Pg 20).
Nicholas Winton was born on May 19, 1909, in England. He was baptized as a member of the Anglican Church by decision of his parents, whom were of Jewish and German descent. Stockbroker by profession, he later became renowned as the “British Schindler” the day he visited Prague. Originally planning for a trip to Switzerland for the holidays, he decided to aid his friend Martin Blake, whom was an associate of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia. At the time, the country was in the process of German occupation. Once there, he assisted him in the Jewish welfare work. On his own accord, he independently established an organization which aided Jewish children to safety from the Nazis. He originally operated under the name British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia without permission, but following Kristallnacht, the House of Commons approved his operation. Under the circumstances, Jewish children under the age of 17 were allowed entry into Britain as refugees, granted that they had prior housing arrangements and 50 pounds that would be deposited by the Crown for their eventual return to their own country.
His continued close work with Schindler has the power to change a greedy man to a selfless
The perpetrators of the Holocaust are often generalized as direct products of ideological indoctrination into a stream of omnipresent German culture that is assumed to be supremely sadistic and motivated only by “evil” factors. However, it is impossible to label all of the perpetrators with one trait or name, when the Holocaust was the multi-causal. This means that there were several types of perpetrators, and therefor the Holocaust was the result of combined efforts by a diverse group, each with their own reasons for participating and fulfilling various roles throughout different stages of the time period. Mary Fulbrook illustrates the example of landrat Udo Klausa in her book A Small Town Near Auschwitz, which shows that many individuals were simply fulfilling responsibilities for their careers, and were “blind” to the severity and impact of their own role as perpetrators. In remembering these people, it is easy to forget that they were civilians first and foremost. Looking to Katharina von Kellenbach’s Mark of Cain, there is further evidence that a lack of transparency was a severe issue in the Hitler administration, trickling