The Tragedy Of The Holocaust

To Kill a Mockingbird is a witty and well-written account of the realities of a “tired old town” (4) where there was “nothing to buy and nothing to buy it with” (4). Purposefully, it comes across not merely an innocently portrayed, yet eye-opening, story of a young girl start to grasp the inequalities of her society. Rather, it is accompanied by recollection of the unfortunate pillars of hate of the places Harper Lee matured in. We now perceive this account as an ‘archaic” and “ancient” recount of some historically frowned upon mindsets in an enthralling atmosphere upon which we pin historical quantities of prejudice, racism and most of all, bigotry. The unfortunate reality is that we look at history in a vacuum and ignore the occurrences of our own times. So although we, like Scout’s teachers teaching about the horrible acts of the Holocaust while being outspokenly racist, are able to analyze social inequalities in other places in time or the world yet refuse to open our eyes to the same prejudice, racism and bigotry today. To instance, when reading To Kill a Mockingbird , we often frown upon citizens for judging “folks” based on their family name and race, although, everyday, some member of our current society, such as police officers and employers, do the same thing and no one bats an eye. Alternatively, the issue which we definitely desperately desire to avoid, racism, is explicitly tackled in To Kill a Mockingbird to the point of viral awareness of the problem in

What if there was a choice on whether to be Jewish or Non-Jewish, to either be Jewish and fight back or to go with the flow, and to be Non-Jewish and fight back or go with the flow? Being non-jewish and going with the flow would be the smart choice, if survival is the goal. In that time period being Jewish was awful. Being Jewish basically meant you were an outcast. During the Holocaust it would have been better to not be Jewish and to stay out of the way, or go with the flow.

Imagine the skin burning off of a human being, imagine an innocent child walking into a room thinking they are going to finally get to take a shower but die from gas, imagine being frozen almost to death, then being warmed up by a dead body, imagine being put into a burning hot bath repeatedly until you died from the shock, and imagine being torn from your family, home, and the people that you loved. Most all Jewish people in that time had to live through that. There were very few that were lucky enough to have escaped. They were even luckier if they were helped out of camps by other Jewish people and brought home to their families. Now just imagine if all of the Jewish people fought back.

Genocide is the destruction of an ethnic, racial, or religious group. The most famous genocide, conducted by the Germans, is the extermination of the Jewish population known as the Holocaust. There are other genocides such as the Armenian or Darfur genocide, but the Holocaust is the one talked about and studied the most around the world today. Museums exist in Washington D.C, Los Angeles, and parts of Europe that focus primarily on this dark time in history. Vast amounts of books, movies, and documents concentrate on the Holocaust. Why is this chapter, between 1939 and 1945, discussed and examined? The answer lies within people who experienced the Holocaust such as Elie Wiesel, Jay Frankston, and Franks Shatz. These men have gone through hell and back, but they believe in one thing. That is, the notion of never again. The goal is to educate future generations on what really happened, so history does not repeat itself. Never again should people of any race, religion, or ethnicity, go through the horrific past of the Holocaust. In their writing, Wiesel, Frankston, and Shatz do a great job using pathos, logos, and ethos to convey their message of never again for future generations.

Nowadays, people tend to forget the morality of human beings. For instance, the people in today’s world are attracted to greed or power letting their mind and body rot them. However, are we doing a right in letting people like that win? It might not seem much or anything, but as history has shown us otherwise with World War II. Like letting a tyrant leader like Adolf Hitler take over different countries and bring in what is believed the most horrific discrimination ever known. Therefore, it is right to agree with Elie Wiesel a former target of the Nazi Final Solution that the moment race and religion are involved then that soon must become the center of the universe’s attention.

Throughout the early 1930s and mid-1940s, a devastating event known as the Holocaust took place in Europe. Six million Jews including men, women children were killed. Very few had survived however many died. The Nazis, who came into power in Germany, believed that the Jews were a threat to the German community so they wanted to get rid of them. It was a brutal and terrifying time for the Jews but it was also a difficult time for the Soviets who had been cheated on.

As Elie Wiesel was taken through the Holocaust as a result of being a Jew, he began to ask himself this: “Blessed be God’s name? Why, but why would I bless him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because he caused thousands of children to burn in his mass graves...Praise be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar,” (45). As many enter into wars and horrific events stemming from wars, they begin with strong and unwavering faith. As the war continues and nothing is relieved, people begin to question their faith as they lose sight of all hope. This loss of faith results in a shift in one’s mindset and point of view. As danger and violence seem to increase in wars, so does the struggle to maintain faith. As people continue on in horrible conditions for so long, they eventually reach a breaking point, causing them to abandon all hope, pride, or spirituality they have; because if their world is falling apart, being shattered, and becoming what seems to be unamendable, why has a leadership or a higher being not intervened? As wars continue to be waged throughout history, is has become apparent that the struggle to maintain faith is a theme seen universally as a result of dancing with violence, unsafety, and death.

The atrocities of the Holocaust placed the German Jewish population in a quagmire of antisemitic persecution, but it also spread beyond Germany to affect Jews throughout Europe. Poland was such a country. The first nation invaded by Nazi Germany and the last to be liberated, the population of Polish Jews was nearly eradicated. How were the Nazis able to accomplish such a feat in a nation where antisemitism had not been as prevalent? Aside from forcibly introducing antisemitic policy into Poland, the Nazis relied on fear and self-interest to accomplish their goals. For the average Polish Catholic in 1943, a decision had to be made on where they stood regarding the “Jewish problem”. Should they sit idly by and do nothing, or perhaps even assist in the capture of the Jews? Or maybe they could risk everything by hiding and otherwise aiding the Polish Jews. If I were such a Polish Catholic citizen living in 1943 and the opportunity arose to help a Polish Jew, my conscience would prevent me from doing any less.

Prior to the holocaust, however, he exhibits none of these characteristics. He was kind, wealthy, and uncommonly resourceful, and his marriage to Anja was filled with compassion, intimacy, and love. Where now Vladek is now stubborn, irritable, and almost comically stingy with his money. His experiences in the Holocaust undoubtedly played a role in these dramatic personality changes. It wasn’t until the war started that Vladek got a little more precautious about a few things. Whenever a bad thing would happen, Vladek would remain hopeful and trusted that things would go well for him and his family in the long run. Even when Vladek had to fight in World War II and was put in a prisoner camp with the most terrible conditions he still seemed to keep faith. However, one can slowly notice how Vladek becomes cautious about food and any kind of valuable. It is natural because he couldn’t get much so he had to be very careful about wasting anything. At times, he was willing to share, but he quickly realized that he had to fight for himself to survive and that everyone was responsible for themselves. He became a little careful about who his real friends were. ---- need uote here

Genocide a word that brings forth the morbid image of barbed wire fences, trenches overflowing with bodies, malnourished men, women, and children, a depressing black sky. Genocides definition is “the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group” (Merriam-Webster.com) True to its name genocide is a word that has the ability to cause war and leaves a hellish vision in its victims. Despite all of this the seemingly impossibility it is possible to solve and end genocide. And although it is seen as a dreadful plague and world powers should focus partially on ending this catastrophe.

Horror struck on January 30, 1933, when Germany assigned Adolf Hitler as their chancellor. Once Hitler had finally reached power he set out to complete one goal, create a Greater Germany free from the Jews (“The reasons for the Holocaust,” 2009). This tragedy is known today as, “The Holocaust,” that explains the terrors of our histories past. The face of the Holocaust, master of death, and leader of Germany; Adolf Hitler the most deceitful, powerful, well spoken, and intelligent person that acted as the key to this mass murder. According to a research study at the University of South Florida, nearly eleven million people were targeted and killed. This disaster is a genocide that was meant to ethnically cleanse Germany of the Jews. Although Jewish people were the main target they were not the only ones targeted; gypsies, African Americans, homosexuals, socialists, political enemies, communists, and the mentally disabled were killed (Simpson, 2012, p. 113). The word to describe this hatred for Jewish people is known as antisemitism. It was brought about when German philosophers denounced that “Jewish spirit is alien to Germandom” (“Antisemitism”) which states that a Jew is non-German. Many people notice the horrible things the Germans did, but most don’t truly understand why the Holocaust occurred. To truly understand the Holocaust, you must first know the Nazis motivations. Their motivations fell into two categories including cultural explanations that focused on ideology and

The Holocaust, 9/11, wars and assassinations are common events that come to mind when thinking about history. These events tend to make people think that mankind is evil and will always choose to be evil. However, when looking at the people behind the evil doings, are they really killing for a selfish reason? Mankind will always do good for their nation, no matter the cost. While most powerful leaders end up hurting many people, they either have good intentions behind the mask of people suffering or people come together to stop the leader. When Hitler ended up killing many Jews, countries came together as a nation to save the Jews from the camps. Good will overrule the horrible events in Earth’s past, present and future. Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and ISIS all have one thing in common, nationalism.

Can you imagine terminating someone or a group of people who don’t share the same ideas as you or don’t believe in the same concepts as you? Me neither! Well believe it or not there have been numerous psychopaths in our history that have gotten rid of entire races or religions for cultural differences. This horrible action is known as genocide and it has killed millions and millions of innocent people in our world. Genocide has happened many times throughout our history and one of the most well known is the Holocaust the deliberate killing of six million Jews. Sadly many people have witnessed genocide with their own eyes and wished they could have unseen it, such as Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor. A few years ago was another event called Darfur occurred which led to the massive killing of numerous Africans by Arabs. Although, genocide has had a negative impact on many, the hope is to end this inhumane act so it can no longer take place in the future like various past events.

Speculations about the grim events during the very horrific Holocaust are unfortunately being denied stating it was not as gruesome as many may have stated it was or did not even exist to begin with. This is not only outrageous but disrespectful to those who lost their lives during the gruesome time. History states that the Holocaust was a period in time where a very fascist dictator, Adolf Hitler, killed over six million European Jews who did not fit the criteria of genetically having blonde hair and blue eye or simply mentally ill. Hitler had various strategic ways of murdering a large group of civilians at a time, such as gas chambers. These gas chambers were large rooms that would deposit gases such as carbon monoxide killing those who

The Holocaust is the word used to describe the mass murder of approximately six million European Jews during Adolf Hitler’s rule in Germany. Among the Jews were also other groups described as “Sub-Humans” such as Gypsies, homosexuals, intellectually challenged, political prisoners and most Eastern Europeans. German lacked confidence in their weak system, the Weimer Republic. Adolf Hitler, the chairman of the Nazi Party by 1921, was a World War I veteran who still believed that Germany was destined for greatness, despite the humiliating terms of Versailles Treaty. He was appointed chancellor, the head of German government in January 1933. He was voted in constitutionally by mostly working class, lower class and peasantry. By signing in the Enabling Act of 1933, he smoothly shifted from president to a dictator. The Act; declared all parties illegal, abolished the office of the president and abolished labor laws and unions. His rule was rooted in the basic pillars of, anti-Semitism, nationalism, militarism, anti-communism and expansion.