Research Paper The Holocaust Overview

Stephanie Urrutia ENG 102-104

Nazi power was the most influential force in Europe during the 1930s. There were many aspects to their reign including anti-Semitism and newly created laws. Innocent people received inhumane treatment and were destroyed without as much as a chance. Life for Jews in this time is clearly constrained, stressful, dirty, and hopeless. They would not see the world differently until the end of World War II brings them liberation. It is not enough to just know the Holocaust occurred, but to know how this horrific event happened, and learn not to retrace our actions. Anti-Semitism This was a very strong feeling of discrimination had by Hitler, and the Nazi that Jews were the reason for everything that was bad, and everything that was lost. History.com tells us that this is not a new idea. Christians were subject of this ruling before the Jews. They portrayed them as less than human, and inferior only interested in furthering themselves. There was much propaganda created to convince otherwise neutral non-Jews, that these creatures are worthless, and needed to be removed from everyday society. Nuremberg Laws

As soon as the Nazi came into power in 1933, several laws and outlandish rules were created for the Jews in Germany. The History Place states that, Although Jews made-up less than one percent of Germany's overall population of 55 million, Hitler considered them by nature to be the "mortal enemy" of the German people. But within Hitler's bureaucracy, radical and moderate anti-Semites strongly disagreed as to what legal (or illegal) actions should actually be taken against the Jews. This bureaucratic in-fighting resulted in complete stagnation concerning the development of a coordinated Reich policy of anti-Semitism. (The Nuremburg Laws) They go on to say, there were many more upsets within the streets of Germany, along with street incidents.

One particular demonstration was at a swimming pool in Heigenbrken. There were several young bathers in a public bathing pool. They began to demand the Jews be removed. Other nearby bathers
1935 chart from Nazi Germany explains the Nuremberg Laws. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Laws

joined in protest, and the district leader NSDAP [Nazi Party] forced the Jews to

leave, and a new sign was put up that Jews were now forbidden to go into the pools. (The Nuremburg Laws) This small outburst by non-Jewish Germans was the type that created laws, and striped the Jews of their rights as humans.

Kristallnacht Kristallnacht was the first initiating incident of the Nazi party to send a message to the Jews. A message stating, we will not be comprised or made fools of. Kristallnacht translates to, night of broken glass. As depicted by the PBS foundation, On the night of November 9, 1938, the sounds of breaking glass shattered the air in cities throughout Germany while fires across the country devoured synagogues and Jewish institutions. By the end of the rampage, gangs of Nazi storm troopers had destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses, set fire to more than 900 synagogues, killed 91 Jews and deported some 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. (PBS)

What caused Kristallnacht to happen? The PBS article continues to say, One Polish Jewish boy at the age of 17 named Hershel Grynszpan shot Ernst vom Rath, the Third Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris (PBS). Grynszpan, being infuriated of his parents deportation, hopped this would send a
Shop windows after Kristallnacht Source: http://bit.ly/UX99

message to the world explaining the troubles and trials of the Europe's Jews. When

Grynszpan was arrested, he sobbed, "Being a Jew is not a crime. I am not a dog. I have a right to live and the Jewish people have a right to exist on earth. Wherever I have been I have been chased like an animal." The assassination attempt was successful; vom Rath died on November 9th (People and Events). When news spread to Nazi officials, the Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels invited Nazi soldiers to take to the streets. To send the threating message that Jews must pay for the wrong that has occurred. Jewish homes, business, and lives were destroyed. The Jews were more terrified now than ever before. (People and Events) Rounding up Jews ghettos At this point, the Nazi party was generally clear on their plan of fate for the Jews. The Jewish communities are torn, and turned upside down being turned into ghettos. Jews lived at these ghettos for periods of months, or even years. At this point, is very touchy for the Jews. In an interview with Eva Safferman, a Holocaust survivor, she gives an account of her father being taken off the street, and shuffled into a truck with other Jewish Men, never to be seen again. He walked in the street instead of on the sidewalk as directed. (Safferman)

Much time has passed by now for the Jews in ghetto life. In the early 40s, the tolerance level for Jewish life rapidly decreased. Gathered by the thousands, Jews were collected, put on trains, and were transported to their death. One sad reality of this is they had no clue as to what was ahead. The Nazi party was very enticing with offer of food. They lured the Jews aboard, claiming there was to be work. One thoughtful summary explains the roundup of Jews in France on in 1942,On the morning of July 16 1942, some 13,000 Jews were arrested in Paris and sent to internment camps around France. After months of near starvation, the adults and children were separated and deported to Auschwitz. Only 25 of them returned to France at the end of the Second World War. (Round) This happened in counties all over Europe including Norway, Austria, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Belgium, and many more. This mass collection started to add up, and there was an overwhelming amount of Jews to take care of. When a problem is presented, a solution must be found. Wannsee Conference The Final Solution Something had to be done with the rest of the Jews. This came down to the final solution. This decision was made January 20, 1942 at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin. According to the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team, only 15 high ranking officials from the Nazi party attended the conference with Adolf Eichmann being the lead. They go on to say, The purpose of the meeting was to outline the newly planned Final Solution would
The Wannasee Conference House Source: http://bit.ly/hnRpv5

entail the rounding up of all Jews

throughout Europe. They would be transported eastward and organized into labor gangs. Work

and living conditions would be extremely harsh as to kill large numbers by natural reduction. Any survivors would be treated accordingly. Treated accordingly was euphemism for extermination. At the conference, they never came up with an exact plan of how to exterminate the Jews; however a few months after the conference, the first gas chambers were installed in the extermination camps in Poland. (Jewish Resistance) Selection selektion The selection process of Jews is much like cherry picking. If the individual looked healthy and old enough to work, their life is spared, and sent to the good side. If their little sister or mother or sickly father did not look well enough, they were ripped apart, and sent to be exterminated. In an interview with Mrs. Brigitte Altman, she explains that her family was fortunate enough to be chosen, and sent to the good side for work. She and her father received jobs to live by. Her father then found her a way out of the ghettos where she survived and later reunited with her father. Not everyone in these ghettos was so lucky. According to The History Place, Trainloads of human cargo arriving at Auschwitz went through a selection process conducted by SS doctors such as Josef Mengele. Young adults considered fit for slave labor was allowed to live and had an ID number tattooed on their left forearm. Everyone else went to the gas chambers. A few inmates, including twin children,
Selection Process at Auschwitz http://bit.ly/sRYDFE

were occasionally set aside for

participation in human medical experiments. These gas chambers were not the only method of extermination methods. The Nazis have a twisted, and much fogged view of what humane treatment is. Extermination methods There is almost an evolution of extermination methods the Nazis go through. They had very specific methods, and specialized locations called death camps where they wasted no time exterminating. Holocaust Education tells us that Chelmno was the first extermination camp. Here they used exhaust from trucks to kill 152,000 Jews from December 1941, until March of 1944. They go on to say that three more extermination camps were created; Belzec, Treblinka and Sobibor. The purpose of the Operation was to exterminate all Jews in occupied Poland. Furthermore they quote, Auschwitz-Birkenau, which also functioned as a concentration camp and a work camp, became the largest killing centre as far as the number of victims is concerned. (Vogelsang) The History Place describes extermination evolution. As in Chelmno, the first extermination method was gas trucks. A Nazi officer packed several people at a time in one truck, where the exhaust was rerouted back into the truck cab that contained the Jews. This was somewhat practical, but it did not kill many Jews at a time. Next implemented is mass shooting. Jews were lined up like a row of targets, and shot at close range. This sped up the extermination, but drove the Nazi solider pulling the trigger mad. Senseless killing for hours at a time was more stressful, and draining then one man should have to handle. Since this method did not work long, they moved to gas chambers. Mass amount of Jews were walked, most unknowingly, to large rooms where the doors were sealed behind them. They often did not know what was happening

until the gas begun to creep in. These were used effectively until the end of the war. (Killing Methods) The Death Camps Main camps were set up to house and exterminate the Jews. Holocaust Education gives a list of all the camps, their time of operation, and how many Jews were killed. Camp Chelmno/Kulmhof was open from December 8, 1941 until March 1943, and the summer of 1944. At this camp approximately 152,000 Jews were killed. Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was open March of 1942 until November of 1944. This location holds the record for over 1 million Jewish deaths. Camp Belzec was open March 1942 until December 1943. Over 600,000 Lives were taken. Camp Sobibor was open May-June 1942, October-December 1942, and March-April 1943. This location killed 250,000 Jews. Treblinka was open July 1942 until October 1943. They killed an estimated 900,000 Jews. Last there was Majdanek(-Lubin) that was open October 1942 until October 1943. There was about 60,000 80,000 people killed here. (Vogelsang) Liberation There was no hope in the ghettos and death camps for a long while. The website, A Teachers Guide to the Holocaust reads that in 1945, As allied troops entered Nazi-occupied territories, the final rescue and liberation transpired. Allied troops who stumbled upon the concentration camps were shocked at what they found. Large ditches filled with bodies, rooms of baby shoes, and gas chambers with fingernail marks on the walls all testified to Nazi brutality. General Eisenhower insisted on photographing and documenting the horror so that future generations would not ignore history and repeat its mistakes. He also forced villagers neighboring the death and concentration camps to view what had occurred in their own backyards. (Rescue and Liberation)

Camp Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets. USHMM explains,Auschwitz was the largest extermination and concentration camp, in January 1945. The Nazis had forced the majority of Auschwitz prisoners to march westward (in what would become known as "death marches"), and Soviet soldiers found only several thousand emaciated prisoners alive when they entered the camp. There was abundant evidence of mass murder in Auschwitz. The retreating Germans had destroyed most of the warehouses in the camp, but in the remaining ones the Soviets found personal belongings of the victims. They discovered, for example, hundreds of thousands of men's suits, more than 800,000 women's outfits, and more than 14,000 pounds of human hair. (Liberation of Nazi Camps)

After liberation - until 1948 when Israel is formed Despite the horrible conditions found by the Soviet Liberators, there were many Jews that survived the Holocaust. They no longer had homes to return to after the war, so something had to be done to rectify their lives. USHMM gives details explaining that many Jews did not want to return and several Jewish agencies were developed to house these displaced persons. They states, At its peak in 1947, the Jewish displaced person population reached approximately 250,000. While the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) administered all of the displaced persons camps and centers, Jewish displaced persons achieved a large measure of internal autonomy. (Post War Refugee) In reflection of what the Holocaust really was, it is hard not to think so precious of human life. The Nazi party first had to come to the conclusion that the Jewish religion makes a person less than human. They carefully crafted, and publicized this idea all Jews need to be eliminated. Plans were made to round up these people like animals, and systematically murder as many as possible. The world was almost oblivious as what was going on as even the neighboring counties

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didnt realize this mass execution. Education must take place so this large scale of a mistake never happens again.

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Work Cited

"Holocaust Survivor Eva Safferman Testimony - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. USCShoah Foundation. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I6Y9xZw4aw>. "Jewish Resistance to the Nazi Genocide." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. The AmericanIsraeli Cooreprative Enterprise. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. "Liberation of Nazi Camps." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131>. "Rescue and Liberation." A Teachers Guide to the Holocaust. Florida Center for Instructional Technology,, 2005. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Round, Simon. "The Round Up." Ruthfully Yours. WordPress/PressPlay Theme. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2011/06/10/film-the-round-up-july-16th-194213000-french-jews-were-arrested-in-france/>. "The American Experience.America and the Holocaust.People & Events | "Kristallnacht" | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. WGBH Educational Foundation. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.

"The Nuremberg Laws." The History Place. 2001. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-nurem-laws.htm>. Vogelsang, Peter, and Brian B.M. Larsen. "The Six Extermination Camps." The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 2002. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. <http://www.holocausteducation.dk/lejre/udryddelseslejre.asp>.

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