Research Paper Holocaust Overview

David T. Campbell

Mr. Neuburger English Comp 102-117 25 April 2013

Campbell 2 The Holocaust is one of the most horrifying events and low points in recorded human history. To this day, it remains the single largest genocide of a group of people. The Holocaust shows the world what humans are capable of and willing to do if their belief is strong enough in one particular idea. This low point in human history, a second world war and the mass murder of six million Jewish people, also shows the destructive means at which humans will use to succeed in accomplishing that idea. After researching the Holocaust from just an idea and the actions taken by individuals who made it happen to the liberation of the Jewish people, one can certainly see that humans will bond together and do the unthinkable under the correct circumstances. Nazi rise to power The National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi), founded in 1919, rise to power begins at the end of the First World War in 1918 and the Treaty of Versailles. After the Treaty of Versailles the Weimar Republic, a democratic government led by Paul Von Hidenburg, controls Germany during a very unstable political and economic era form 1918 to 1933. The unstable era gives way to many different political movements, the most extreme and influential being the Nazi party(Yad Vashem). According to
Hitler was an engaging speaker Source: http://bit.ly/w0u6mL

Yad Vashem, the Weimar Republic fails due to Germany's lack of democratic history, financial instability, and violence created by radical parties. The Nazi party, led by Adolf Hitler, is Germany's largest anti-democratic party and is the largest party in the German Parliament (The Rise of the Nazi Party) Another Yad Vashem article explains how Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party and appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hidenburg in 1933, officially takes control over Germany ("The Collapse of German Democracy").

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Nazi's view on Jews - anti-Semitism Although Adolf Hitler's hatred for the Jewish people is a belief he had long before he took power however it is not shared by Germans before 1933. Germans served alongside in the German military during the the First World War and were decorated soldiers. Before the Nazi's took control over Germany,
Women identified as Jews Source: http://bit.ly/HYogIJ

Adolf Hitler's rant and hatred for the Jews was listened by only a few German's and was considered nonsense by the majority of the population. As the Weimar Republic collapses and sends Germany into a Great Depression however, Germans begin taking Adolf Hitler's speeches more serious and begin believing what he has to stay as it provides someone to blame for Germany's misfortune (History Learning Site). The History Learning Site (HLS) states that in 1933, the Jews became "sub-humans" and Germans were forced not to shop in Jewish owned stores by Nazi thugs. During this time in Germany, being Jewish means to be segregated from true blood Germans, being bullied by their peers, and even made fun of by their teachers in school. The article also discusses that even though life as a Jew was becoming harder, the worse is yet to come (Jews in Nazi Germany). Nuremberg laws To further control the Jewish people, Nazi party leaders meet in Nuremberg, Germany in September 1935 to create the Nuremberg Laws. The Nuremberg Laws further extend hardship on the Jewish people by removing their rights as citizens and depriving them of political contributions. The Jewish Virtual Library (JVL) identifies that the Nuremberg Laws consists of

Campbell 4 the two laws: the first law prohibits marriages and intercourse between Jews and Germans, Jews lose their German citizenship with the second law. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) add that the Nuremberg Laws shift Germany from traditional anti-semitism from a religious concept to an even more serious issue, racism. If the two laws are to fail the decision is given to the Nazi party to determine a final solution ("Hitler on the Nuremberg Laws"; "Background: Nuremberg Race Laws"). Rounding up Jews - Ghettos The initial round up of Jews begins immediately after Kystalnacht in 1938. The shooting and death of a Nazi diplomat by a Jew prompts Adolf Hitler to burn 10,000 Jewish owned shops to the ground. According to Yad Vashem, segregation of Jews in Poland, where a large number of ghettos reside, began in 1940. Although thousands of Jews are able to escape and head for Soviet Russia, the majority are cut off from the German and forced into ghettos. Jews who are rounded up and forced into ghettos experience a very tough lifestyle. They are publicly humiliated, are given only a small portion of food, and are put through very hard labor for long hours. Addressed by the guardian, Jews in France
Men, women, and children being rounded up Source: http://bit.ly/ZKyI11 Nuremberg laws Source: http://bit.ly/Y6G7tk

are rounded up in 1942 between September 14th and September 16th. Twenty-eight thousand French Jews are rounded up by French and German authorities. Men and women are separated and children under three are seperated from their mothers. Furthermore, the article describes that many French Jews are able to receive help by their fellow countrymen and are able to escape into

Campbell 5 territory not yet occupied by Germany. ("Ghettoization Process"; "Initial Persecution of Polish Jews"; "How the Jews in France were rounded up") Resistance in the Ghettos The ghettos in which Jewish people are forced to live in provide very difficult and harsh living conditions. Many families are separated from each other and are forced into strenuous labor or are deported to concentration camps where most will be executed. During these harsh living conditions however, groups of Jewish people are able to provide armed resistance against the Nazis. Yad Vashem states that resistance from the Jewish people
Resistance group captured Source: http://bit.ly/Zn38H6

within the ghettos are found mainly by the Jewish youth and range in different forms of resistance. As the Jewish people realize that the Nazis plan to execute them all the resistance began evolving into armed resistance and reached climax during deportations. Furthermore, resistance in some ghettos differentiated from other ghettos in Wester Europe whose focus is attempts of rescue. ("Resistance in the Ghettos") Wannsee Conference - The Final Solution Led by Lieutenant General Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of Security Police and Security Service, the Wannsee Conference gathers many officials of the Nazi party to determine a final solution for the Jewish people. On January 20th, 1942 the group decides to exterminate the remaining Jews in only one hour. According to USHMM, the term "Final Solution" is only code for the complete
Officials of the Wannsee Conference Source: http://bit.ly/10flWDN

Campbell 6 annihilation of the Jewish people in Europe. However Heydrich's plan calls for the annihilation of eleven million Jewish people which include not only Jews in Europe, but Jews in Great Britain and Jews in neutral countries such as Switzerland. The USHMM continues to state that most officials in the conference are well aware of the extermination methods in use by the Nazis and that many thousands of Jews were already being executed. The Wannsee Conference is not to decide whether or not to annihilate the Jews but merely to decide how to carry out the plan as the decision was already made by higher ranking officials of the Nazi party. ("Wannsee Conference and the "Final Solution"") Extermination methods To find an appropriate way to dispose of Jewish dead bodies, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party use many different extermination methods. The method of shooting thousands of Jews at a time is costly and left the German soldiers with thousands of bodies to dispose of. Gas proved to be more effective but also consists of the same end result as they are many bodies to dispose of. The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (DCHGS) writes that three million Jews are executed
Burning of bodies outside of a camp Source: http://bit.ly/12KpEdD

within six extermination camps that Adolf Hitler establishes using different methods such as mass shootings, gas trucks, and large facilities in which Jews were gasses with Zyklon B gas and then burned. Although the most common of execution of the Jews is the use of gas, the annihilation of Jews begins with mass shootings. Jewish men and women are shot and fall into graves that they have dug themselves or graves that were already dug. However mass shootings is not as effective because of the effect it has on German soldiers and costs more money because

Campbell 7 of ammunition being used. Another extermination used by the Nazis are mobile gas trucks. Jews are loaded onto trucks which are then sealed and filled with gas that suffocates and kills the men and women. Mobile gas trucks prove to be more effective than mass shootings because it helps eliminate the effect on German soldiers but the Nazis were unable to kill as many Jews as they like. Because of this, the Nazis turn to concentration camps. DCHGS continues on to state that concentration camps are the most effective at killing mass numbers of Jews quickly and secretly. Jews are forced into chambers, Zyklon B gas is inserted into the chamber which kills them, and the dead bodies are then burned. Concentration camps kill over three million Jews and prove to be the most effective execution method. ("Methods of Mass Murder") Liberation Liberation of Jews from concentration camps by allied forces begins in 1945, a process which is long waited and over-due. The physical suffering of millions of people has come to end however the emotional suffering will last forever. According to JVL, as allied forces begin liberating Jews from concentration camps across Europe, the Germans begin tearing down camps and force Jews on a road much where many more die from weakness or by being shot for being too slow. The Germans attempt to hide all evidence but are unable to remove thousands of dead
Liberation of Jews from Dachau Source: http://bit.ly/XZlXPM

bodies. Although thousands of Jews are liberated, it is short lived by many others who continue to die because of malnourishment and disease. Furthermore, many Jews who are now liberated do not fully realize they are free and many question about what to do, others look to reunite with

Campbell 8 friends and family, and most feel guilty that they are alive while many of their friends and family are dead. ("Liberation") The Holocaust gives mankind a very clear example of what devastation it is capable of and it will be remembered throughout time what was done to over eleven million innocent people. This low point in human history shows that under the correct circumstances, humans will listen to even the most absurd ideas and begin to follow them strongly. It also shows how one individual can brainwash millions of people if that individual can make his or her idea seem justified. I only hope that mankind has learned a valuable lesson from the Holocaust and does not let evil stand up and take over again.

Campbell 9 Works Cited "Background: Nuremberg Race Laws." Holocaust Encylopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 11 May 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. "Collapse of German Democracy." The Holocaust - Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. "Ghettoization Process." The Holocaust - Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. "Hitler on Nuremberg Laws." Jewish Virtual Library. Ed. N. H. Baynes. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. "How the Jews in France Were Rounded up." The Guardian. Guardian Century, 2 Sept. 1942. Web. 23 Apr. 203. "Initial Persecution of Polish Jews." The Holocaust - Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. "Liberation." Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Isreali Cooperative Enterprise, 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. "Resistance in the Ghettos." The Holocaust - Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. "Rise of the Nazi Party." The Holocaust - Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Trueman, Chris. "Jews in Nazi Germany." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Vogelsang, Peter, and Brian B.M. Larson. "Methods of Mass Murder." Holocaust Education. The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 2002. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. "Wannsee Conference and the "Final Solution"" Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 11 May 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.

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