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Adriana Rodriguez

Professor Norma Perez

CH. S 115

27 September 2017

World War II- The Holocaust

The Holocaust is well known by most of the population as the mass execution of the Jewish

population. The leader behind this doing was Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 and

died in 1945. He was the ruler/dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler sought power and

he used his power to execute a plethora of people, mainly because of their religion and sexual

preferences (the Jews and other ethnic groups) and he was also the leader of the Nazis. Not only

is he known for the Holocaust but he is also greatly known for starting World War II and for

leaving Germany in a huge debt to pay off his destruction. Jews were not the main targets Hitler

and his followers were after; he also targeted numerous of other ethnic, religious and national

groups. Such as; Poles, Czechs, Greeks, Gypsies, Serbs Ukrainians, and Russians, as well as

homosexuals. The Holocaust occurred in 1933 right after Hitler became chancellor of Germany.

It is important to know this part in history because people need to know that things like this

happened in history and how the World has evolved from then.

The roots of Hitlers dislike against the Jews and other groups were based on Germanys

defeat in World War I. It was easy for him lead the Germans into believing that the Jews were

the main cause of Germanys defeat because the people were devastated after the war and they

needed someone to lead them. In 1993, the Jewish population in Europe was more than nine

million people and by 1945 two out of every 3 Jews had been killed as a part of Hitlers Final

Solution. The Final Solution was aimed at removing all Jews from the German society. As
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soon as Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he worked to achieve his objective to finish the

struggle between the master race (the Germans) and the inferior races (Jews, Poles, Czechs,

etc.). Basically, anyone who was not German was considered inferior or a minority and therefore

they were sent away to camps. It was easy for Hitler to gain many supporters because he had the

means of using propaganda through; newspapers, magazines, and books. Hitlers supporters were

easily identified because they would wear the Swastika. The Swastika became the known as their

symbol.

During World War II, the Nazis built special camps for the Jews and other ethnic group

who were not Germans called Concentration Camps and Extermination Camps. Not many people

survived in these camps because they either died of infections, diseases, the gas chambers or by

the hands of the Nazis. Upon arrival to these concentration camps, men and women were

separated, which meant that families were separated. Once separated, the Nazis decided whether

the prisoner was weak or strong enough to work. Unfortunately, if someone was classified

weak, then they were sent to extermination camps where they would get stripped down naked

and sent to the gas chambers to be killed. Those who were classified strong, were sent to

concentration camps to spend the rest of their lives working. Even though, the extermination

camps were meant to kill the Jews, many Jews also died in the concentration camps.

The living conditions in the concentration camps were not very pleasant. Jews were

crammed into windowless cabins with the closes thing to a bathroom was a waste bucket and that

waste bucket was meant for every single person in the cabin. Even though it was a work camp,

the prisoners were not probably fed nor maintained, many died of malnutrition and became prone

to catch diseases.
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This event lasted a while until it finally came to an end in 1944, when allied forces

moved against Germany. Many of the camps were liberated but because of the conditions the

prisoners were held and treated, many died upon liberation. The Nazis were put on trial and

found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. As for Hitler, he committed suicide to

avoid being imprisoned by the allied forces.

This event was influenced by political factors, it mainly being WWI. As stated before,

Germany lost in the first world war and Hitler became determined to gain Germanys status

back. But in the end, his big objective was not accomplished. Germany lost yet again, only this

time, they had to pay for all the damages caused. This event can relate to today with the political

issues going on. Discrimination is what also influenced the holocaust and even though it is not as

bad as before, discrimination still runs today. With Donald Trump winning the presidency,

discrimination was enhanced but it will not reach to the level that caused the Holocaust. The

world has become a more accepting place for people of different races/religions. The overall

experience/history of the Holocaust was horrible and to think that this happened in history and

the thought of it happening again is terrifying. Thats why it is important for people to know

what happened in history, so the world can work together to make sure something like this

doesnt happen again.


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Works Cited

United States History. The Holocaust, www.u-s-

history.com/pages/h1677.html.

The Final Solution. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United


States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007704.
Wilde, Robert. A Quick Look at Adolf Hitler (1889-1945). ThoughtCo, 19

June 2017, www.thoughtco.com/adolf-hitler-biography-1221627.

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