Positions of Power One of the most terrible crimes in human history was the Holocaust.

The Holocaust is the title given to a number of heinous crimes committed by a group called the Third Reich, otherwise known as Nazis. On January 30, 1933 the leader of the Nazi regime was appointed to a position of power, Adolf Hitler was made chancellor of the German government (Tindall and Shi 868). History will forever recall specific Nazi leaders that were placed in positions of power, to commit the crimes which made up the holocaust. The face of the Nazi organization was Adolf Hitler. After being elected chancellor, Hitler swiftly won dictorial powers and in 1934 assumed the title Fhrer (Tindall and Shi 868). Soon after assuming the title Fhrer Hitler began re-arming the German military in direct violation of the Versailles Treaty. This provoked other European countries but they did not immediately respond. At the same time, Hitler, who blamed the Jews for Germanys troubles ordered the Nazi police to begin persecuting Jews. The Nazi idea of eradicating the Jews would come to be called the final solution. Hitler wanted to eradicate Jews completely and make a strong Aryan race of blonde haired, blue eyed Germans. Hitlers actions resulted in World War II at the cost of some 50 million military and civilian dead, including those murdered in Nazi concentration camps (Tindall and Shi 918). Heinrich Himmler was a powerful Nazi, who was born in 1900, and was just old enough to serve in WWI. In 1923 Himmler joined the Nazi party (Trueman). Himmler worked as a propaganda leader and was elected to the Reichstag as Nazi deputy for Wester-Ems. It was Himmler who believed Germans future was played out by the stars. He saw the SS as being a new type of people, soldiers, administrators, academics and leaders all rolled into one. The SS, in

the mind of Himmler, were the new aristocracy of Germany (Trueman). Himmler was the man who convinced Hitler of the idea of a master race and racial purity. Himmler was appointed head of the Gestapo in April 1934 which would become one of the most feared units in Nazi Germany (Trueman). Himmler became even more powerful when he was appointed commander of the unified police forces in Germany and put in charge of the ministry of the interior. Himmler set up the first concentration cam at Dachau in 1933 (Trueman). Himmler caused the death of many Jews and yet, even as the cause of so much bloodshed, Himmler himself would nearly faint at the site of blood (Trueman). Adolf Eichmann joined the Nazi party in April 1932, in November he became a member of Himmlers SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps (Adolf Eichmann). Eichmann was chosen to coordinate the details of the final solution which essentially named him chief executioner. Eichmann organized the identification, assembly, and transportation of Jews to extermination camps in Poland (Adolf Eichmann). After the war Eichmann was arrested but escaped prison and his in the Middle East, settling in Argentina where he was captured by the Israeli secret service agents on May 11, 1958(Adolf Eichmann). The trial was held before Jewish judges by a Jewish state and during the trails Eichmann professed innocence denying responsibility for the mass killings (Adolf Eichmann). He claimed to have experienced discomfort upon hearing about the inner workings of a gas installation, and said he oversaw the deportation of victims but kept distance from the actual killing. He was one of many Nazis to argue obedience and adherence to the law (Adolf Eichmann). In the end his efforts did not help him and he was sentenced to death and later hanged May 31, 1962. Amon Goeth joined Nazi youth at seventeen and later joined the SS. Goeth was a Model officer and in reward, he received The SS operation to liquidate more than two million polish

jews (Louis Blow). He held the position of commandant at Plaszow, where he made conditions horrible. He frequently used collective punishment, torture, and death. Many prisoners were publicly hanged (Louis Blow). Goeth was arrested for suspicion of corruption and black marker activities but the war ended before he could go to trial. He was arrested by Pattons troops in February 1945 (Louis Blow). He went to trial at the Supreme National Tribunal of Poland. During his trial he accepted responsibility but displayed indifference to his crimes. On September 5, 1946 Goeth was found guilty and convicted of the murders of tens of thousands of people (Louis Blow). In a final act of defiance before he died Goeth saluted Hitler one last time. Born March 16, 1911, Josef Mengele, a physician made infamous for his many cruel experiments at Auschwitz, joined the Nazi Party in 1937. He joined the SS. The Same year he received his medical degree (USHMM). His advancement to SS captain preceded his transfer to Auschwitz where he would later take the position as Chief Camp Physician of Auschwitz. The medical staff chose patients from the ramps where the trains arrived. Mengele was Known as the Angel of Death, or sometimes as the White Angel, for his coldly cruel demeanor on the ramp(USHMM). Mengele was known to appear at the selection area even when off duty searching for twins. Mengele became interested in twins through Verschuer whom he assisted i during his younger years. Verscheur was known to experiment on twins to find orgins of genetic diseases. Mengele performed a broad range of agonizing and often lethal experiments with Jewish and Roma (Gypsy) twins, most of them children(USHMM). Many of the subjects died as a result from the experimenting or where murdered for data. In January 1945 Mengele fled Auschwitz to evade Soviet troops. He was captured by the U.S. but was shortly released by

mistake. Mengele settled in Argentina, and on February 7, 1979 he suffered a stroke while swimming on vacation in Brazil and drowned. He eluded captors for 34 years (USHMM). Just these five Nazis were responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews. Each of these five men played a part in the torture and killing of many. These men were looked up to by their communities, and people followed their orders blindly without regard to the lives that would be lost. Some of these men faced punishment for their deeds, others committed suicide and one lived out his life free. Justice does not always come to those deserving of it. A crime was committed against those who suffered from the holocaust, not just by the German Nazis but by the entire world. The holocaust could have been stopped or perhaps prevented, and yet the world did not see the warning signs of the holocaust, or it turned a blind eye, not wishing believe the depths humanity can sink to.

Works Cited

"Adolf Eichmann." Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 22 May. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/180925/Adolf-Eichmann>.

"Amon Goeth, Hitlers Nazi Butcher." Amon Goeth, Hitlers Nazi Butcher. Luis Bulow. Web. 22 May 2012. <http://www.auschwitz.dk/goeth.htm>. Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America a Narrative History. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. Print. Brief 8th Edition. Trueman, Chris. "Heinrich Himmler." Heinrich Himmler. History Learning Site. Web. 22 May 2012. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/heinrich_himmler.htm>. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Josef Mengele" Holocaust Encyclopedia. Web. 22 May 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007060>.