Kearsten Jones Graded[1]

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Research Paper

Holocaust Overview

Kearsten Jones

Composition 102, Section 102

Mr. Neuberger

18 November 2011


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Jews marching against anti-semitism

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Intense slave labor, malnutrition, unregulated surgical experiments, human

extermination; these heart wrenching realities help paint the tragic event of the Holocaust. To

most people the Holocaust is nothing more than a series of facts, a number of lives lost and a

tragic event which occurred once upon a time in history. However, to the people who actually

experienced and survived the Holocaust, this was an event that means so much more than a place

holder in a history book. This event forever changed the way they view, not only themselves, but

the rest of the surrounding world. The Holocaust was made up of various events, all of which

were tragic and all of which changed the world forever. More than eleven million people lost the

battle, and ultimately their lives, to the Nazi regime. It is not only important for the world to

know what happened, but also how it happened.

Anti-Semitism

Like various forms of racism that have been displayed throughout the world, the Nazi

views of Jewish people are among the most famous. For years, the Nazis of Germany saw the

people of Jewish descent as crooks or dirty useless people that did nothing but bring down the

world and its economic state. The website Yad Vashem states, Nazi ideology used elements of

traditional Christian anti-Semitism although, it mainly centered on racist anti-Semitism, which

portrayed Jews as an inferior and destructive race. (Anti-Semitism and Racism) This type of

mindset, which encompassed the minds of the most

powerful Germans, was enough to help decide the fate of

the Jewish people. The racism against the Jews started

out very subtle but as the Germans obtained more and

more power, the restrictions that were forced upon the

people grew more and more dramatic. Yad Vashem goes on to say, Anti-Semitism reached its


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Announcement of Nuremberg Laws

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peak in Nazi ideology, which depicted human history as a struggle between races. (Anti-

Semitism and Racism) To the people of Germany, it was about so much more than just the hatred

of a certain type of people; it was everything that made up the Jewish community: their heritage,

ideas of worship, and even way of life. Some may say that fate has been sealed for them since

the beginning, but it is hard to believe that anyone could have anticipated the dramatic events

that were going to take place in their near future.

Nuremberg Laws

During the establishment of the Nuremberg Laws, life for the Jews had not changed

dramatically. There were a few adjustments that had to be made as far as everyday living went

but nothing that this group of people could not handle. This famous event, which took place

annually, was a major turning point for the members of the Jewish community. According to an

article at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) website, The laws

excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having

sexual relations with persons of German or related blood The article went on to say,

Ancillary ordinances to the laws disenfranchised Jews and deprived them of most political

rights. (Nuremberg Race Laws) After the Nuremberg

Laws were passed, the Jewish community lost any kind

of status that they may have had or had built up over their

lifetime. According to these laws, they were not people

anymore and it was as though the German-Jewish

population was nothing more than a social liability. It no

longer mattered how successful their business was or how wealthy their family had been,

everyone had been reduced to equal status.


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Since these groups of individuals were limited to the places they could go and the things

that they could do, the way they lived their lives stayed relatively the same, but minor areas had

to be altered to fit the rules given primarily to the Jews. Everything from where they shopped to

the areas that they were allowed to walk down the street was included in these rules. The

website,Middle State Tennessee University (MTSU), stated, Hitler began promulgating legal

actions against Germanys Jews. It wenton to say, In the first half of 1938, numerous laws

were passed restricting Jewish economic activity and occupational opportunities. (Kristallnacht)

Actions that are second nature to us today had to constantly be kept in the back of the minds of

the Jews. Keep in mind however, that it was not only the basic activities that were restricted; the

type of person that they chose to marry or have children with also had restrictions. It may have

seemed, at that time, as though their freedoms were slowly being taken away, but little did they

know, the worst was yet to come.

Kristallnacht

When looking at the bigger picture of the Holocaust, Kristallnacht was another tragic

event that took place. This occurrence, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, took place in

November of 1938. It did a great job at showcasing how bad the racism and hatred toward the

Jewish people was at that time. Kristallnacht was performed by young supporters of the Nazi

party and their goal was to destroy anything that represented the people of Jewish decent. The

Nazi supporters did not want to leave any stone unturned when it came to the Jewish

communities; anything that was owned or supported by the Jews was destroyed. The places that

became targets to this rally were Jewish owned stores or shops, churches and even homes. MTSU

described this event by saying, gangs of Nazi youth roamed through Jewish neighborhoods

breaking windows of Jewish businesses and homes, burning synagogues and looting. In


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The Results from Kristallnacht

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addition, 101 synagogues were destroyed 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed. 26,000

Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps, Jews were physically attacked and beaten

and 91 died. (Kristallnacht) If it had not been clear to the Jewish people before, that the Nazis

were out for blood, it was extremely apparent after this night. In addition to ruining the

community of the Jews, the perpetrators of this event

tried to pass the blame off to the Jews themselves. They

were not going to be held responsible and they hoped to

make the, already detested, even bolder target for future

attacks.MTSUstated, Accordingly, a fine of 1 billion

marks was levied for the slaying of Vom Rath, and 6

million marks paid by insurance companies for broken

windows was to be given to the state coffers. (Kristallnacht) A result such as this helped show

just how much power the Nazis had and how little Jewish people now obtained. The Jews were

again in a position to defend themselves. Receiving no help or sympathy from an outside group

of people, the Jewish community was more alone than ever and had to solely rely on the hope

and support of one another to make it through these harsh and cynical times. Although racism

had taken an ugly turn at this time, the Jews could not even anticipate how quickly their lives

would be coming to an end.

Rounding up Jews- ghettos

Shortly after Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, members of the Jewish

community were distributed to various areas throughout the country known as ghettos. These

ghettos were typically small measured off areas of town that usually had a barrier from the

outside world. This ensured the German SS officers that the Jews would not escape. The ghettos


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Children of the Ghetto

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were not pleasant places to live; they were poverty stricken and dirty areas. The total amount of

space consisted of no more than a few miles and was filled with thousands of people. As one

could gather from this description, health and sanitary conditions were very poor and the number

of malnutrition citizens and deaths continued to rise day after day.

The most famous ghetto was the Warsaw Ghetto, which was established in October of

1940. In the Warsaw Ghetto, citizens were restricted from the outside world by a large wall that

enclosed them in their designated space. This was one of the smallest areas that held some of

the largest numbers of people. According to Rabbi

Eliyahu and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky, on the websiteAish,

These Jews were thrown into the slum area of town, 2.3

75,000 people died of disease and starvation. (The

Ghettos)Conditions were so bad, at this time, that the

Warsaw Ghetto could have been easily compared to the conditions of a third world country. A

person had to live very inhumanly if they wanted any chance of survival, which seemed unlikely.

Keep in mind, however, that the traditions and everyday actions that were performed by the Jews

went on as they normally would, had they been living in their own homes. According to

Aish.com, they made sure to place an emphasis on events that were important to their culture and

to their families, which helped give them hope in a time of darkness (Aish).

Wannsee Conference- The Final Solution

The Germans had been successful with seizing control of the Jewish communitys way of

life. They had also been successful in segregating an entire race to one specific area of town. The

Germans needed to find a way to get rid of the Jewish problem permanently and the answer was

made clear at a meeting known as the Wannsee Conference. The fate of the Jewish community


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The Men from the Wannsee Conference

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was decided, in January of 1942, by the top officials that held Germanys power. USHMM

described this conference by saying, The Final Solution was the code name for the

systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews. Moreover, Hitler

authorized this European-wide scheme for mass murder. (Wannsee Conference)

In the eyes of the Germans, the cause of their countries problems, economic or otherwise,

was strictly because of the Jewish people. They thought there was no better way to fix the

problem than to get rid of the problem itself. Another

factor that helped fuel the Nazis plan of termination was

Hitlers desire for the perfect Arian race, which meant

pure blooded citizens that essentially had blonde hair and

blue eyes. Most Jews, if any, did not fit this description,

therefore they needed to be done away with. Keep in

mind, however, that Hitlers plan did not only illustrated

the extermination of Jews, but extended to members of the gypsy and polish communities as well

as Turkish prisoners or anyone else who did not fit Hitlers ideal criteria. All of these things

combined helped put the Final Solution into motion. The German officials eventually came up

with the idea that these unsuitable citizens would be sent to work at various camps. USHMM

described this decision by proclaiming, In large labor columns, separated by gender, able-

bodied Jews will be brought to those regions to build roads, whereby a large number will

doubtlessly be lost through natural reduction. (The Wannsee Conference) This decision, which

was stated so simply, was the final straw in the lives of the Jewish people. From that point on

they had to endure all of the torture that was brought about by the concentration camps.

Selection


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Selection lines formed upon arrival

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Upon arriving at the concentration, or labor camps, the Jewish people were separated into

various lines. The women, children, and elderly were in one line and the men and young boys

were in another. German SS officers determined who would go where by whether or not the

person was in good health or if they could perform intensive labor tasks. It was this selection

process that determined whether or not the members would live or die and people lost their lives

almost instantaneously. A website titled The Holocaust Explaineddescribed this event by saying,

Usually, those aged over fourteen years of age and deemed fit for work were sent to one

side Furthermore, The elderly and women with children were sent directly to the line of

prisoners who were condemned (Selection)

Additionally, an article on theHolocaust-Education

website states, Those unable to work-the old, women

and children- were immediately sent to the gas chambers

or shot in the camp hospital. (Extermination Camps)

Unable to choose whether or not they wanted to stay with

their families or to live, the fate of the Jewish people was sealed. The citizens whose lives were

taken would hopefully be remembered forever and those lucky enough to survive began their

journey as labor slaves and awaited the day when their number would be called and their life

would end.

Extermination Methods

If the idea of exterminating an entire race was not inhumane enough, the ways in which

they killed the people was even worse. Instead of allowing the enabled workers to die peacefully,

the German SS officers chose to make the Jews suffer as much as possible. They even took death

one step further because after the bodies were killed, in many cases, they would all be brought to


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Death by cremation

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a designated area where their bodies would then be burned. The Nazis wanted it to seem as

though the Jewish people never existed at all.Holocaust-Educationnoted, The Nazis and their

helpers used the most terrible methods of murdering Jews, gypsies, and other undesirable

population groups. (Methods of Mass Murder) The Jewish people were often tricked into death.

For example, the Nazis would tell the people that they would be going to take group showers.

When the group would arrive in the enclosed area, the Germans would ignite various chemicals

through the shower heads, killing the Jewish people very

painfully.Holocaust- Education illustrated this event by

saying, The Jews were herded into the gas chambers,

then the camp personnel closed the doors, and either

exhaust gas or poison gas in the form of Zyklon-B or A

was led into the gas chamber. Furthermore, The use of

gas chambers was the most common method of mass murdering the Jews in the extermination

camps. (Killing Methods) Whether their death came about by suffocation, mass shooting,

cremation, or simply being worked to death, the Jews all suffered tremendously. Millions of

innocent people had their lives taken at the expense of someone elses jealous rage.

The Death Camps

In addition to the concentration camps, the Nazis decided to take extermination one step

further by building death camps. In order to have enough areas that would accompany the large

amounts of people that were within the concentration camps, the Germans built a total of six

death camps. Although all of the death camps hold a special place in the story of the Holocaust,

each one has its own characteristics that helps set it a apart from all of the other camps. The four

death camps that are the most well-known are Belzec, Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Sorbibor.


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The Corpses of the death camps

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Sobibor.

One of the most well-known death camps is Sobibor. This camp was developed in March

of 1942 and could be classified as one of the most aggressive death camps of the Holocaust.

Sorbibor carried out its functions from May 1942 until October of 1943. Although this death

camp operated for only a little over a year, the extensive number of lives that were taken make

up for its short operation time. An article fromDeath Camps Info (DCI) website described this

locationby stating, Sobibor operatedfor only one purpose: to kill as many Jews including

children as quickly as possible. Moreover, victims were brought to the camp in cattle cars

and all but a handful were gassed immediately after

arrival. (Death Camp Sobibor) It was apparent that the

German SS officers did not look at the Jewish prisoners

as people or even had empathy for them. Instead, they

just saw them as a problem that needed to be gotten rid

of. According to the articleDeath Camp Sobibor, this

death machine took the lives of an estimated 260, 000 individuals (Death Camps). The end of

this death camp came from a resistance group of Jewish individuals in October of 1943.

Auschwitz.

Auschwitz is probably the most well-known of all of the death camps. Death Camp noted

that one of the most famous events that took place at Auschwitz is the actions performed by

Oscar Schindler, in which he was able to save numerous women from termination (Death

Camps). It was established in April of 1940 and had direct instruction from Hitler to perform as

many killings as possible.DCIproclaimed, mass gassing of Jews using Zyklon-B began at

Auschwitz, where extermination was conducted on an industrial scale with some estimates


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running as high as three million persons eventually killed through gassing, starvation, disease,

shooting, andburning. (Auschwitz-Birkenau) Auschwitz was a death camp in which many

variations of extermination were used and although many people were killed at this location,

there were individuals that were able to survive because of their ability to work and continue

pushing forward.

Treblinka.

Established in 1942, Treblinka is another major death camp for Jews that were kept in the

Warsaw ghetto. It was unique in the fact that, unlike the other camps, it was actually enclosed

from the outside world.DCIstated, The camp was surrounded by a high barbed wire fence

camouflaged with interwoven greenery to hide what was happening inside. In addition, rolls

of barbed wire were placed outside the fence. Watch towers were additionally positioned around

the camp. (Death Camp Treblinka)There was no way of getting out once they were brought into

the camp. The people of this camp were closely monitored and would pay the ultimate price

(death) for disobeying the German SS officers. It has been estimated that about 850, 000 people

were killed here. (Death Camp Treblinka)

Belzec.

One of the smaller, but equally aggressive, death camps was known as Belzec. It was

located in Lublin and was established in April of 1940, in which labor was the primary focus at

that time. Belzec is known distinctively for its methods of gassing using the exhaust from a

motorized vehicle. This form of extermination was inspired by the leader of the camp, SS

colonel General Christian Wirth. Although it was smaller compared to the other death camps, an

exceptional amount of deaths occurred at this location. According toDCI, It is estimated that

about 600,000 Jews were murdered at Belzec and thousands of Gypsies. Furthermore, Those


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The Angel of Death

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remaining when the camp ceased to function were transported to the Sobibor death camp and

murdered. (Death Camp Belzec)

Joseph Mengele.

Joseph Mengele was an intelligent doctor who was a supporter of the Nazi party and who

eventually became an officer in the SS. With the desire to take a part in the events of the

Holocaust, Mengele was an active member at the death camp Auschwitz. While here, he

obtained the nickname the Angle of Death because he had a huge

impact on whether prisoners of the camp would be kept for labor

purposes or if their life would end. He is also well known for the

various experiments that he performed on the individuals of the

death camps, primarily sets of twins. An article on the website

History Learning Site described Mengeles experiments by saying,

Mengele was fascinated by the study of genes and he wanted to

find out if he could change identical sets of twins by operating on

them and performing experiments on them that had no scientific basis. (Joseph Mengele)

The Angel of Death did what he could to make his experiments not seem as bad as they

were and somewhat bribed the children that were to serve as his next victims. The History

Learning Site states, Before they were experimented on, Mengele did all in his power to calm

them. The children were given clean clothes and sweets. Moreover, They were then subjected

to appalling experiments- surgery without anesthetics, blood transfusions from one twin to the

other, the deliberate injecting of lethal germs into the twins, sex change operation. (Joseph

Mengele) If the twins did not die immediately after the test or experiment was performed, then

many of them suffered from various illnesses and diseases in their later lives. Although their


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Survivors after liberation

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lives were spared during the Holocaust, these diseases and illnesses that were obtained from the

experimentation of Joseph Mengele, still took them from the Earth too early. Joseph Mengele

will continue to be remembered, throughout history, as a monster that destroyed the lives of

many innocent people at a time when they could have really used a savior.

Liberation

Being saved from the concentration camps was the prayer that the prisoners had wanted

answered for so long. Their prayers were finally answered by members of the Soviet, United

States, and British troops. After being tortured for several months, the prisoners finally got a

chance at freedom. An article from theHolocaust Memorial Day (HMD) website noted, When

Allied troops began a number of offensive strikes in Nazi-occupied Europe, they began to

uncover the concentration camps. (Liberation, Resistance, and Rescuers) It took a few years for

all of the camps to obtain liberation. Sobibor, Belzec, and Treblinka were among the first death

camps to be freed in 1944 by members of the Soviet

Army and later saved the prisoners of Auschwitz in

January of 1945. The Nazis began to fear the armies that

were closing in on their solution. They did not want

exchange for the life-altering months that the Jews, and

other minority groups, had to face.HMD described this by

saying, - the Nazi attempt to destroy evidence of their

crimes against humanity. (Liberation, Resistance, and Rescuers) The perpetrators of the

Holocaust could not own up to their plan and did not want to take credit for all of the success that

had come from their final solution. At a time when a cause for a celebration was due, the

members of the Nazi party were cowering behind their actions.


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Members of a displaced persons camp

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After Liberation

Although this was an exciting time for the former prisoners of the concentration camps, a

new world seemed to have formed while they were being held captive. Many of their family

members had been killed at the concentration or death camps and the survivors had no family to

go home to following the Holocaust. This posed a major problem for troops who were

responsible for freeing the camps and also for the prisoners themselves. An article on the

Holocaust- History website stated, Hundreds of thousands of people were homeless and seeking

new life. These were known at the time as displaced persons. (What Happened) Many Jews

found that if they tried to return to the place that they had

originated, hate groups of many kinds would again try to

take their lives. Displaced persons camps were set up

throughout the country as the survivors of the Holocaust

tried to return to normal. Matt Rosenberg, author of

Displaced Jews in Europenoted, Thousands of

survivors died in the days and weeks following liberation, the military buried the dead in

individual and mass graves. Moreover, the Allied armies rounded up concentration camp

victims and forced them to remain in the confines of the camp, under army guard. (Displaced

Jews in Europe) Eventually, the survivors made new lives for themselves, whether it was in the

United States or Israel, they found a way to carry on.

The Holocaust was the worst genocide in the history of the world. Innocent people were

killed at the expense of one groups hatred. For the victims, life will never be the same. The

nightmares they had to endure are engraved into their minds forever. Luckily the survivors have

been able to share their experiences and stories with the world. The events of this mass murder


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will forever baffle the minds of any normal person since we are unable to comprehend how a

human being can take the life of a complete stranger. A face, nor the innocent eyes of a child,

had any meaning to Hitler and the Nazis. A number on a piece of fabric was all that these

humans had been reduced to. However, to the rest of the world, it is these faces that we will

forever look to for inspiration and that help keep us humble throughout our lives.


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Works Cited

"Anti-Semitism and Racism."yadvashem.org. 5 Nov. 2011. Web.

"Auschwitz-Birkenau." Gates to Hell - The Nazi Death Camps. 2008-2010. 7 Nov. 2011. Web.

"Death Camp Belzec." Gates to Hell - The Nazi Death Camps. 2008-2010. 7 Nov. 2011. Web.

"Death Camp Sobibor." www.deathcamps.info. 2008-2010. 7 Nov. 2011. Web.

"Death Camp Treblinka." Gates to Hell - The Nazi Death Camps. 2008-2010. 7 Nov. 2011. Web.

Ellis, Rabbi Eliyahu, and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky. "The Ghettos."Aish.com. 2011. 7 Nov. 2011.

Web.

"Extermination Methods." The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 2002. 2 Nov.

2011. Web.

"Joseph Mengele."History Learning Site. 2000-2011. 2 Nov. 2011. Web.

"Killing Methods." The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 2002. 2 Nov. 2011.

Web.

"Kristallnacht." Middle Tennessee State University.2 Nov. 2011. Web.

"Liberation, Resistance and Rescuers."Home - HMD Trust. Aug. 2011. 2 Nov. 2011. Web.

"The Nuremberg Race Laws." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2 Nov. 2011. Web.

Rosenberg, Matt. "Displaced Jews in Europe."About.com: Need. Know. Accomplish. 2011. 2

Nov. 2011. Web.

"Selection at the Concentration Camps." The Holocaust Explained - Homework & Online

Education Tool for Students. 2011. 2 Nov. 2011. Web.

"Wannsee Conference and the "Final Solution"" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

2002. 2 Nov. 2011. Web.


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"What Happened to the Jews After the Holocaust?" The Holocaust History Project Homepage. 7

Sept. 1998. 2 Nov. 2011. Web.

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Kearsten Jones Graded[1]