Rhoten

Research Paper Holocaust Overview

Sarah Rhoten

Mr. Neuburger English102-127 18 October 2012

Rhoten 2 The Holocaust is perhaps one of the most dark and devastating moments in history. During the disastrous events of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism or pure and total hatred towards Jews was at an unprecedented high causing over twelve million innocent human beings to be slaughtered systematically. However, many people today do not realize the significance of the events preceding the rise of the Nazis that seemingly justified their twisted propaganda and belief system thus proving the importance of an all encompassing knowledge of all aspects of the Holocaust in order to prevent such occurrences in the future, as well as having reverence for the ones who lost their lives. Nazi rise to power and views of the Jews In order for one to have a total and complete knowledge of the horrific events that took place one must be aware of the disastrous effects of an extreme racist ideology that can lead to mass devastation such as the events displayed throughout the years of the Holocaust. The leading factor that contributed the Nazis rise to power, and the beginning of the Jews turmoil was the spreading of Adolf Hitlers perverted and hatred based belief system. Whilst in jail, Hitler wrote his rather well known book titled Mein Kampf, meaning My Struggle. The History Place states that the views expressed within the book were regarding his childhood, the early days of the Nazi Party, his future plans for Germany, and his hatred towards many races, but more specifically the Jews. Hitler often referred to the Jewish people as parasites, liars, without any true culture, a middleman, a maggot, eternal blood
The cover of Hitlers Book, Mien Kampf Source: http://binged.it/T23iNs

suckers, repulsive, monsters, foreign, bloodthirsty, the destroyer of Aryan humanity, and the mortal enemy of Aryan humanity. In

addition, another key concept addressed in his book was his version of the perfect political

Rhoten 3 system and the perfect race known as the Aryan race. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) Hitler viewed the Germans as a superior race of people and it was his duty to ensure that the pure and perfect human race remained unthreatened by dissolution and ultimately extinction, the only way to achieve definitive protection was by elimination of all inferior races mainly Jews, however they identified many other races such as Roma or gypsies, people with handicaps of any kind, the Polish, Soviet prisoners of war, political dissidents, Jehovahs Witnesses, homosexuals and Afro-Germans which according to an article on Suite 101, were African Americans living in Germany at the time. Furthermore, after released from Jail, Hitler knew that merely being the Fhrer of the radical group of Nazi soldiers accompanied by his book Mien Kampf, which sold very poorly at first, would not spread his manipulative propaganda and ideals to the magnitude that he truly desired. It was then that he developed a master plan in which involves him running for President, although he did not win the election, Hitlers desires driven by vengeful principles eventually became reality when the president of Germany appointed him Chancellor in 1932, thus allowing him to achieve the attention and publicity needed to effectively implicate his twisted ideals. Hitlers abused position of power ultimately ignited one of the most dark and devastating moments in the history of mankind.

The Nuremberg Laws One can clearly see that as the leader of the radical Nazi party, Hitler was a very influential man in the Holocaust, an event that many view as the most horrific and devastating periods of time in all of humanity. Hitler made his first major political decision progressing towards the ultimate discrimination and hatred directed towards the Jewish people by developing and implementing the Nuremburg Laws, which were put into effect in 1935. The Teachers Guide to The Holocaust: The Nazification Timeline explains that more than 120 laws, decrees, and

Rhoten 4 ordinances were enacted after the Nuremburg Laws and before the outbreak of World War II. These laws that were strictly enforced by the Hitler as well as his devout followers the Nazi soldiers, the laws enacted were extremely unfair and exceedingly specific in regards to the discrimination and mistreatment of the Jews. The Jewish people were viewed as less than human, thus causing them to be denied civil rights they were considered inferior legally, socially, and politically due to the "The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor." In addition according to the Jewish Virtual Library some of the many constraints on the Jewish people included: Marriages between Jews and Germans or kindred blood were absolutely forbidden as well as sexual relations between the two races. Jews were not allowed to employ female citizens of German decent as domestic servants. Jews are also forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the official colors of Germany; whereas they were also forced to wear a label that is to remain visible at all times in order to outwardly identify them as part of an inferior race. A person who acts contrary to any if the many laws enacted was to be punished with extreme hard labor, excessive fines, and unfair imprisonment. In addition, marriages ordained while under the Nuremburg Laws were null and void. It is made evident that the laws were one of Hitlers first political and strategic acts in order to begin his plan to eliminate the world of all the races he believed to be inferior, and a crucial aspect of the events preceding the Holocaust. The Kristallnacht During the years of Hitlers reign as Chancellor of Germany anti-Semitism was at a unprecedented high all throughout Germany, thus causing an overwhelming amount of hatred

Illustration of the Nuremburg Laws Source: http://bit.ly/TOBKKv

Rhoten 5 being expressed towards the Jewish people resulting in a dreadfully climatic event of aggressive anti-Jewish riots, known as The Kristallnacht or Crystal Night, which means The Night of Broken Glass which took place on November 9, 1938. This horrific and yet historically significant night was a turning point that consisted of endless vandalism committed by Nazi Soldiers who burned down numerous Jewish synagogues and places where they worshiped, burned down the houses as well as their places of business, as well as many Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools and finally many Jewish people were being severely beaten to the point of death. Acts of terror and
Men looking at the broken glass from the Kristallnacht Source:http://binged.it/Y0ksRZ

brutality were executed with little to no attention from the law enforcement, and no repercussions for those who were

committing the vandalism. According to USHMM over 267 synagogues were burned or destroyed, 7,500 Jewish businesses had been vandalized or looted, 26,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps, countless Jews were physically attacked, beaten and 91 died. In addition, this night was a crucial point preceding the Holocaust, due to the fact that after the Night of Broken Glass many Jews that were beaten were then exported to many of the various concentration camps. Along with the horrific acts of vandalism that occurred and with countless Jews being exported to various concentration camps the Nazis implemented new rules further constricting the Jewish Peoples freedoms. The Holocaust/Shoah Page explains the rules which included many rather unfair and discriminating rules, which include the Jews were to relinquish to all of their valuable metals to the Nazis, Jewish workers pension funds were significantly reduced, they were forced to be segregated within the German towns, there was a ban placed upon the Jewish ownership of carrier pigeons, suspension of all Jewish drivers licenses, their

Rhoten 6 radios were confiscated and lastly a strict curfew was implemented to keep Jews of the streets between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. in the summer seasons and 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. in the winter season. Furthermore, it is made evident that Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass was a turning point in the disastrous events preceding The Holocaust, as quoted by USHMM It was the spark that ignited the Holocaust. Wannsee Conference The Final Solution The cruelty shown towards the Jewish people continues when their demise is being determined by Hitler, the Nazis as well as many other powerful and cruel individuals who viewed Hitlers twisted propaganda and ideals as truth. In order for one to completely understand how the Nazis justified their ghastly actions one must first know how and why they developed the inhumane methods in which they were able to virtually annihilate a vast portion of the Jewish people. It is made evident in Hitlers book Mien Kampf, as well as the policies he enacted while Chancellor of Germany that he, as well as the Nazis viewed the Jewish people as inferior, a problem and a threat to the Aryan race. According to USHMM the Nazis adapted a theory of social Darwinism which justified the idea of survival of the fittest, meaning superior races not only had the right but were obligated to eliminate the races they believed to be inferior. Furthermore, The Wannsee Conference had been formulated and was officially conducted on January 20, 1942. Among the many things discussed at the conference the main purpose was not to determine the fate of the Jewish race, rather to find a final solution to The Jewish Problem. The Holocaust History website explains that many of the men invited to attend the conference had already engaged in slaughtering many Jews since the summer of
Building where the Wannsee Conference was held Source:http:// http://binged.it/UTMoGn

Rhoten 7 1941 through conducting mass shootings and firing squads, however they all recognized the need of a much more efficient and impersonal manner in which to exterminate the Jewish people. Therefore, there were many ideas gathered in attempts to further accomplish their hatred based agenda which include deportation of all the Jews to the east, as well as the development of the many extermination methods

Extermination methods

There is an extreme significance to the disastrous events preceding the rise of the Hitler and the Nazi Party as a cruel and unfair political system. However, the Nazis twisted ideals encompassed by pure hatred peak with the execution of the extermination methods developed at the Wannsee Conference. According to an article entitled The Development of Destruction Methods, the average life expectancy within a concentration camp, or death camp was between six and nine months due to the forced hard labor assignments and insufficient nutrition and significant
Pile of bodies after being executed using an extermination method Source:http://binged.it/WuCbQU

amount of individual prisoners who were murdered every day. As discussed in the Wannsee conference the former extermination

method of choice, mass shootings and firing squads was disheartening to the German soldiers, in addition to the negativity felt by the soldiers that particular method did not achieve the magnitude of death and destruction the Nazi party desired. According to The Development of Destructions Methods article, more sufficient methods were implemented such as; poison which was often injected into the prisoners. Next scientists and doctors were conducting dangerous medical experiments such as mass-sterilizations, or purposely infecting medical prisoners with

Rhoten 8 life threatening diseases. Another major method was the infamous gas chambers which were ideal because they housed the capability to slaughter 800 to 1200 people per day, however this

popular method produced many corpses, thus the development of the crematoriums in order to dispose of and burn away the countless bodies. Last but not least the primary strategy of destruction was malnutrition. This method was subtle yet effective due to the lack of food that became worsened when added with the poor working and living conditions, and the extremely hard and exhausting labor that negatively affected the prisoners
physically and mentally.

The Process of Selection

Selection was one of the most degrading and frightening processes that truly expressed the total disregard and hatred shown towards the Jewish people, as well as one of the most crucial moments in the lives of the Jewish people as a whole. Many of the survivors speak of the pure devastation the encompassed those few moments while being selected because often times this was the last time they ever saw their families. According to The Holocaust Explained
A group of elderly women and children who are unaware of their impending death Source: http://bit.ly/O9aM1f

website, the process of selection began as soon as one arrived at the concentration camp. The Nazi soldiers would unbeknownst to the Jewish people determine ones fate, whether it was to be killed instantly or if one was deemed healthy enough to work, thus being forced to endure hard extensive labor. The people were forced to separate into two lines, the first line was for designated for the elderly men and women and the children, this group were among those selected for immediate death. The other line was specifically for young men and women that the

Rhoten 9 Nazi soldiers presumed good enough to begin their life of malnutrition and hard labor within the concentration camps. The criterion followed for determining if an individual was capable of withstanding the hours of brutal labor accompanied by malnutrition was rather strict. First, young boys and girls over the age of 14, secondly they had to look healthy and meet the standards of who was viewed capable of enduring hard labor were the only ones chosen to escape the immediate death like the others. It is made evident that the process of selection was one of the cruelest and inhumane acts that Hitler and the Nazis soldiers committed in the events tragic of the Holocaust.

The Death Camps Along with the cruel extermination methods and selection, the deportation of the Jewish people to the death camps was the next major aspect of the Final Solution that were implemented after the Wannsee Conference. Begging in 1933 the German Soldiers brought into being the deportations of Jewish people from their homes in Europe to the dreaded extermination camps According to The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies deportation means the expulsion of a group of people from an entire country. Continuous trains passed through not only countries within Europe that were occupied by the Germans but also though states allied with Germany. The purpose of the trains was to take away all the races Hitler believed to be inferior mainly focusing on the Jews. However many other minorities
Group of Jewish prisoners within a death camp Source:http://binged.it/107JqhB

were taken away from their homes and mistreated as well, such as the gypsies, handicapped individuals, the Polish, Soviet prisoners

of war, political dissidents, Jehovahs Witnesses, homosexuals and Afro-Germans. Their destination of the trains was to dreadful concentration camps where the extermination methods

Rhoten 10 were used to slaughter hundreds of innocent people daily. In addition according to the Gates to Hell article, in 1933 over nine million Jews lived in the various countries of Europe that were allies with Germany as well as countries that being occupied by Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II. By 1945 two out of every three Jews had been killed many of their deaths took place within one of the six main Nazi Death camps called: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka. Such a vast amount of an entire population of the Jewish people, as well as other minorities as discussed were able to be systematically killed using large-scale murder techniques such as gas chambers and body disposal through cremation. Millions of Jews died within the ghettos and concentration camps as a result of forced labor, starvation, exposure, brutality, disease, and execution by gas chambers. The unbelievable and repulsing amounts of destruction to fellow human lives was conducted and fueled by the hatred based belief system practiced by Hitler and his loyal Nazi soldiers

The liberation of the Jewish People

One can clearly see that the Jewish people suffered as a result of the misguided and twisted teaching of Hitler; however freedom from the hatred and from the concentration camps would soon come when liberation occurred in 1945. Dictionary reference states that liberation means the act of gaining equal rights or full social or economic rights and opportunities for a particular group. As public knowledge of
Prisoners after being liberated Source: http://binged.it/TabziR

the horrific events that were happening in the extermination camps grew, a need for resistance and overall change grew equally. Thus, according to USHMM on June 6th 1945 150,000

Rhoten 11 soldiers lead by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower stormed the beaches of Normandy, France in attempts to put a stop to the regretful acts of the Nazis under Hitlers perverted rule. Soon, over 850,000 American, British, Canadian and Soviet troops had joined Eisenhower in his efforts known as the Great Crusade. The sole purposes of liberation and this epic freedom movement stemmed from the desire of total annihilation of Nazis brutality towards the Jewish people as well as the countless unfortunate mistreated minorities. Yad Vashem states that after being liberated the two million Jews who survived the death camps or who risked their lives while attempting to live in hiding desperately sought out surviving relatives, unfortunately their attempts were made virtually impossible because due to Holocausts overwhelming death toll. The Jewish people persecution continued even after liberation, they were still treated unfairly because many of the locals feared that the Jews would demand restitution of the property they had stolen and for the loved ones that they had lost. Within the first months of liberation many Anti-Semitic gangs and groups still existed, according to Yad Vashem nearly 1,500 Jewish survivors were brutally murdered in Poland alone.

In conclusion it is made evident that the Holocaust is arguably one of the most dark and devastating moments in the history of all mankind. The tortuous events occurred mainly because of Hitler being in a role of political influence and his overwhelming capability to spread his demented and hatred based belief system. One can clearly see that many people blindly followed Hitlers radical teachings and valued his id eals as a true plan for prosperity in the future. The belief that seemingly justified the mass killing committed by the Nazis was the idea of selfpreservation. Throughout the entirety if the Holocaust over six million Jewish people accompanied by many other minorities such as; Roma or gypsies, people with handicaps of any kind, the Polish, Soviet prisoners of war, political dissidents, Jehovahs Witnesses, homosexuals

Rhoten 12 and Afro-Germans. The millions of people who lost their lives were killed based on the premise that their religious beliefs or stereotypical aspects were not deemed superior. There are many complex aspects of the Holocaust that many are unaware of the full chain of events that occurred, which proves the importance of an comprehensive knowledge of the events of the Holocaust in order to realize the severity of the events in order to prevent any magnitude of genocide in the future. A quote from Edmund Burk explains it best, Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.

Rhoten 13 Works Cited "Hitler's Book "Mein Kampf"" The History Place. The History Place, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. "A Teachers Guide to the Holocaust: The Nazification Timeline." Fcit.usf.edu. Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2005. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. "Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor." Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. "Kristallnacht." The HolocaustShoah Page. Ben S. Austin, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. VICTIMS OF THE NAZI ERA: NAZI RACIAL IDEOLOGY." www.ushmm.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 11 May 2011. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. "Blacks (Afro-Germans) in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust." Www.suite101.com. Eric Brothers, 18 Dec. 2011. Web. 31 Nov. 2012 Kristallnacht: The November 1938 Pogroms." www.ushmm.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 11 May 2011. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. "The Development of Destruction Methods." Www.wsg-hist.uni-linz.ac.at. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. "The Final Stages of the War and the Aftermath." Www.yadvashem.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. Blow, Louis. "Gates to Hell: Nazi KZ Camps." Deathcamps.info. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. Vogelsang, Peter, and Brian Larsen. "Deportations from Western Europe." The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. N.p., 2002. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. Burke, Edmund. "Edmund Burke Quotes." Brainy Quotes, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. "LIberation." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. "Liberation." United States Holocaust Memorial Mueseam, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. "Selection." The Holocaust Explained. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012.