When asking anyone what the Holocaust is, there is a very standard answer as to what it was. It is infamously known as the mass killings and imprisonment of Jewish people throughout most of Western Europe. What people fail to acknowledge is that there is more to the Holocaust than this “standard answer.” There have been multiple accounts of what it was like to be in the Holocaust such as the famous books The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Night by Elie Wiesel. The memoir A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy by Thomas Buergenthal serves the same purpose as any text about this atrocity has served: to inform the public about what truly went on in the concentration camps and beyond. However, A Lucky Child provides a different perspective on the Holocaust. As the title indicates, it is a book about how Buergenthal was able to outlast the most infamous concentration camp: Auschwitz. It is an inspiring story and puts the reader into perspective about all the children who had been killed during the Holocaust, yet he had survived.
The Holocaust is one of the saddest moments in human history. While World War One and 9-11 were both hugely devastating blows to us and many others, World War Two exceeds both of those in horror and effect, and it all happened because of one man. Adolf Hitler.
“Why dwell upon the study of the Holocaust when history is loaded with other tragedies? Because the Holocaust was unique. This is not to say that other tragedies were less horrible, only that the Holocaust was different and should not be compared and trivialized,” the author noted (Tarnor Wacks 9). A mere 71 years ago a defining feature of world history took place, in concentration camps across Eastern and Western Europe. 6 million Jews were ripped out of their homes and ultimately murdered. It is imperative that we remember the Holocaust because the magnitude of this tragedy is astronomical and shouldn’t be forgotten.
Fear causes people to makes judgements. It’s what makes people cautious and skittish, mostly in unsafe situations. Without fear people’s life would be at risk. Throughout the memoir Night fear builds up over time, starting when the Germans taking over Sighet, they slowly start to take over their lives. They begin by doing good for them like giving them a box of chocolates. Through a slow process the people becoming less human and begin to gain fear right when they are forced to leave there home, true fear sets in. This leads to people not standing up for themselves or doing anything about their situation, all because of fear. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, it’s clear that fear overpowers the actions of people and
The Holocaust now serves as a time to learn what can happen and how innocent people can be hurt over something that could have been avoid. It serves as a time to not repeat our mistakes. It shows us the consequences of the action of others. Most of all it’s initial to ask ourselves about the lessons we learn because even though we say that the Holocaust won’t ever occur again, it still is, all over the
There are many events in history but Holocaust left a permanent scar on the face of history. The event soaked in blood and tears of innocent would be unforgettable. Holocaust also known as Shoah (in Hebrew) was a genocide that took lives of millions of people from different backgrounds. Approximately 1 million Gypises were killed, 1.5 million mentally and physically handicapped people were victims of T-4 program, but Jews where the primary victims and 6 million Jews died in holocaust (Neiwyk and Nicosia). The Holocaust took place between 1933-1945. In 1933, Nazis came in power in Germany and they believed that Germans are “superior” race where Jews are “inferior” and evil race. Economically Jews were strong and Hitler and Nazis did not like
People endure hardships every day, but it is how they choose to react to them that is most important. One such hardship was the Holocaust, which was the murdering of millions of people at the Nazi concentration camps throughout the course of WWII. Eleven million Jews, homosexuals, and gypsies were killed during this genocide. Every survivor of these concentration camps was forced to decide between hiding or vocalizing the crimes they had seen committed, and many couldn’t find the strength to speak up. Thankfully, there were those such as Elie Wiesel, who didn’t rest. He wrote a novel about his experiences and spoke out bravely against the crimes of the Nazis. He overcame the hardships that he faced and showed courage by writing his book, Night.
Imagine the world as you know it is no longer. The plain scentless air is now the stench of burned human flesh. You’re torn from your family not knowing their fate. You are no longer free to roam earth but now trapped in a torturous cage with the only escape being death. For Elie Wiesel and many other Jews of this time, this was their reality. It is estimated around 6 million Jews died during the Holocaust, each death leaving a scar on modern history, each death showing the monsters we all can be to our own people, or just revealing the monsters we truly are. Harsh changes were put on the Jews from the loss of basic human rights like freedom to the loss of lives. This inhumane treatment was done by their own kind, no sympathy, no empathy,
During the Holocaust, many people suffered from the despicable actions of others. These actions were influenced by hatred, intolerance, and anti-semitic views of people. The result of such actions were the deaths of millions during the Holocaust, a devastating genocide aimed to eliminate Jews. In this tragic event, people, both initiators and bystanders, played major roles that allowed the Holocaust to continue. Bystanders during this dreadful disaster did not stand up against the Nazis and their collaborators. This action of silence encouraged more people to follow, which lead to Hitler and the Nazi Party’s rise to power without having to face formidable opposition. Following the Nazi Party’s rise to power, the Holocaust began to take form. Fueled by hatred, intolerance, and anti-semitic beliefs under Adolf Hitler’s rule,
Of all the terrible events in history, the Holocaust may be the worst of them all. This tragedy was so terrible, I cannot think of the ones who instigated it as human beings. It was against many morals and standards that the world views today as common ethics. The most terrible part of this is, perhaps, how today’s new and younger generations are not sufficiently educated about this disaster. Although many younger generations do not know about the Holocaust, it’s importance should be emphasised in today’s society to learn from it, to realize that every human life is important, and to appreciate the blessings of the present day. I, like many others, did know about the events of the Holocaust for the longest time and when I did, I gained a feeling of disgust towards everything that occurred at that time. In the movie, The Devil’s Arithmetic, I gained a much larger sense of the hostile feeling that this tragedy brought on and it made me realize that this was something that is very important to know and learn about. For the
The Holocaust affected everyone. Not one single life went through the atrocities untouched. Today, the effects are still being felt. As one of my classmates once
The Holocaust is one of the darkest times in history. The Holocaust was started by Hitler, defining people if they were Jewish, part Jewish, or Aryan. Little did these people know that it would get a lot worse for Jewish people after a few years. In a few years innocent people were being sent to gas chambers just for being Jewish. “There is not one day I don’t think about it,” says Inge. (“Heard on campus Inge Auerbacher”) Inge Auerbacher is one of few Jewish children to survive the Holocaust. She was born in a german village called Kippenheim. She still remembers Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass. Her grandparents had come to visit but they soon had to hide from the angry mod. She remembers feeling scared in her backyard shed.
The Holocaust is the most significant historical event that I have studied so far. This tragic event took place during World War II and only very few survivors lived to share their shocking experiences. I have read a few of these survivor’s stories, such as Night, by Elie Wiesel and it has personally impacted me and influenced my thinking in various ways.
People may know of the Holocaust, but not many know the specifics of this horrifying history. They know who was involved, how they were effected, and who was eventually killed. It’s time to show these victims respect, and learn their story. Studying the Holocaust is more than remembering the random facts; it’s learning from the atrocities and never repeating them again.
1- In this film, Holocaust scholar Michael Brenbaum claims that it is possible to understand the Holocaust by exploring the meaning of the following six words; definition, expropriation, concentration, einsatzgruppen, deportation and death camps. Of those six words, the two that I found to be the most useful in promoting my knowledge of the Holocaust are definition and einsatzgruppen. The idea of definitions was very prominent during Nazi occupation and the Holocaust especially when it comes to defining who was and wasn’t a german citizen. We normally would define someone who is Jewish on the basis of the identity they held along with the traditions the practices and the beliefs they embody in their everyday lives. The Germans on the other