JEWISH VICTIMS (WHY JEWS? AND SURVIVOR STORIES)

Yasmine Kerkiz

Before The Holocaust

In the year 1933, about 9.5 million Jews lived in Europe

The largest Jewish population was in Germany

There were Jewish communities where they could have religious practices

The Jews put in effort to integrate into German society (1)

Three generations of a Jewish family pose for a group photograph (1)

Before The Holocaust

The beginning of Anti-Semitism In European societies where majority of

the population was Christian, Jews found it hard to fit in

For a while, the Church taught that the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death (2)

When the Nazis came to power, the lives of German Jews changed

April 1, 1933, the Nazis carried a boycott of Jewish businesses

Three Jewish businessmen are forced to march down a crowded Leipzig street while carrying signs reading: "Don't buy from Jews. Shop in German businesses!“ (3)

The beginning of Anti-Semitism

Why Jews?

There’s really no specific reason Hitler had the Germans convinced that

the Jews were the cause of all the problems in their country

The Nazis believed that they were racially superior, and that the Jews were the total opposite (4)

The Victims

The Germans kept record of some of the Jews sent to the concentration camps

Jews sent to extermination camps were sent to their deaths without documenting their arrival

The estimated number of Jewish deaths is usually between 5.1 and 6 million victims Keep in mind that not all victims of the

Holocaust were registered so the numbers could be even higher (4)

A Soviet soldier walks through a mound of victims' shoes piled outside a warehouse in Majdanek soon after the liberation. (4)

The Victims

The story of Joseph Moses Lang (5)

On June 7, 1944, Joseph’s17th birthday, him and his family were transported to Auschwitz. They separated males and females, so him and his older brother were on their own

He wrote: “Every time I returned to camp from a work detail, I was sprayed with some supposedly bug poison, which I believed resulted in my suffering from skin cancer for most of my life after the Holocaust.”

“Living conditions at Allach were not good. Several times I was beaten very badly. On one occasion, I was accused of not lining up on time and I was sent to the “dentist” who then yanked out my wisdom teeth with a chisel and hammer. Though this caused me to bleed severely, I still had to report for work the following day.”

The story of Joseph Moses Lang (5)

“On another occasion, the Nazi in charge of my work detail made me run four laps around the barrack's yard while being chased by one of the Nazi's German shepherd dogs. I tripped and fell during the third lap and the dog bit me on my neck, removing a chunk of skin. To this day, I continue to have the scar on my neck from this incident. After the dog bit me, I still had to get up and run the final lap; even though I was badly hurt.”

After the liberation of the camp, his older brother was taken to the infirmary. When he went to check in on him, he was nowhere to be found

They reunited many years later in Israel

The story of Joseph Moses Lang (5)

Bibliography

(1) : "Holocaust History." Jewish Population of Europe in 1933: Population Data by Country. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

(2) : "The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students." Antisemitism. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

(3) : "The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students." The Boycott of Jewish Businesses. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

(4) : "Holocaust History." Introduction to the Holocaust. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

(5) : "Holocaust History." Behind Every Name a Story: Joseph Moses Lang. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.