karisa gould 102-106-135[1] research paper updated

8/2/2019 Karisa Gould 102-106-135[1] Research Paper Updated

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Research Paper

Holocaust Overview

Karisa Gould

English Composition 102106

Mr. Larry Neuburger

2 April 2012


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Gould 1

The Holocaust is a major event in world history, and it is important that one learns about

this event so history will not repeat itself. Most people are aware of the two to three year period

known as the Holocaust but are unaware of how Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party were able to

systematically murder almost twelve million people. To truly understand how the Nazis almost

succeeded in wiping out an entire race of people, one needs to understand the series of events

and the methods employed that led up to the Holocaust.

Nazi rise to power

After World War I, The Central Powers were

forced to sign a document called The Treaty of

Versailles, which held Germany accountable for

starting the war. Germany had to make reparations for

all damage done during the war, which sent them into a

depression. According to Thinkquest, Germany was

forced to give up fertile land which comprised almost ten percent of its total holdings, and was

prohibited from ever again organizing a large army. After World War I, Germany was

subjugated and powerless. (The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy) Germany as a nation was not

prepared for defeat, so their pride was hurt. As a result, fcit.usf says, Those military and

political leaders who were responsible claimed that Germany had been stabbed in the back by

its leftwing politicians, Communists, and Jews (Holocaust Timeline: Rise of Nazi Power). One

could find it understandable that the Germans turned on anyone that was questionable. When a

new government, the Weimar Republic, stepped into office, they had a hard time with regaining

control over the depressed and unruly country.

Adolph Hitler saluting his fellow Nazis.www.google.com


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A man named Adolph Hitler joined a small group of dismissed military in 1919 and

moved up to a leadership position through his motivational speeches. From Thinkquest, He

encouraged national pride, militarism, and a commitment to the Volk and a racially "pure"

Germany. Hitler condemned the Jews, exploiting anti-Semitic feelings that had prevailed in

Europe for centuries (The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy). Towards the end of the year 1920, this

party had over 3,000 members. A year later, Adolph came to be their official leader, also known

as Fhrer.

According to Thinkquest,

Adolf Hitler's attempt at an armed overthrow of local authorities

in Munich, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, failed miserably. The

Nazi Party seemed doomed to fail and its leaders, including Hitler,

were subsequently jailed and charged with high treason. However,

Hitler used the courtroom at his public trial as a propaganda

platform, ranting for hours against the Weimar government. By the

end of the 24-day trial Hitler had actually gained support for his

courage to act. The right-wing presiding judges sympathized with

Hitler and sentenced him to only five years in prison, with

eligibility for early parole. Hitler was released from prison after

one year (The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy).

After Hitler was released from prison, he revived the Nazi Party and became almost as if

a Jesus-like figure to the followers in the Nazi Party. He then began planning how to get

involved with Germanys political party. The Conservative military hero Paul von Hindenburg

was elected president in 1925, and Germany stabilized. (The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy)


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Adolph transformed the Nazis into an electable and well organized party. Hitler hoped to

create a bureaucracy which he envisioned as the germ of the future state(The Holocaust: A

Tragic Legacy). The Nazi Party began to dramatically rise in numbers. From 27,000 members

in 1925, the Party grew to 108,000 in 1929 (the Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy). The paramilitary

part of the party was called the SA, which was known for fighting and panic.

Finally after tedious planning, Hitler ran for government. He ran against Hindenburg,

who ended up winning the campaign. His speeches and elections made his popularity rise

uncontrollably. From Thinkquest, Though Hindenburg disliked Hitler, he had been advised that

Hitler could be kept under control, and so he named him chancellor, an event celebrated across

Germany (The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy). Hitler then did what all dictators do, forced

everyone out of government who were not a part of the Nazi Party, and took control. All

contrasting parties were expelled, and their front-runners were sent to jail. The Enabling Act of

March 23, 1933 was easily forced through a Reichstag of few political opponents and gave Hitler

dictatorial powers (The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy).

Anti-Semitism

Prejudice against or hatred of Jewsknown as

anti-Semitismhas plagued the world for more than

2,000 years, states ushmm, (The Holocaust). The initial

Christians thought the Jews were accountable for the

crucifixion of Jesus. According to Yadvashem, They

were portrayed as offspring of the Devil and accused of

the ritual murder of Christian children, yet the Church

prevented their destruction (Confronting Anti-

Jewish man revisits a damaged headstone.

49th-parallel.blogspot.com


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Semitism). This was taught to Catholic and Protestant believers during the first millennium.

Following the Enlightenment, Jewish people in Europe accomplished some rights after several

periods of maltreatment and rejection. Jews were blended into everyday life among others in

Europe, until anti-Semitism emerged once again. This time, Hitler made anti-Semitism well

known and by a mass amount of people.

Nuremberg Laws

On September 15, 1935, two laws were passed that excluded Jews from German life, as

well as taking away some of their natural rights. These were called the Nuremberg Laws. They

were first brought to the Nazi Partys attention by Hitler, and soon after were approved. From

Thenagain, The first law, Reichsburgergesetz (Law of the Reich Citizen), was designed to

deprive Jews of their German citizenship (The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students).

Anyone without related blood of Germans was no longer considered a citizen of Reich. The

second law, Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes und der Deutschen Ehre (Law for the

Protection of German Blood and German Honor), or

simply Blutschutzgesetz, forbade marriage or sexual

relations between Jews and those of German blood

(The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students). The

Germans wanted a pure race to cleanse their nation.

They made it clear to Jews that they were not

welcome. There were signs posted all over towns,

and soon Jews were not even able to seek medical attention, go to theaters, or shops. On October

18, 1935, another law was added to Nuremberg. According to ushmm, The Law for the

Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People requires all prospective marriage

A Picture of the Nuremberg Laws.

www.gedenkstaettesteinhof


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partners to obtain from the public health authorities a certificate of fitness to marry. Such

certificates are refused to those suffering from hereditary illnesses and contagious diseases and

those attempting to marry in violation of the Nuremberg Laws (The Nuremberg Laws).

Propaganda

Through propaganda, the Nazis were ensuring the

community knew their op inions as far as anti-Semitism went, and

showed it through art, music, theater, films, books, radio,

educational materials, and the press. According to USHMM,

Nazi films portrayed Jews as subhuman creatures infiltrating

Aryan society (Holocaust History).

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht literally means Night ofCrystal, and is referred to as Night of Broken

Glass. From USHMM, The name refers to the wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms which

took place on November 9 and 10, 1938, throughout Germany, annexed Austria, and in areas of

the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia recently occupied by German troops (Holocaust History).

During these two nights, Germans destroyed Jewish homes, businesses, and Synagogues.

Furthermore, USHMM states, The rioters destroyed

267 synagogues throughout Germany, Austria, and the

Sudetenland. Many synagogues burned throughout the

night, in full view of the public and of local firefighters,

who had received orders to intervene only to prevent

flames from spreading to nearby buildings (Holocaust

Nazi propaganda portraying Jews aspoison. ivarfjeld.wordpress.com

A Jewish building burning during Krystalnacht.

Jewishvirtuallibrary.org


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History). Furthermore, PBC says, By the end of the rampage, gangs of Nazi storm troopers had

destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesseskilled 91 Jews and deported some 30,000 Jewish men to

concentration camps (PBC). Kristallnacht proved to Germany that the Nazis had complete

control, and could wipe out the Jews for good. On November 15th, Jewish children were barred

from attending school, and shortly afterwards the Nazis issued the Decree on Eliminating the

Jews from German Economic Life, which prohibited Jews from selling goods or services

anywhere, from engaging in crafts work, from serving as the managers of any firms, and from

being members of cooperatives. In addition, the Nazis determined that the Jews should be liable

for the damages caused during Kristallnacht.

Ghettos

Ghettos were areas in which Jews were rounded up

and kept during World War 2. The ghettos were usually

enclosed, and the Jews lived in terrible conditions. They

were separated from the rest of the non-Jewish population.

From USHMM, The Germans established at least 1,000

ghettos in German-occupied and annexed Poland and the

Soviet Union alone (Holocaust History).

Resistance

Also from USHMM, Ghetto residents frequently

engaged in so-called illegal activities, such as smuggling food,

medicine, weapons or intelligence across the ghetto walls, often

without the knowledge or approval of the Jewish councils

Inside the ghettos. ccwebsiteclass.net

Two brothers that escaped from a concentration

camp. collections.yadvashem.org


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(Holocaust History). This was necessary to keep the people living in the ghettos alive.

Wannsee ConferenceThe Final Solution

The Wannsee Conference took place on January 20, 1942. 15 High ranking Nazis and

German government met in Wannsee to discuss the Final Solution. The Final Solution was a

systematic way of completely wiping out the European Jews, which was authorized by Hitler in

1941. Before the conference, most people already knew about the plan to mass murder Jews.

From ushmm.org, during the course of the Final Solution, the Jews will be deployed under

appropriate supervision at a suitable form of labor deployment in the East. 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. Any final remnant that survives will

doubtless consist of the elements most capable of

resistance. They must be dealt with appropriately,

since, representing the fruit of natural selection, they

are to be regarded as the core of a new Jewish revival (Holocaust History).

Extermination Methods

The Nazis goals were to carry out the Final

Solution as effectively as possible. There were three

main methods of extermination used at the camps. One

method of annihilation was mass shootings. From

holocausteducation, The Jews were captured or

arrested, forced to dig their own graves or simply placed

At the Wannsee Conference. www.Ushmm.org

Awaiting death in the concentration camp.

Ushmm.org


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along large mass graves, and then shot so that they fell into the grave (Methods of Mass

Murder). The second method was the use of gassing trucks. It happened as follows: the Jews

were forced into a hermetically sealed truck, and then exhaust gas from the engine was led into

the truck. The Jews were thus suffocated. They first started using gassing trucks to avoid Nazis

being emotionally upset about shooting the victims. The third method was using gas chambers

with Zyklon B, which was the most effective way. The gas chambers could hold many, and it

was a more secretive way of murdering.

The Death Camps

There were six main death camps for exterminating Jews: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec,

Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was the camp where the largest

amount of Jews were murdered. The use of Zyklon-B

was first brought to this camp. Sobibor was only open

for 21 months, and was only open to quickly

exterminate Jews. As soon as they arrived, they were

murdered. In Treblinka, they started to cover their

tracks by burning the bodies.

Liberation

From USHMM, As Allied troops moved across Europe in a series of offensives against

Nazi Germany, they began to encounter tens of thousands of concentration camp prisoners.

Many of these prisoners had survived forced marches into the interior of Germany from camps in

occupied Poland. These prisoners were suffering from starvation and disease (Holocaust

History). The Soviets had the first attempt to shut down a concentration camp. Because of the

Inside the camps. www.ushmm.org


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Soviets rapid advance, Nazis began hiding the evidence, burning the bodies, and devouring the

camp after most of the prisoners had already been killed. The Soviets liberated Auchwitz, but the

Nazis forced the prisoners to march, when then became

known as death marches. There were large amounts of

evidence left in Auchwitz. According to ushmm.org,

They discovered, for example, hundreds of thousands of

men's suits, more than 800,000 women's outfits, and more

than 14,000 pounds of human hair.

One can now understand how the Nazis came to carry out a mass murder.

Liberation. www.holocaust-lest-we-forget.com


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Works Cited

"Confronting Anti-Semitism."Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred. Web. 18 Apr.

2012.

"Holocaust History." Ghettos. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust History." Kristallnacht: A Nationwide Pogrom, November 9-10, 1938.

Web. 20 Apr. 2012

"Holocaust History."Nazi Propaganda. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust History."Liberation of Nazi Camps. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust History." Wannsee Conference and the "Final Solution" Web. 22 Apr.

2012.

"Holocaust Timeline: The Rise of the Nazi Party." Florida Center for

Instructional Technology.

"Methods of Mass Murder." The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide

Studies. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust."Anti-Semitism. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students." The Nuremberg Race Laws. Web.

18 Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 15

Apr. 2012.


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"The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 17

Apr. 2012.

"The Nuremberg Laws."Nuremberg Laws: 1935. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.

PBS. PBS. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

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