The Holocaust 86 Years Later - 1534 Words

THE HOLOCAUST: 70 YEARS LATER Sacrifice by fire. The Greek definition of the word Holocaust still serves as a haunting reminder of the tragic campaign waged by the Nazis during World War II, and their â€Å"systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder† of six million Jews and others who didn’t fit the specific vision or â€Å"perfect race.† Adolf Hitler, the known anti-Semitic Nazi leader, viewed the Jews as an inferior race and threat to what he viewed as racial purity. Under the guise of the war, Hitler’s solution revolved around mass killing centers constructed within the concentration camps of occupied Poland. One man’s orchestrated views and beliefs became a living nightmare for millions. According to author Doris L. Bergen, â€Å"approximately 95 percent of the Jews killed between 1939 and 1945 lived outside Germany’s prewar borders. The Nazis used the war as a cover and excuse for the acts of murder. In the minds of Hitler and his associates, the only thing that could save Germany from collapse was the total removal of Jews and Jewish influence. Prior to the Jews, the first large-scale killings under the â€Å"Euthanasia Program† targeted the mentally and physically disabled. And during the attacks of Jews, European Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Communists, Socialists, Afro-Germans, poles, Christian church leaders and many more unwanted people were attacked and persecuted. ORIGINS Doris L. Bergen writes that â€Å"antipathy toward Jews in Europe dated back much furtherShow MoreRelatedNight And Dawn : The End And The Beginning Of A Day1667 Words   |  7 PagesNight and Dawn. The end and the beginning of a day. Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, noted author and recipient of the Noble Peace Prize, writes of both the darkness of the Holocaust and of the dawn of its ending. While Night is Wiesel’s autobiographical tale of his experiences during the Holocaust, both in his hometown and in the concentration camps, Dawn is a fictional tale of Elisha, an eighteen-year-old Holocaust survivor, who has joined the Jewish Resistance movement in Palestine. Both are storiesRead MoreMaus1385 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman Maus, by Art Spiegelman, shows the trials and tribulations that the main character, Vladek, and his companions suffered during the Holocaust. No matter the situation, Vladek rises up to the challenge, and does the only thing he can do: live. For the Jewish people during that time surviving was a challenge and for those that actually survived was pure luck. Throughout Maus we find this survival in the portrayal of Vladek Spiegelman; father of the authorRead MorePerseverance Analysis. Many People Suffer Problemsin The1228 Words   |  5 Pageswriting about characters, whether they are survivors of the Holocaust, a prisoner of war, or family, that have to suffer obstacles that can potentially kill them if they don’t overcome it. Even though each author has a different way to show perseverance, they all agree on what perseverance can do. Persevering through unfortunate situations allows people to survive them. Elie Wiesel writes in his point of view of surviving the Holocaust, including Auschwitz, a death camp. Elie was working in aRead MoreAnne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Essays1608 Words   |  7 Pages As an ordinary Jewish girl who was one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, Anne Frank was an incredibly memorable girl due to the publication of her diary. Anne Frank was a liberal Jew; as for she did not follow all the traditions of Judaism. On the fourteenth of August 1944, a group of German uniformed police arrested the Frank family and was sent into The House of Detention, transitioned into the Westerbork Transit Camp and then to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In JulyRead MoreDifferent Out Of Twelve Million1715 Words   |  7 Pagesxxiii). While she was in the attic, she wrote her diary, which would eventually become a famous historical document. She recorded her grumblings about her attic mates’ behaviors and her feelings about herself and the Van Pelses’ boy. Through the two year period she was in the attic, she wrote surprisingly philosophical observations of the world, and she also learned a vast amount of information about herself. A fter her death, her father published the diary, and â€Å"Anne Frank† quickly became a name thatRead MoreI See The Ever Approaching Thunder, By Anne Frank1710 Words   |  7 Pagesxxiii). While she was in the attic, she wrote her diary, which would eventually become a famous historical document. She recorded her grumblings about her attic mates’ behaviors and her feelings about herself and the Van Pelses’ boy. Through the two year period she was in the attic, she wrote surprisingly philosophical observations of the world, and she also learned a vast amount of information about herself. After her death, her father published the diary, and â€Å"Anne Frank† quickly became a name thatRead MoreThe Rwanda Genocide808 Words   |  3 Pagesformed the Rwandese Patriotic Front, or the RPF as it came to be know (The Rwandan Genocide). With the majority of the Tutsi now living in forced exile in neighboring Uganda, they began to plan a way to take back their p ower in Rwanda. For many years there was constant civil war between the two tribes through guerilla warfare and general massacres. It was the death of President Habyarimana on April 6, 1994 that lead to the genocide in Rwanda. A missile shot down the plane that was carrying theRead MoreThe Boom of Persuasive Totalitarianism in Europes Damaged Nations1747 Words   |  7 Pageslived in abysmal poverty and under ineffectual leadership. Opportunely, three European forces began to offer attractive solutions to the ineffective political systems. Lenin led Russia to become the world’s first Marxist and Communist state, which was later directed by Stalin; Mussolini introduced Fascism to the Italian society; and Hitler eventually became the German chancellor and leader of Nazism. Although different in their economic systems and other factors, all three forces agreed on reallocatingRead MorePublic Discourse Surrounding An Event Like The Holocaust1781 Words   |  8 PagesIn public discourse surround ing an event like the Holocaust, it is not uncommon for one to want to summarize the event in some abstract concept, be it positive or negative. This type of thinking is especially prevalent in the conclusions drawn by those reading literary works relating to the Holocaust, in which the stories are so entrenched with stereotypes of suffering and the equivocal life-lessons that they lead to a rather shallow understanding of an emotive and difficult subject. This is notRead MoreA Day For The Pursuit Of Peace2842 Words   |  12 Pagestransported to the deleterious Auschwitz concentration camp, she told her sister in an unfacetious voice, â€Å"We have to tell the people† . . . The answer from Beril Sinnreich is that â€Å"‘it shouldn’t happen again’†, and this is a vehement ideal that many Holocaust survivors share (Shaver)1.Elie Wiesel, author of Night, also shares this ambition and has an immense passion for the pursuit of peace. September 30th, 1928 was a happy day for Shlomo and Sarah Wiesel, for it was the day that their newborn son