...The Holocaust Historical Information: According to the Holocaust Museum, the Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945 (www.ushmm.org). The Task: View the United States Holocaust Museum web site to familiarize yourself with this horrific time period. As you browse, please click on and view the pictures, maps and graphics that accompany the text you read. Step by Step: 1. Type in www.ushmm.org 2. Scroll down and look to the left menu bar. 3. Under Education, click on “for students” 4. Scroll down and on the bottom, click on “The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students.” 5. Click on “View More.” 6. Click on the headings that match the headings on your web quest. Click on Jews in Pre War Germany 1. How did Hitler define a “Jew?” How did this alter the number of Jews in Germany? 2. ________% of Jews held German citizenship, totaling approximately _________________ people. _________________ percent of Jews in Germany lived in _______________________. The largest Jewish populated area was _______________________. Click on Anti-Semitism 1. Describe reasons for anti-Semitism in Europe. European leaders who wanted to establish colonies in Africa and Asia argued that whites were superior to other races and therefore had to spread and take over the "weaker" and "less civilized" races. 2. How did Karl...
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...The Holocaust was a very horrifying event that millions of Jews experienced. Not many Jews survived the horrors of the Holocaust, but the several hundred thousand that did never spoke out. They fell silent and decided not to speak of it. I believe they were too traumatized by the experience to even say a word. There were no words to describe what they went through, but fortunately, they did write about their experiences. A few of the survivors wrote books and poems to tell their stories and to let people know what truly happened. They did not want this event to fade from history and they definitely did not want this event to repeat itself. They used poems and books to speak of the unspeakable, but they never felt like they have said enough....
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...man, himself. Ironically, some of the darkest of time periods that mankind will ever experience was created from inside from man. One of time periods was named the Holocaust. Considered one of the most horrific events in human history, one was to be found very lucky to have survived such torture and tragedy, if they survivored. One survivor of the Holocaust was a little 15 year old boy named Elie Wiesel, writer of the book Night, of which has to do with his experiences during the Holocaust. In Night, Elie describes just how dark and evil the Holocaust truly was using tragedy, symbolism and tone in his writing. Whomever you...
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...Although the Holocaust took place almost half a century ago, it still leaves behind profound repercussions not only on its direct survivors, but also on their descendants – the second generation. In her book The Generation of Postmemory: Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust, Marianne Hirsch coins the term “postmemory” to describe how parents can pass on their traumatic memories to their children, and how these memories consequently become an integral part of their lives and their identities. Indeed, biographies and psychoanalytical research have proven that many descendants of Holocaust survivors display psychological symptoms similar to those of their parents, despite the fact that they were born many years after the Holocaust. Although many critics insist that postmemory does not qualify as actual memory because the children have not lived through the Holocaust themselves, postmemory is indeed a legitimate form of memory. Furthermore, when compared to memory, postmemory is equally traumatizing and painful. Although postmemory is a frequent theme in many works from and on the second generation, its validity is still debated. Hirsch first defines the term as the relationship between the second generation and the memories they inherit from their parents by means of stories, images and behaviors among which they grew up. Karein Goertz, in her essay “Transgenerational Representations of the Holocaust: From Memory to ‘Post-Memory’” also describes postmemory as “a hybrid...
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...19 March 2012 Life during the Holocaust: Life in the ghettos, Dr. Mengele’s medical care, and food in the camps Genocide during WWII was unbelievably cruel and awful. The Holocaust was sure to be remembered from this time period and have permanently engraved horrible memories into those who survived. During the Holocaust many victims suffered while living in the ghettos, soon to reach the camps they also suffered there as well. The encounters with Dr. Mengele were unbearable too. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night is very important especially the fact that it accurately describes what really happened during the Holocaust. One of these many reasons is that Wiesel was an actual survivor of the Holocaust. His descriptions of his experiences in the ghettos, encounters with Dr. Mengele and his trouble with small amounts of food in the camp greatly make us only able to imagine what he went through. Elie Wiesel in his memoir Night, along with other victims of the Holocaust was faced with many obstacles while living in the ghettos, encounters with Dr. Mengele and forced labor. Living in the ghettos was the first step in being dehumanized. Elie Wiesel describes these experiences in his memoir Night. One example of these experiences that were described by Elie was that decrees were to be made in the Jewish ghettos. “We were no longer allowed to go into restaurants or cafes, attend the synagogue and must be in at sic o’ clock.”(Wiesel 9). These are for the Jews in the ghettos prior to full...
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...Many people have written about the Holocaust. But not many Holocaust survivors have written about their personal experiences of this horrific period. Although we have read dozens of historical books and articles about this genocide written by well respected historians, there aren’t enough memoirs of the Holocaust written by people who experienced everything first hand. Books that are considered primary sources are very few and this is why those biographies and autobiographies of victims and survivors of the Holocaust are priceless. Primo Levi’s memoir If This Is A Man is one of those books describing the horrible acts that the author endured during the Holocaust. In his autobiography, Levi describes his time in Auschwitz after being captured by the Nazis during World War II until the concentration camp’s liberation almost two years later. The events are described in chronological order in the way the Italian – Jew author experienced it all....
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...darkness from one of the most tragic events to ever happen in history, the Holocaust. There is a classic German legend about a man named Faust. He was a highly successful scholar but was dissatisfied with his life. His legend has created stories of his success in art and music, but the legendary of this man doesn’t end there. According to the legend, Faust sold his soul to the devil in exchange for vast earthly rewards. Millions of innocent Jews were killed by this so called legend, driven by a force of madness and evil of his own ancestors. In his own sick twisted mind he saw an opportunity to solve the problem once and for all by killing off the Jews. It is said that the Holocaust was based upon vague, trivial, or even inaccurate representations. With so much controversy and doubt on the Holocaust did or did it not really happen, everyone has their own point-of-view. Ironically for the people of Germany this legend had an all too real comparison to true events on its history. According to stories from survivors the voices of the dead can still be heard crying out for help. There are many authors who wrote books with great detail on the Holocaust, giving their perspective point of view on this tragic event. During the Holocaust it is said that over six million Jews suffered countless amounts of obscenity throughout the history of time. In the book Histories of the Holocaust by Dan Stone, the author describes the legendary of one man, the will to survive, the aftermath, and the...
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...There are many ways the voices of the Holocaust were—and still are—spread throughout the world. There were not that many survivors left after the Holocaust, compared to how many people were in the camps. A few of these people have shared their story—through books. The books from the Holocaust survivors give people the best interpretation of the horrible pain the Jews went through. Authors use words to tell stories. Authors also use their words and stories to influence people. Sometimes the influence can be bad, such as Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Some people influence others in good ways. It may not be a huge influence, but it could still be used in a good way. The authors that wrote about their experience can make someone feel many different...
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...1/23/15 Question 2 Essay In the book Night, by Elie Wiezel, there is one scene where a young boy is hung in front of many spectators. Elie describes that they have seen many hangings but none of them where quite like this one. In history there was no event to compare to the Holocaust, that’s why some say the hanging of the Pipel, the young boy, represents the Jewish people during this time. The next few paragraphs will show the symbolism of the hanging to the Jews in the Holocaust. Wiesel goes out of his way in the book Night to put a scene in our mind, a young Jewish Pipel being hung in front of thousands of his own people. He describes this event as being different from the many that he had previously seen. “I never saw a single victim weep… Except once.” (Wiesel 63) It was one thing for a man to be hung but it was a much different situation for a child. This in some way resembles the event of the Holocaust. Innocent people were being killed for an act that was not to be found at fault, religion. As the viewers came to the gallows people were morning and asking where was God. “For God’s sake, where is he.” (Wiezel 65) When we look back on the event today we my wonder the same things ourselves about the Holocaust, where is God? How could something so terrible and inhumane happen to so many people? Wiesel also describes the Pipel’s actions before the hanging. “He too was Wilson 1 tortured.” (Wiezel 64) He was beaten just as the Jews were in the concentration camps...
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...1/23/15 Question 2 Essay In the book Night, by Elie Wiezel, there is one scene where a young boy is hung in front of many spectators. Elie describes that they have seen many hangings but none of them where quite like this one. In history there was no event to compare to the Holocaust, that’s why some say the hanging of the Pipel, the young boy, represents the Jewish people during this time. The next few paragraphs will show the symbolism of the hanging to the Jews in the Holocaust. Wiesel goes out of his way in the book Night to put a scene in our mind, a young Jewish Pipel being hung in front of thousands of his own people. He describes this event as being different from the many that he had previously seen. “I never saw a single victim weep… Except once.” (Wiesel 63) It was one thing for a man to be hung but it was a much different situation for a child. This in some way resembles the event of the Holocaust. Innocent people were being killed for an act that was not to be found at fault, religion. As the viewers came to the gallows people were morning and asking where was God. “For God’s sake, where is he.” (Wiezel 65) When we look back on the event today we my wonder the same things ourselves about the Holocaust, where is God? How could something so terrible and inhumane happen to so many people? Wiesel also describes the Pipel’s actions before the hanging. “He too was Wilson 1 tortured.” (Wiezel 64) He was beaten just as the Jews were in the concentration camps...
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...Rubenstein encounters such opinion; he met other German clergymen who shared the same opinion and admits that the tendency to believe that God has had a unique relationship with the Jews exists also among the Jewish people. According to that, Rubenstein then states that “the idea that the Nazi slaughter of the Jews was somehow God’s will, that God really wanted the Jewish People to be exterminated.” Rubenstein’s belief in the evil of the Holocaust is opposed by the Dean’s idea of God’s absolute power over human lives and his just intentions. He says, “When God desires my death, I give it to him…For some reason, it was part of God’s plan that the Jews died. God demands our death daily. He is the Lord, He is the...
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...Holocaust Socratic Discussion Final Reflection How does your reading (and memoir) connect to the other readings you learned about in your seminar? All the reading s that we received symbolized in word the different events that lead up to the mass genocide, otherwise known as the Holocaust. The first excerpt was about the events that occurred after World War one. There was a huge economic decline in Germany because of the inflation, debt, and the Great depression as well. The population of Germany was angry at the government, and Hitler took advantage of their anger by directing a t the Jews. The first excerpt once again enforced whatever segregative feelings the average Ayran had against the average Jew with the introduction...
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...were expressed into a traumatic event titled the Holocaust. People that followed the Jewish religion, often called “Jews”, were believed to be inhumane by Hitler and the German Nazi party and were forced to their own deaths, regardless of their age, gender, or race. Individuals in concentration camps were traumatized to the point where they became unafraid of death; they saw it as a part of everyday life. Artists, philosophers, critics and musicians all have developed different ways of expressing their thoughts and feelings towards the Holocaust and each of these representations are relevant in their own individual aspects....
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...In his book Night, Elie Wiesel uses tone to express the many hardships that the Jews were forced to face during the Holocaust. He also cleverly used it throughout the story to express the strength of a father/son bond even in the face of hardship. The narrator's love for his father was, at times, the only reason he had to keep up the constant struggle to live. "The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me. To no longer exist. To no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot" (Wiesel, 86). In this quote, Wiesel is setting up a tone of surrender, of hopelessness. And the Jewish people don’t want to believe what’s in front of them. “She’s mad, poor soul…” this quote shows how they knew Madame Schächter wasn’t talking about a real fire bout about something else. Something they didn’t want to believe. Elie uses many tone, foreshadowing and diction to help enforce what he knew about the holocaust. The tone of the novel is greatly influenced through the fact that the story is autobiographical. There seems to be only one agenda utilized by Elie in regards to the tone of the story as he presents the information for the readers’ evaluation. The point of the story is to provide the reader an emotional link to the horror of the holocaust through the eyes of one whom experienced those horrors. He presents the facts as to what he saw, thought, and felt during those long years in the camps. “The shock of this terrible awakening stayed with us for a long time. We still trembled...
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...Alexia Gonzalez Political Science 4823: The Holocaust/ the Shoah Final Paper December 12, 2013 The Comparative Analysis of the Holocaust Ethnic cleansing and genocide are considered to coexist in a spectrum of assaults on nations or religio-ethnic groups. These threats were more prominent during the 20th century which caused massive violations of human rights and jeopardized the overall security of humans. Determinants of ethnic cleansing and genocide root from socio-political factors influenced by deeply embedded ideologies which are manifested by political leaders of specific regime types. During World War II, German authorities targeted Jews and other minority groups like the gypsies and Pols due to their perceived racial inferiority. The German ideology in attempt to eradicate these auxiliary groups led to the conflict known as the Shoah. The Shoah is the biblical word meaning destruction and it is the standard Hebrew term for the murder of European Jewry. The Shoah was the systematic, bureaucratic and state sponsored persecution of six million Jews. Comparable to other ethnic based genocides, Germans believed they were racially superior and that Jews were inferior; and deemed a threat to the “German racial community” resulting in their mass murder. Various interpretations of the Shoah has given rise to similar attitudes and opinions regarding its historical events. The Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database, is one of the largest resources of its kind which includes...
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