...Shannon Trubatch Imaginary Worlds Assignment 2 ENG201 Behind the Lens: Photographs of the Holocaust Religion has been found to be, time and time again, a factor that influences the actions taken by many, both kind and cruel, across the globe and throughout history. My mother is a Christian, and I grew up in a household celebrating Christian holidays and attending church on Sundays. My father, however, was raised in Long Island in a Jewish home, where he celebrated Hanukah, had a bar mitzvah, and went to temple. As I grew up, I would learn of the history of the world, but nothing would strike me more than the events of the Holocaust. As I continued to learn and grow older, I would begin to understand the atrocities that took place during this time, half a world a way, and the images and films that I saw in regards to the Holocaust would haunt me most of all. A photo essay, compiled by the English department at the University of Illinois, contains a number of photographs from the Holocaust that demonstrates the atrocities that occurred during this time. These photographs support the argument developed by Susan Sontag that photographers must make the decision between a photograph and a life, and that the viewers of these images also have a responsibility to actions of atrocity and human suffering. In Susan Sontag’s book On Photography, she develops the argument that photography is an act of nonintervention; that the photographer is faced with the choice between capturing...
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...During wartime in America, stories of current obstacles and advances on the battlefield plaster front pages of mass media. Radio stations constantly deliver updates to the homes of citizens. Currently, broadcasting stations air a round the clock television updates on prevalent issues. At a time when technology limited forms of communication, newspapers accumulated a majority of the responsibility for informing the public. Surprisingly, America as a nation, usually well informed and considerate of global issues and situations, left the Holocaust, the genocide of over six million Jews, Gypsies and handicapped across Germany and Poland, in the shadows of the concurrent war. Beginning in 1939, European countries engaged in a war that America clearly seemed unprepared to participate in. When America finally entered the war, the domestic concerns it faced at the time held precedence, even though it received news of the atrocities in Europe. The Holocaust, initially neglected as front-cover news, now holds a major concern and memory in American history. Since the start of World War II, strengthened and advanced reactions to the horrors of The Holocaust have ensued from simultaneously increasing publicity. As war broke out across Europe, Americans laid back, hoping to continue isolationist efforts. Still recovering from the Depression, newspaper companies held a large monopoly of the public information distribution (Holocaust). American citizens simply remained unaware that millions...
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...World War II: Hitler’s Jewish Genocide It is regarded as the most widespread and deadliest conflict in human history, killing more than 50 million people. World War II was the largest armed conflict in history, spanning the entire world, and involving more countries than any other war. The war has been generally believed to start on September 1, 1939 and lasting until September 2, 1945. Historians are still arguing about the exact cause of World War II, however the common belief of fault resides on the implementation of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was possessed by a passionate set of ideals to expand Germany, and with his election as German chancellor in January 1933, marked the start of an accelerating progression towards world war. Under the dominion of Hitlers ambitions, Germany invaded western Poland as a result of the intransigence between both countries. World War II ravaged civilians more severely than any previous conflict, and served as the justification for genocidal killings by Nazi Germany, under the order of Hitler. To fully understand how Hitler attained the support of a nation to agree with his ideology, one must know the conditions before the wake of World War II, and how Hitler instilled influential ideas of national pride. In this essay, I intend on showing why it is important to understand a certain aspect of World War II. I will first focus on establishing the importance of knowing what events led Germany into the circumstances it was in prior to...
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...Elie Wiesel was born in 1928, in the town of Sighet, now part of Romania. During World War II, he, with his family and other Jews from the area, were deported to the German concentration and extermination camps, where his parents and little sister perished. Wiesel and his two older sisters survived. Night, narrated by Eliezer Wiesel, chronicles his experiences as a Jew during the Holocaust. His family is deported from Hungary, brought to Auschwitz, and experiences starvation, abuse, and death. In the preface of Night, Ellie explains. “And those words are: For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. Not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead, we are also responsible for what we are doing with those memories.” After reviewing...
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...Josh Thompson History Ms. Kadlecek 7 April 2014 Remembering The word holocaust means “sacrifice by fire” and comes from the Greek words “holos” meaning whole and “kaustos” meaning burnt. The Holocaust of the 20th century was the mass murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi command during World War II. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, he states, “…in their early days of their accession to power, the Nazis in Germany set out to build a society in which there simply would be no room for Jews. Toward the end of their reign, their goal changed: they decided to leave behind a world in ruins in which Jews would seem never to have existed” (viii). The shock and horror does not lessen regardless of how many times a book or article is read or a movie watched about the Holocaust. Learning about the horrible, dark period from 1935 – 1945 is important in several ways. On one hand, it has been said we must learn about the past in order not to relive it. However, we are also told not to dwell in the past. When studying the Holocaust, both adages have truth. Chilling questions occur when learning about the Holocaust. They are questions that Elie Wiesel repeated in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Wiesel says he remembers asking his father, “Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?” (118). Millions of Jews were killed by overwork, starvation, torture, and cold blooded murder just because they were a different race and...
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...about the memory of the Holocaust than about the Holocaust itself During World War II, France woefully surrendered itself to the Nazi Regime. This new government, led by Henri-Philippe Pétain, was soon to implement Hitler’s anti-Semitic laws and, consequently, France became involved in an event recognised worldwide as the ‘systematic mass murder of European Jewry by the Nazis’ – the Holocaust. Following the end of the war, Charles de Gaulle hastily recovered France’s collective identity and repressed the reality of the nation’s collaboration out of shame. The result? A ‘crisis of consciousness’, in which French society was incapable of facing its shared responsibility. Resnais’s documentary, Nuit et brouillard, offered an even plane, where France was able to recover its memory of the Holocaust. In the forthcoming discussion, there will be detailed consideration as to whether the memory of said genocide is the fundamental theme of Nuit et brouillard, with close reference to the film’s imagery, text, and musical composition. Shot in 1955, ten years following the camp’s liberation, Resnais’s film begins with post-war colour images of Auschwitz, capturing what remains of the barren land. As the camera progressively moves through the barbed wire fence, the present day moment is established and one sees ‘une drôle d’herbe’ surrounding the edges. The inclusion of overgrown flora can be argued as a metaphor for the surface and deep memories of the Holocaust; the camps are undoubtedly...
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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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...In the year of 1933, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Nazis, who came to power in Germany, had the belief that the Jewish members of society were racially inferior. With this thought in mind, the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, organized what would be known as The Final Solution. In 1933, the European population consisted of over nine million Jewish members. By the end of the Holocaust in 1945, the German-Nazi Party “killed nearly two out of every three European Jews” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2016). During the years of the Holocaust, the Jews, and other groups persecuted by the Nazi’s such as homosexuals and the mentally challenged, were forced into concentration camps where they would either be deemed...
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...Nuremberg Trials Imagine committing horrible crimes and knowing one must face punishments for these deeds. Officials within the Nazi Party had to answer for their crimes during the Holocaust through the infamous Nuremberg Trials. The Nuremberg Trials became an important part of the aftermath of the Holocaust, because the trials sought to bring justice against Nazi Germany. There were many factors in the development of the of the Nuremberg Trials. One of the most important components was the choosing of the committee. Between 1945 and 1946 “... in the case of the Nuremberg Trials a group of four powers (France, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the U.S.) with different legal traditions and practices” (“Nuremberg Trials”). Together they made up...
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...During the holocaust, there was much bloodshed. Countless innocent Jewish lives were taken by the Nazi army. The Holocaust was the planned extermination of all Jews in order to create the perfect race, known as “The Aryan Race”. The Nazi army killed off many that were not of German blood, and also killed the Germans who were physically and mentally disabled. Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 and committed many acts of violence during his reign .The main reasons for the Holocaust were: The Treaty of Versailles, The Weimar Republic, and Anti- Semitism. Each of the following are major factors, which lead to the uprising of the holocaust. One cause of the Holocaust was the Treaty of Versailles, which was a Peace treaty between...
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..."Men to the left! Women to the right!" (page 27). At the time of WWII, the Holocaust involves the mass murder of millions of Jews. During this dark time, Jews are forced to work at harsh concentration camps and his chance of surviving the camps is very small. Elie Wiesel lives to tell his horrifying experiences during this time, meanwhile his faith, mankind, and his responsibility to his father struggles to thrive. As time goes on during the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel witnesses more human beings diminishing by the day. This causes a mental pain, but he soon realizes that the death of humans is normal and it doesn’t affect him anymore. The death of the Pipel brings down Elie’s hope of survival. According to Elie, God doesn’t even exist anymore because the gruesome events that occur are only imaginable by him and other survivors. "I did not deny God's existence, but I doubted His absolute justice" (page 42).Without God, Elie loses hope and faith to survive and struggles to keep his father alive. For instance, he almost loses his father in the train, but manages to wake his father up by slapping him. On the other hand, a boy beats up his own father for a small ration of bread. These events inspire Elie to not give up hope. Unfortunately, his father dies near the end of the text. It is the only thing that touches Elie’s heart. "After my father's death, nothing could touch me anymore." (page 107). Futhermore, Elie faces many external conflicts. Hunger, thirst, physical pain, sickness...
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...Final Paper The Holocaust September 1st, 1939 marks the day in which the Holocaust began, a day we should never forget. Hitler had dreams to purify Germany and deem the Aryan race supreme however, he did not succeed. The strength and will power of the Jewish people to survive these unbearable times must be remembered for many generations to come. We must remember and teach about the incredible people who survived and give tribute to those who perished through documentation of the Holocaust, the community aspects, representation and religion of the Holocaust. Documentation of the Holocaust is very critical in teaching the future generations. Soon, all the survivors will be gone and it will be in the hands of our generation to tell the stories of the Holocaust. Several books and movies have been produced in memory of the Holocaust such as the Yizkor books. About “1,300 books have been published since the end of WWII”(Dr. Neil Jacobs) and they are great outlets of telling the stories of specific towns. For example, my Yizkor book project was on the city Dzialoszyce which was a thriving community in Poland. This book explains aspects of the town in the form of four main sections; “The Town and Its Residents Before World War I, Between Two World Wars, Customs and Traditions and The Holocaust” (Moshe Rozneck). In Dzialoszyce, societies were an integral part of everyday life in order to form a more communal lifestyle among the citizens. Another outlet of documentation was...
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... racial or religious group with the intent to destroy the entire group. Genocide was, and still is committed all around the world. Genocide was never formally named until 1944. Genocide was finally named after the terrible occurrences of the Holocaust. a man named Raphael Lemkin named it genocide from the Greek word “geno” which meant race or tribe, and the Latin word “cide” which meant killing. A few of the most wellknown genocides are the Holocaust, the genocide in Darfur, Cambodia, Rwanda and in Bosnia. These genocides have made huge impacts on the world. Many millions of innocent and guilty have been killed from these terrible crimes, and no global authority has taken any actions towards getting rid of it. The corrupt governments of the countries allow this horrific atrocity to continue happening. The global community has a responsibility to intervene in places where genocide is being committed. Like mentioned before, genocide is a word used when describing a socalled “war” in which oe group is trying to wipe out the existence of another. One of the worst and largest genocides in history is the Holocaust. One is not saying that the other genocides are not bad, but this one has by far caused the most casualties and deaths. The Holocaust was lead by Adolf Hitler who wanted to wipe out the Jewish race. and any other handicapped or undesirable race Hitler figured were not useful. He despised them and desperately wanted them off this planet. To do that, he gained many followers...
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...York Times makes more sense on their rationalization of who should take the consequences of the atrocities committed in Vietnam. As opposed to National Review’s, America as a whole cannot take the blame of the horrible deed during the war in Vietnam. The majority of the Americans, and some political leaders strongly opposed it. However, due to Truman’s doctrine, America would not abandon the war in South Vietnam against communist North Vietnam, under the direction of Ho Chi Minh. The succeeding presidents just carried out Truman’s legacy. To make it worst, America got deepened in the involvement in the war during the Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. The war escalated, and became an American war against North Vietnam. As for the My Lai massacre, the commanding officer of the operation has the moral responsibility for the killings. As the commander, he directed the platoons to abide orders. The platoons are drafted and trained to carry out and rely on orders from the officials. Thus, they bear lesser liability of the aftermath that the officials have directed them to carry out....
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...A bureaucracy is defined as a form of organisation that centres on precision, speed, reliability, and efficiency achieved through the creation of job specialisation, hierarchical structure and detailed rules and regulations. (Visitchaichan, n.d. p.5) Bureaucratic organisations have been around for a very long time. They began as primarily the structure for just a few political and religious organisations (e.g. the US Government and the Roman Catholic Church). But by the second half of the 19th century, businesses were becoming larger and more complicated, and there was a move from small, primarily family run organisations to huge companies with hundreds or even thousands of employees. It became clear that a new form of organisation was required to deal with the increasing administrative problems of these larger companies. (Volti, 2008, p.80) Max Weber created the idea of bureaucratic structure of organisation that he believed would counteract these issues. His theory, however, is permeated by scepticism. He describes the bureaucracy as the most dominant form of modern control, both positively and negatively. Although he describes bureaucracies as the fairest and most efficient method of control, he was alarmed by their rapid spread through state, business and institutions and concerned about the effect that they would have on the people within the bureaucratic structure. He argued that due to their technical superiority, bureaucracies would come to dominate all forms of human...
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