...It seems that the times of Holocaust are already very far away from the point we are standing now, but everything is not as simple as it seems from the first sight. For many people this time will be something they will never forget, the time of struggle for an opportunity to survive. It was a time for fighting for the right to live, the time when Jews were killed just for “being Jews”, a time when a man with a “yellow star” was doomed. It took place in 1939-1945 and was introduced by Adolph Hitler, a man whose idea was to decontaminate the German race from all the minorities. Thousands of Jews were sent to concentration camps, killed or vanished. It was the time of “monopoly on violence”(Torpey, 1997) towards the Jews. This World War II period made an enormous impact on the direction that was taken by the social relations between Jews and other nations. Holocaust divided the lives of Jews into three periods: before, during and after it, which showed how hard was its hit.”…Cats have nine lives, but we - we're less than cats, we got three. The life before, the life during, the life after…"(Joselit, 1995 p.1) Jew people lost loved ones; homes, lives and it took them quiet a time to renew the curative power of their belief. The other main thing resulting from the Holocaust was the influence it had on future terrorism and the appearance of pure racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination. Holocaust the terrorists showed that the “big” goals could be achieved through any possible ways...
Words: 1918 - Pages: 8
...words to engage the heart and mind of the reader The holocaust survivor poets depict the Jewish suffering and loss of identity by creating a range of images relating to the treatment of the Jews which engage the heart and mind of the reader. Lily Brett, Yala Korwin and Eva Pickova utilise figurative language to portray the physical and emotional suffering of the Jews and simultaneously illustrate their loss of identity during the Holocaust. All three poets rely on simple imagery in conjunction with other poetic techniques to show the Jewish suffering and loss of identity. Brett applies graphic imagery, Korwin employs connotation and Pickova uses metaphor...
Words: 888 - Pages: 4
...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...
Words: 1635 - Pages: 7
...graphic novel, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, by Art Spiegelman invites us readers to a hands on account of a Polish Jew’s horrific journey through the unforgettable Holocaust. Maus is not the ordinary comic that you would typically read, but instead, exemplifies another level of genre that fights the “norms” of a comic. Art Spiegelman takes his audience outside of their comfort zone and creatively imbeds a plot twist. For example, as stated in, Understanding Comics, McCloud simply states, “Comics were those bright, colorful magazines filled with bad art, stupid stories and guys in tights” (McCloud 2). Yet, we observe nothing of this sort of depiction either through imagery or language. Within this graphic novel, there are harsh depictions of Jews, Poles and Germans. The careful detail to language and cruel words are loaded with intense tone. As the readers, we encounter several historical points-of-view that Vladek Spiegelman presents: the pre-Holocaust, the Holocaust, and the post-Holocaust that he unearths, layer by layer. He engages his readers through his vivid traumatic encounters along with the sad misfortunes that took place during the Holocaust. Art Spiegelman’s audience can be directed towards those who are engaged by historical autobiographies and, equally so, an audience who seeks to revel in the pain and suffering of others; also he provides a way to understand catharsis. Art Spiegelman invites those who dare to unravel one man's dark and heart wrenching past to read this...
Words: 1750 - Pages: 7
...remove this 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...
Words: 5059 - Pages: 21
...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...
Words: 1550 - Pages: 7
...The strongest argument that explains why a good, loving God would allow evils such as the Holocaust was made by the “attorney” appointed to defend God. He states that God was purifying the Jews for their sins, and with this purification the Jews would be better off. He quoted the Testament and used previous historical events to justify his claims. The objection to this argument is that why would God sacrifice good Jews in order to help make them better off. That would be illogical because by the end of the Holocaust the only surviving people would be the evil servants of Hitler. I don’t believe this is a good explanation why God would allow such suffering because the suffering is supposed to purify the Jews, but I don’t see why God would almost kill 4.9 to 6 million Jews to make them “better off”. The strongest argument that explains why a good, loving God would never allow evils such as the Holocaust is made by the “attorney” appointed to persecute God. He stated that since God is all knowing and all powerful, then he is aware of the evil going on and chooses not to do so. Therefore the God that exists is evil and not good, loving God. Someone could object to this argument by saying that God has a plan of punishing people for their sins, therefore he chooses not to intervene to teach humanity, or in this case the Jews, a lesson. Yes I believe this provides a good reason to conclude that a good, omnipotent God doesn’t exist because if he had the power to create humanity and...
Words: 289 - Pages: 2
...the emotions of a Holocaust survivor in a way that other historical sources are not able to. The memoir is about Halevi’s story growing up as the son of a Holocaust survivor in Brooklyn in the 1960’s-70s. When reading this memoir it is important to understand, memoirs are primary sources that follow a single person’s first-hand account and focuses on a specific event or experience, not their entire life. Other historical sources are usually broader and depict a period of time rather than singular personal stories. A memoir is limited as a primary source; Memoirs are limited to only one individual's point of view, rather than an analysis of many people's perspectives...
Words: 981 - Pages: 4
...the people? In the Holocaust the German nurses were not allowed to help Jewish kids. Although they weren’t able to help this one brave and caring German nurse went out of her way to be a hero. Irena Sendler is a nurse who was in a group called the “Resistance Movement”. She was in organizations that dealt with the Jews and she would risk her life for them. If they would have caught her and found out what she was doing, she would have been facing worse consequences. She wasn’t afraid of what the Nazis would do because at the time she was just worried about the little Jewish kids. (“Sendler.Irena.”) The Jewish kids that the Nazis had or were taking were being hurt and murdered by Hitler and his men which were the Nazis. Irena saw that when she worked for them so she started doing secret jobs for Jewish people. Most of the people see her as a hero, but she thinks what she did was normal for a person like her because...
Words: 1062 - Pages: 5
...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...
Words: 3126 - Pages: 13
...throughout the war. The Holocaust, which resulted in the genocide of over 6 million Jews and non-Semitics , arose as a result of Hitler’s fascist ideals and saw widespread suffering. As a result of the new technological advances throughout the war, bombing became a major tactic and many major cities were destroyed, which resulted in the death and evacuation of many civilians and widespread suffering. Rations were introduced because of a restricted food supply. This shortage resulted in the death of many civilians and soldiers. Resistance fighters, if captured, would face certain death at...
Words: 1192 - Pages: 5
...oneself, an individual like Elie Wiesel who had experienced such adversities in life may become stronger to be able to get through the situation. A Wave of Human Spirit The Holocaust presented a call to people everywhere to reevaluate the role of God in their lives. The pain and suffering that we know took place is in dark contrast to what we would have thought possible in the presence of our God, and anyone who comes in contact with these horrors will be forever shaken in his present faith. Some have reacted with anger toward God, others with denial. Still others reacted with mistrust of all that God had meant before. But by asking questions, some have grown to learn that God never did things the way people expect Him to, and that fact becomes the cornerstone of the new start to their theology. God does not answer questions unless they suit His purposes. This is what we have learned from Auschwitz and from the writings of Elie Wiesel. We must continue to ask questions, continue to challenge God, until, one day, He Himself will give us the answers. And until then we should never feel so secure in faith as to think that Auschwitz could never happen again. We must make certain, through our actions, which it will never happen again. A Wave of Human Spirit Wiesel thought of God before and during the Holocaust as both the protector and punisher of the Jewish people. Whatever had happened before, he had faith that it was for their good, or one of God's greater plans. Either way, he...
Words: 1292 - Pages: 6
...atrocities of the Holocaust. ‘Night’ is set during the Holocaust time period in 1944–45, toward the end of the World War Two. It mainly takes place in Auschwitz and Buchenwald which are both Nazi Germany concentration camps. The memoir depicts his experiences with his father in those concentration camps. ‘Night’ takes the reader on a journey where Eliezer, who was only 15 and his family, along with many other Jews, were forcibly removed from their hometown and transported to Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He wrote about their battle for survival, and of his battle with God for a way to understand the spiteful cruelty he witnesses each day as well as his increasing disgust with humanity due to the inhumane treatment of the Jews and how they were...
Words: 1143 - Pages: 5
...Imagine you were a Jew in World War II. You are in hiding, hoping you be found. A friend takes you in and feeds you every day, but you leave without notice. This is what Max, from The Book Thief, experiences throughout the war. Max lived in a time where being a Jew was the only reason for death, and became the Holocaust. During this time, Max helps the little girl who protects him. Hans, also from The Book Thief, was the friend that took Max in. Hans not only helped Max, but he also looked after a foster daughter named Liesel, who he then shelters too. Both the Holocaust and what happened in Rwanda are called genocides. A genocide is the killing of large groups of people, sometimes related to ethnicity or race.In Rwanda, a large genocide occurred because of...
Words: 1402 - Pages: 6
...“Night” Essay. The Holocaust (also called Shoah in Hebrew) refers to the period from January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, to May 8, 1945, when the war in Europe ended. During this time, Jews in Europe were subjected to harsh persecution that ultimately led to the murder of 6,000,000 Jews (1.5 million of these being children) and the destruction of 5,000 Jewish communities. The Jews were the victims of Hitler’s plan to annihilate the entire Jewish population of Europe. After the holocaust one of few survivors Elie Wiesel wrote a book called “Night” which was basically about the suffering all Jews had to go through. In this book Elie uses motifs to reveal the theme that the worst suffering comes from man’s own inhumanity to man. One of the motifs Elie uses to reveal the theme was how badly the Nazi soldiers treated their fellow human. First example was when the Nazi’s arrived at first they treated the Jews politely while living in their homes and acted quite civil then the Jews started to believe they were in no danger but Little by little, the soldiers took away their freedom—the leaders of the Jewish community were arrested; the Jewish people were put under house arrest; all their valuables were confiscated; the Jews were forced to wear a yellow star; the Jewish people were forced into ghettos; the ghettos were emptied and the people deported to concentration camps. This shows how the Nazi went from being human to dehumanizing their fellow human...
Words: 1010 - Pages: 5
