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    Research Paper

    Holocaust Overview

    Anne DeCamillo

    Mr. Neuburger

    English 102-120

    9 April 2013

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    Throughout history there are many memorable events that one cannot forget,

    some of them may be happy historical events while others one could only wish that they

    could be forgotten. The historical events of the Holocaust and the deaths of so many

    makes this one of the most well-known and unforgotten events in history. As the Nazi

    party grew so did their hatred towards the Jewish people. Once Adolf Hitler is appointed

    chancellor, this eventually leads to the deaths of nearly six million Jews and six million

    more people of different ethnicities in Europe. Very few understand how the Holocaust

    could take place, and to truly comprehend the Holocaust one needs to understand the

    series of events and methodologies used to systematically murder over twelve million

    people.

    Nazi rise to power

    According to the article, Rise of the Nazi Party Timeline, the Nazi party began

    as a gang of unemployed soldiers in 1919; they were called the German Workers Party.

    Adolf Hitler joined this party in 1919 and rose to leadership through his ability to

    publically speak. The article explains how he encourages national pride, militarism,

    racially pure Germans; all while condemning Jews and exploiting anti-Semitic feelings.

    Furthermore, Hitler changes the name of the party

    to national socialist workers party called for short

    the Nazi Party. According to this timeline article,

    by 1920 the Nazi Party had roughly 3000

    numbers, a year later Hitler became the official

    leader. The article further explains, in 1923 Hitler attempts to over throw local authorities

    known as the Beer Hall Pustch. Although, this act fails and Hitler and the other

    Hitler and followers

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    participants are sentenced to jail, this is also a huge breakthrough for Hitler as he realizes

    he is not going to be able to overthrow the government by force, he decides to take a

    more political approach. Although Hitler is sentenced to five years, he is released after

    just one year. However, Hitler uses the time in jail to organize his thoughts and plans for

    Germany and writes the book Mein Kampf. The article goes on to further explain, after

    Hitler is released he begins rebuilding and reorganizing the Nazi party. After a short

    while Hitler becomes sole leader of the Nazi party and all final decisions rest with him.

    Furthermore, Hitler hopes to create a bureaucracy that he envisions as the gem of future

    state. In addition this article explains, the Nazi part begins a mass movement from

    roughly 27,000 members in 1925 to 108,000 in 1929. This party becomes known for its

    strong arm tactics of street brawling and terror, eventually the Nazi party becomes the

    legal Government of Germany by 1933 and Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of

    Germany. (The Rise of the Nazi Party.)

    Nazi view on Jews Anti-Semitism

    In the article written by Dr. Steve Paulsson it states, the Nazis were the heirs of a

    centuries old tradition of Jew-hatred.(A View of the Holocaust) Another article written

    by Arno Schickedanz explains, how the Nazis think Jewish Zion religion is part of the

    general Jewish plot to control the world. (Zionism) In addition, an article found on the

    United States Memorial Museum(ushmm) goes onto explain how Hitler and other Nazi

    leaders view the Jews not as a religious group but a poisonous race which feeds off other

    races and weakens them. (Nazi Racism) Furthermore on the Ushmm web site, the

    Holocaust is histories most extreme example of anti-Semitism. The most common acts of

    anti-Semitism throughout history are called pogroms they are violent riots launched

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    against Jews and encouraged by Government authorities. The article further explains

    most pogroms were often started by blood libels, which

    are false rumors that Jews are using the blood of Christian

    children for ritual purposes. In addition, modern anti-

    Semites add politics into their hatred and falsely

    denounce Jews as disloyal citizens which is a potent

    component of political anti-Semitism. (Anti-Semitism)

    Moreover, according to the article Anti-Semitism In

    History: Nazi Anti-semitism after the Nazi party gained popularity and legitimately

    seizing power partially by portraying the Jews as the source for many different political,

    social, economic, and ethical problems the country is facing, the Nazi party begins

    ordering anti-Jewish boycotts, staged book burnings, and in 1935 the Nuremberg laws a

    mandate for total separation of Aryans and non Aryans. (Ushmm)

    Nuremberg Laws

    According to the Jewish Virtual Library, a conference was held August 20, 1935

    by Adolf Hitler and the party representatives to discuss the economic effects of party

    actions against Jews. The party argued that the actions making the economy fall would

    cease once the Government made a firm policy against the Jews. Within the next month

    two laws are announced at an annually party in Nuremberg making this known as the

    Nuremberg Laws. Furthermore, the article goes on to explain the first Law is The Law

    for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. This Law prohibited marriage,

    extra-marital intercourse between Jews and Germans, and employment of German

    women under forty-five in Jewish households. The second law, The Reich Citizenship

    Nazi anti-Semitism poster

    http://bit.ly/QzVfvK

    http://bit.ly/QzVfvKhttp://bit.ly/QzVfvKhttp://bit.ly/QzVfvK
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    Law, This law was put in place to strip Jews of German citizenship and made a new

    distinction between Reich citizens and nationals.

    It is said the Nuremberg Laws formalized the

    unofficial measures taken against Jews up to

    1935. In addition, the Nazi Party was consistent

    in enforcing this legislation by demanding that

    Jews are deprived of their rights as a citizen. (The Nuremberg Laws)

    Nazi Propaganda

    In 1924 the start of Nazi propaganda began. Adolf Hitler wrote a book that clearly

    expressed his thought and ideas on National Socialism--among them racism, anti-

    Semitism, and anti-Bolshevism. Adolf Hitler wrote "The function of propaganda is to

    attract supporters, the function of organization to win members... Propaganda works on

    the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of

    this idea."(qtd in Nazi Propaganda.) This was the beginning of the biggest horror

    Germany and the Jewish people would ever face. Nazi propaganda helped many Nazi

    soldiers and Adolf Hitler carry out racism as a whole country. The point to the Nazi

    propaganda was to convey certain thoughts or ideas against the Jews. According to the

    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Hitler appointed Joseph Goebbels the head

    of a Reich ministry for public enlightenment and propaganda just to ensure messages

    were being communicated through all avenues such as art, music, theatre, films, books

    radio, and educational materials, and of course through the media. (Propaganda Timeline)

    With so much being controlled by the Nazis it was very difficult for the German people

    to know what was really going on. The Germans and the Jews were being very much

    Newspaper article about new Laws

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    misled through this propaganda. Once Goebbels was appointed head of the Reich

    ministry it was nearly impossible for the German people to receive anything other than

    the propaganda the Nazis were presenting. Stated in the propaganda timeline in 1927 the

    Nazi party begins producing propaganda films to show in film mobiles in rural areas.

    (USHMM) Germans were reminded of the struggle against foreign enemies and Jewish

    subversion constantly. To the Nazis this is there threat to the German people. According

    to the propaganda timeline on September 23, 1939 all Jews were required to surrender

    radio sets to authorities. By May of 1940 all German radio stations were synchronized.

    (USHMM) Goebbels was very serious about his

    position in controlling the media and educational

    material. According to the Propaganda Principles,

    Goebbels propaganda materially aided Hitlers rise to

    power in 1933. Goebbels used all media of education,

    communications to further Nazi propagandistic aims,

    Goebbels was trying to install in the Germans the

    concept of their leader as a veritable God and of their destiny as the rulers of the world.

    (Joseph Goebbels) Through the media and educational material the Nazi propaganda had

    the Germans deceived. Furthermore, through that deception the Nazis were able to

    exterminate more than six million Jews and six million non Jewish nationals not only

    without notice but with the support of a blinded country. In addition, according to the

    USHMM, propagandist cast Germany as the victim or potential victim of foreign

    aggressors, as a peace loving nation forced to take up arms to protect its populace.

    (Deceiving the Public)

    Nazi Propaganda Poster

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    Burning Synagogue

    http://bit.ly/NrmlB4

    Kristallnacht

    The article Kristallnacht, explains the events leading up to the horrifically

    memorable night of November 9, 1938. According to the article a seven-teen year old

    Polish Jewish student was enraged by the deportation of his parents to Poland from their

    home town in which they lived since 1914. The young man named Hershel Grynszpan

    shot Ernst vom Rath, the Third Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris. The young

    mans assasanation attempt was successful as vom Rath died the night of November 9th

    ,

    however, this attack gave Josseph Gobbels the urgency to deliver what was described as

    an inflammatory speech urging crowds to take to the streets and make the Jews pay for

    the death of vom Rath. Furthermore, this growing

    rampage led to the destruction of 7,000 Jewish

    businesses, fire to more than 900 synagogues, the

    deaths of 91 Jews and deportation of some 30,000

    Jewish men to concentration camps. In addition

    the article further explains the next day Goebbels

    announced, "We shed not a tear for them" He went on to mention the destruction of the

    synagogues saying, "They stood in the way long enough. We can use the space made free

    more usefully than as Jewish fortresses. It is said Kristallnacht provided the Nazi

    government with an opportunity at last to totally remove Jews from German public

    life. (qtd in KristallnachtThe American Experience)

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    Barbed wired Jewish Ghetto

    http://bit.ly/ZAJsLd

    Rounding up Jewsghettos

    According to British Library web site the Germans found a way to keep the Jews

    separated from the general German population by creating what is called Ghettos, These

    ghettos are made in run down parts of the cities and enclosed with barbed wire or walls

    surrounded by guards spread throughout the occupying countries. The ghettos allowed

    the Nazis more control by restricting the rights of the Jews. The ghettos are overcrowded

    and the living conditions are extremely poor. In addition the article further explains not

    only were the living conditions extremely poor but there was a major shortage of food in

    which caused mass starvation that many people died from. Within the ghettos the Nazis

    set up Jewish councils which were

    called Judenrat. They appointed the Jewish

    council officials to follow through with Nazis

    orders during the time in the ghettos. Moreover

    any refusal to carry out Nazi orders was

    punishable by death. Although to some extent the

    Jewish councils helped to alleviate the suffering

    of the Jews by setting up soup kitchens, orphanages and hospitals. Establishing nutrition,

    health and housing departments. However, the council members were still puppets to the

    Nazis. They were required to round up fellow Jews for deportation to slave labor and

    death camps. Once the Jews were round up, the railway provided the transportation to

    their next destination. Many camps were made close to a major railway station so

    transporting was more convenient. None the less the article states, approximately 1.5

    million children died during the Holocaust. Children not only had to adapt to their

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    Jewish Resistance

    http://bit.ly/HIFzQ6

    surroundings but take on adult responsibilities such as savaging for food, helping with

    finances, and in most cases taking care of siblings after their parents were either deported

    orhad died. Overall the ghettos made it possible for Nazis to easily and conveniently

    murder millions of Jews people. (Background ghettos and deportation)

    Resistance

    In an article called Unarmed Jewish Resistance, it explains the many different

    types of ways Jews resisted, for example many groups were put together, even in the

    ghettos and camps the Jews tried to preserve their culture and religion by organizing

    prayer groups, underground schools, and even artistic groups. It is said in the article in

    the Warsaw ghetto there was a great teacher who set up an orphanage and taught the

    children, put on plays, and tried to make their lives as normal as possible. In addition it is

    said this teacher even accompanied them to their

    deaths in Treblinka so that they would not be

    afraid of the dark. (The Holocaust Explained)

    Although, there were many resistance groups out

    there with the purpose of helping fellow Jews

    while placed in the ghettos there are also

    resistance groups out there for the purpose of fighting back with hopes of freedom once

    again. According to Yadvashem web site, the ghettos were filled with rumors about the

    mass murders of the Jews once they were transported from the ghettos. However, the

    information was vague and at the time seemed unreliable, not to mention it was difficult

    to absorb the information that an entire race was trying to be exterminated which was

    unheard of throughout history. Moreover, once reliable information was received by the

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    Jewish officials from outside sources that the rumors of this mass extermination was true

    an armed and underground operation began. According to the article the war of self

    defense was carried out in three levels, such as armed uprisings in the ghettos and camps,

    the escapes and smuggling of Jews from towns and ghettos to go to the forests for

    partisan warfare, in addition individuals hid in various hiding places, and there were

    collective rescue effortsto rescue children as well. Furthermore rebellions took place in

    the death camps as well. The article states in August 1943 an uprising in Treblinka broke

    out when three groups of prisoners working the burning bodies of their fellow Jewish

    people and sorting through the their belongings started killing some of the camp

    commanders and guards, they took over the armory, and in addition, they set the gas

    chambers and camp barracks on fire. Furthermore, in Sobibor it is said prisoners rose up

    and several managed to escape, also in Auschwitz a group of prisoners blew up a

    crematoria. (Jewish Armed Resistance and Rebellion) However, even with their

    resistance efforts it made little impact on the overall situation.

    Wannasee Conference

    According to the article The Wannasee Conference, this conference was held on

    January 20,1942 , It is said that the conference was presided over by SS-Lieutenant

    General Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Security Police and Security Service. Heydrich

    summoned fourteen men representing the governmental and military branches most

    involved in implementing the aspects of the Final Solution of the Jewish Question.

    Furthermore, this article explains, the various options of what the Final solution was,

    which included voluntary emigration, confinement to ghettos in cities located along rail

    lines, forced to concentration camps, and finally, extermination. The Nazis wanted to be

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    Location of the Wannasee Conference

    http://bit.ly/bBwj2D

    certain there was no confusion within the group that now, the term referred specifically to

    the murder of all the Jews. Moreover, during a

    trial in 1961 it is said the conference was rather

    brief only lasting and hour or so, it was done over

    a luncheon and the members who attended the

    conference agreed to the extermination of an

    entire race. (Holocaust History)

    Although, there are many details and countless testimonies of the horrific events

    that took place during the Holocaust, one may never come to fully understand how the

    Germans publically and systematically murdered more than twelve million people in such

    a short amount of time. However we can see how the Nazis used political parties,

    propaganda control, ghettos, and death camps to start what the most horrifying historical

    event is known to mankind.

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    "Holocaust Timeline: The Rise of the Nazi Party."Holocaust Timeline: The Rise of the

    Nazi Party. A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional

    Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida 2005. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

    "Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage."Jewish Virtual Library.

    "The Rise of Nazi Party."A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. The Florida Center for

    Instructional Technology,, 2005. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

    "Welcome to PsyWar Society, Thursday, 19 April 2012." The PsyWar Society. Web. 19

    Apr. 2012. .

    "German Propaganda Archive (Guide Page)." Calvin College. Web. 19 Apr. 2012.

    .

    "Holocaust Educational Resource."Holocaust Educational Resource. Web. 19 Apr.

    2012. .

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