Woods

Research Paper Holocaust Overview

Thomas Woods

English 102-102 Mr. Neuburger 11 July 2012

Woods The Holocaust is considered to be one of the biggest travesties to ever happen in history. The Nazis attack on the Jews and the people who did not fit into their culture was absolutely wrong. The Nazis did not have the right to take the Jews lives away from them. The sheer fact that the Nazis thought they could do whatever they wanted to anyone eventually made everyone

discouraged and ultimately made other countries step up for the Jews and start WWII. Hopefully countries can learn from Nazi Germanys mistakes and try not to take out a human race ever again. The Holocaust had an impact in the 1930s and 1940s that people will never forget now and never forget down the road. Nazi Rise to Power The Holocaust would have never happened without the plot and the thinking process of how the Nazi rose to power. Adolf Hitler was the main person behind the forming of the Nazis. Hitler was a wounded soldier from WWI who sought for power, and it all started in the National Socialist Party in Germany. Later on the group would be known to the world as the Nazi Party (Yadvashem). From the Yadvashem website, the group expresses that the Nazis started to gain respect from Germany and ultimately Hitler gained a bit of power. President Paul Van Hindenburg gave Hitler the mandate to form a government, and Hitler became Chancellor on January 30, 1933 (Yadvashem). When Paul Van Hindenburg gave Hitler the position Chancellor of Germany that was all Hitler needed to take over the country. Hitler would start by eliminating individual rights in the country of Germany. He would then pronounce the creation of a Volk Community, which was a society who transcended class and religious differences (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Hinderburg and Hitler meet in 1933. http://bit.ly/zopJ6d

Woods According to the USHMM website, after Hindenburgs death, Hitler officially gained control of Germany in 1934, Hitler had himself designated as both Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor. Armed forces personnel swore an oath of loyalty to him in this function. While as Reich

Chancellor Hitler's personal power remained limited by the laws of the German state, as Fuehrer his personal power was unlimited and his will was equated with the destiny of the German nation (USHMM). With Hitler gaining all this power, it seemed like no one could stop him. Ultimately, this power of Hitler was the rise of the Nazis in Germany, and the hope of the Jews surviving was at stake. Nazis Views on Jews Anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism subjects towards the Nazis for the fact they wanted to make the Jews life miserable and hostile. With the Nazis in control of Europe, they were looking to eliminate all of the European Jews. On the Holocaust-Education website, the Nazis took use of the power AntiSemitism, and killed many Jews, with the Nazi persecution in the 1930s and 1940s, Jews all over German-controlled Europe were systematically killed. More than 6 million were murdered (Holocaust-Education). With the power of Anti-Semitism, the Nazis truly did make the Jewish people miserable in Europe in terms of trying to survive. With the culture of the Jews decreasing drastically, the Jewish people relied more on their faith, but also
Nazi mark on the Jews tombstones. http://bit.ly/4JxhM6

made the Nazis hate them even more. According to the Anti-Defamation League website, they explained, The rise of Christianity greatly increased hatred of Jews (Anti-Defamation League). Christianity was a part of the Jewish belief system, and the Nazis didnt take to kindly to them

Woods worship their God. When the Nazis wanted to take advantage of the Jews, they used AntiSemitism on them to destroy the culture of the Jews. Nuremberg Laws

With everything not going their way during this time, the Nuremburg Laws of 1935 made things even more difficult for the Jewish people to live their lives. From the website historyplace, the Nuremberg Laws took away many of the German Jews rights to anything, The Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935 deprived German Jews of their rights of citizenship, giving them the status of "subjects" in Hitler's Reich (History Place). With the Nuremburg Laws out, the laws also made it hard for the Nazis to tell whether someone was a full Jew. The Nazis came up with the idea, eventually; the person was a full Jew if he or she had three Jewish grandparents. The Jews with less were known as Mischlinge of either the First or Second degree, the first meaning the Jew had two grandparents or the second meaning the Jew had only one grandparent (historyplace). One things for sure, according to the Jewish Virtual Library, the Nazis had only one goal in mind when these laws were made, the website article states, The Nuremberg Laws by their general nature formalized the unofficial and particular measures taken against Jews up to 1935. The Nazi leaders made a point of stressing the consistency of this legislation with the Party program which demanded that Jews should be deprived of their rights as citizens (jewishvirtuallibrary). The Nazis made things only worse after the Nuremburg Laws were made. These laws were only the beginning for things to come. Propaganda
The Nuremburg Laws of 1935 btinternet.com

Woods Propaganda in Nazi Germany was used in a dangerous way, especially since this type of

propaganda showed to cost many of the Jewish peoples lives. Propaganda was used in media or poster boards, etc. to bring out a point, and in many terms, the point would be negative. From the George Mason University (George Mason University) website, the university expresses, Propagandists use this technique to create fear and arouse prejudice by using negative words (bad names) to create an unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, beliefs, ideas or institutions they would have us denounce (George Mason University). The Nazis used propaganda to show the hatred and negative they had towards the Jews. They basically wanted everyone in Germany to join them in destroying the Jewish culture. An example of the type of propaganda they would use was card stacking. From George Mason University, the school defined card stacking, to make the best case possible for his side and the worst
One of many Propaganda Posters used by the Nazis. http://bit.ly/NLv2X6

for the opposing viewpoint by carefully using only those facts that support his or her side of the argument while attempting to lead the audience into accepting the facts as a conclusion (George Mason University). The Nazis were using card stacking to show that the Jews were a disease and that getting rid of them would be the best for Germany and for the world. The use of propaganda by the Nazis turned out to be another effective tool for them to gather up people to stand against the Jews. Rounding up Jews Ghettos The ghettos showed a huge purpose in terms of the Jews trying to survive the Nazis destruction against them. However, an estimated 75,000 people did die in these ghettos due to starvation and disease (aish). The Jews, however, took what they had to take in order to stay

Woods away from the Nazi resume. Living conditions were poor but it was all the Jews had (dadeschools). The Warsaw Ghetto was one of many ghettos where the Jews lived for survival. Sick and tired of the Nazis pushing them around, according to the dadeschools network, the site expresses that these Jews had enough, The Warsaw Ghetto revolt was the largest Jewish

uprising against the Nazis and was the first armed revolt in occupied Europe (dadeschools). The result did not turn out the way the Warsaw ghetto planned as the Nazis fought and resulted in them burning down the ghetto. Even still, the fact that this ghetto stood up against the Nazis made a huge impact on many Jews worldwide. Another ghetto that decided to fight back was the Bialystok Ghetto. Dadeschools complements somewhat on Jews the valiant effort in fighting against the Germans army. Jewish paramilitary organizations
One of the many ghettos the Jews lived in. pagefarm.net

formed within the ghetto attacked the German army when it was determined that the Nazis intended to liquidate it. The battle lasted just one day, until the resisters were killed or captured (dadeschools). Even though the Jews were either killed or captured, this ghetto was just another one of many ghettos who had enough the Nazis bullying tactics. Many ghettos fought, and many Jews were captured and sent to the death camps, but the effort the Jews put in was strong. These ghettos showed that the Jews were not ready to give up, and showed to the world that the even with times being tough that you can still take a stand on what is right. Resistance The Jewish community tried their best to resist the Nazi community in any way possible, even though the Nazis were just too powerful at the time. The Jews figured that they didnt have

Woods anywhere else to go, and some eventually fought back. Some fought back while in the ghettos, while some escaped the ghettos and went to a higher army. The USHMM website exclaims, Thousands of young Jews resisted by escaping from the ghettos into the forests. There they joined Soviet partisan units or formed separate partisan units to harass the German occupiers (USHMM). These Jews knew that the ghettos were not going to be enough to hold off the Germans, so many young Jews decided to give themselves a fighting chance. Even while some were held prisoners under the Germans, a few Jews resisted the order of the German soldier, killing a couple along the way (USHMM). Some Jews went the way of the spiritual resistance, according to the USHMM website. Jews in the ghettos and camps also responded to Nazi oppression with various forms of spiritual resistance. They made conscious attempts to preserve the history and communal life of the Jewish people
Some Jews left for the Soviet Army. http://bit.ly/MCKGC1

despite Nazi efforts to eradicate the Jews from human memory (USHMM). Some believed that violence was not the way and they turned to their beliefs to try to help back off the Nazis. Probably the most effective resistance of the Jews was the aiding one another and rescuing resistance. The USHMM website posts, Jewish authorities in Palestine sent clandestine parachutists into Hungary and Slovakia in 1944 to give whatever help they could to Jews in hiding. In France, various elements of the Jewish underground consolidated to form different resistance groups, including the Arme Juive which operated in the south of France (USHMM). In this resistance, the Jews were saving their people before the Germans had a chance to kill them. The fighting of the ghettos, the resistance of the Jews showed the Jewish people still had pride for their culture and were still not willing to go down without a fight.

Woods Wannsee Conference The Final Solution With the German Nazis figuring out that the world was and the Jews were fighting, they decided to have the Wannsee Conference in 1942. This conference would turn out to be in most terms, the Nazis deadliest scheme yet. On the historyplace website, the leaders at the Wannsee Conference discuss about the Final Solution, Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's second in command of the SS, convened the Wannsee Conference in Berlin with 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the Final Solution in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe, an estimated 11 million (historyplace). Death was talked about by Hilter and many of the leaders, but in the 1942 conference, they had planned to wipe out the whole Jewish community. Lieutenant General Reinhard Heydrich was the leading spokemans at this conference in which he and many other of the Nazis leaders feared that the
The building the Wannsee Conference took place in. britannica.com

Russians, the country that the Nazis believed they were winning in at the time, was starting to turn against them (holocaust-history). What was the point of the Wannsee Conference? The holocaust-history website explains, The Wannsee Conference was not called to decide the fate of European Jews but to clarify all points regarding their demise (holocaust-history). Indeed throughout the past few years before the conference the Nazis were trying to show the demise of the Jewish community, but not to the extent of this point. This conference lead the Nazis into a bigger hole in the world, and ultimately, the Nazis couldnt hold their ground much longer after the discussion of exterminating the Jews. Although the form of death camps sadly wiped out more than half the population, in 1945, three years after the conference, the Nazis surrendered to

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the Soviets, after the Soviets had surrounded the Nazi community in many locations (USHMM). Soon after this was made clear and the Nazis were no more, the Jews were graduately being set free from every prison and death camp that the Nazis held them captive in. A couple weeks before the Germans surrendered, Hitler committed suicide, and showing that the Jews hope of being freed were even brighter (USHMM). The Wannsee Conference never planned for this to happen to Nazi Germany. The strike of exterminating the Jews, though, caught a fire in countries, especially the Soviets, and ultimately led to the Nazis falling in battle. Death Camps Death camps from the Nazis clearly showed their true colors toward the Jews, and how the Nazis didnt care for anyone else but themselves. While WWII was still going on, in 1942 after the Wannsee Conference, the Jews that were captured by the Nazis were put in considered to be the cruelest torture of place in history (frank.mtsu). Death camps consisted of gas rooms, Jews getting shot at random, etc. On the frank.mtsu website, the travesty of these camps showed in an extraordinary huge number, which added on to the grand of Jews killed throughout the whole war, Of the approximately 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, more than half were systematically
Maps of some of the major death camps. http://bit.ly/6RUEF

exterminated in the highly rationalized gas chamber/crematorium system of the Nazi Death Camps between 1942 and 1945 (frank.mtsu). 6 million lives were taken by the Nazis, showing how committed these men were to exterminating the Jews after the Wannsee Conference. It wasnt just Jews who were in these camps; it was anyone else who stood in there way (frank.mtsu). The number of Jews killed in these camps approximately is overwhelming to say

Woods the least. Frank.mtsu website concludes that more than half of the grand total number of Jews, who died during the war, came from these camps. A conservative estimate of those who were murdered in the Nazi death camps stands at about 3.5 million. Most were European Jews who were killed for no other reason than the fact that they were Jews (frank.mtsu). The 1942

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Wannsee Conference sought out a plan, and the Nazis leaders in that conference, were to believe, succeeded in caring out what they discussed in the meeting. Death camps like Belzek, Sobibor and Treblinka did their job in killing as many Jews as possible. Many camps were destroyed by the end of 1945, showing the world they cared for the lives of the Jews, even more lives could have been saved. The Holocaust is known to be the deadliest ordeal to ever hit a culture in history. The Jewish people truly never deserved the cruelty the punishment they got from Nazi Germany. The fact the Nazis thought the Jews were a waste of a community of people shows that there were and still are some people who dont believe in equal rights and respect. The Jewish people never got the respect of many Germans from the mid-1930s to the early and mid-1940s. The world can never forget the man who started this resume of violence and deaths to the Jewish community and that is Adolf Hitler. A man who came out of WWI as a wounded soldier, turned into a man sought for power and destruction among the Jews and among the world. But thanks to the heart of the countries that fought for the Jews, the Nazis were put to extension, and the Holocaust was put to an end. The Holocaust was one of the biggest events in history that world will never forget for years to come.

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Works Cited Austin, Ben S. "The Camps." Middle Tennessee State University. Holocaust Ring, 15 Jan. 1997. Web. 17 July 2012. Ellis, Eliyahu. "The Ghettos." Aish.com. Aish.com, 2012. Web. 18 July 2012. "Germany: Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 11 May 2012. Web. 18 July 2012. "Holocaust History." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 11 May 2012. Web. 18 July 2012. "IB Holocaust Project: Armed Warsaw." IB Holocaust Project: Armed Warsaw. N.p., n.d. Web. "Nazi Germany and the Jews 1933-1939." Holocaust History. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, 2012. Web. 17 July 2012. "The Nuremberg Laws." The Nuremberg Laws. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2012. Web. 21 July 2012. "The Nuremberg Race Laws." Historyplace.com. Historyplace.com, 1997. Web. 17 July 2012. "Propaganda." Mason.gmu.edu. Mason.gmu.edu, n.d. Web. 18 July 2012. Vogelsang, Peter. "Anti-Semitism." The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. N.p., 2002. Web. 22 July 2012. "The Wannsee Conference." Historyplace.com. The History Place, 1997. Web. 18 July 2012. "Wannsee Conference." Wannsee Conference. N.p., 4 Feb. 2004. Web. 18 July 2012. "What Is Anti-Semitism?" Anti-Semitism. Anti-Defamation League, 2001. Web. 22 July 2012.

Thomas,

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Your paper is full of good information, and for the most part you demonstrate skill as a writer. The mistakes on your paper are an indication you were not listening to me, or I did not make myself clear. In the future, make sure to listen to your instructors, who, as I am well aware of, can tend to drone on and on about things that seem mundane and cause students to drift away from what the teacher is talking about. I dont know if that is what happened in your case, but I do know that if you were listening, the mistakes made on this paper would have been avoided. I enjoyed having you in class. Good luck to you.

Score Points Available

40 20 40 35

Content paper demonstrates understanding and confidence about topic Sources uses only primary and secondary sources In-Text Citations integrates sources within text with effective use of signal words and phrases Formatting properly uses MLA formatting

34 18 20 28

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25 15 25

Works Cited works cited page has the required number of sources and is properly formatted Pictures uses pictures to enhance the text with effective captions and source information Writing Mechanics Paper is free from errors in spelling, punctuation, etc.

15 14 18
Total Score

Total = 200

147