Emilio #13

L-L-L
5/5/16
Social Studies

The Holocaust
Essay
"For evil to flourish, it only requires good
men to do nothing." - Simon Wiesenthal

Theyarentpeopleatall.
Theymadeupcommunism.
TheyarethereasonwelostWW1.
Wewillmakethisworldabetterplace.

ThosearethewordsspokenfromNazisduringthe30s.ThisiswheretheHolocaust
begins.Thisiswherethemassacreof6millionJewsbegin.
Hitlersfinalsolution,orTheHolocaustwastheprocessoftakingallJewsfromthe
worldandexterminatingthem.NazisnotonlyhatedJews,butRomas(Gypsies),those
withmentalorphysicaldisabilities,homosexuals,Jehovah'sWitnesses,tradeunionists,
politicalopponents,PolesandSovietprisonersofwar.NaziswouldtakeJewishfamilies,
putthemincarsandtransportthemtotheirdeaths.EventhoughgoingnearGermany
soundedlikeabadidea,peoplefromallovertheworldhelpedJewsescapethecamps.

ThecampswerelocatedthroughoutEurope,withsomeofthemostimportantonesbeing
AuschwitzBirkenauinPoland,BelzecinPoland,andBergenBelseninGermany.It
wouldtakedaystogetJewsandtheotherstotheconcentrationcamps.Naziswouldput
themincattlecarswithouttellingthemwheretheyweregoing,howlongitwouldtake,
orwhatwouldhappenwhentheygotthere.Herearesomeexperiencestoldbysurvivors:

Agnes,an11yearoldgirlfromCzechoslovakia,Laterweweremovedand
drivenintorailwaywagonsthesortthattransportanimalswhichwerepartofalong
train.Someofthewagonswereopentopped,someclosed.

Jack,15yearsold,fromGreece,Some20railwaycarswerewaitingforus...
Therewere70to80peopleinacar...Afterawhile,therewasamuffledsoundofclosing
latches...thewhistleblewandthetrainstartedmovingslowly.ItwasApril7,1943.
Pennedinandcramped,wedepartedfromourhomeland,withoutbeingabletoseeit.

Moshe,aged17,fromHungary,thedoorswereshut,leavingusalmostin
darkness.Thegrills,too,wereclosedtopreventescape.Airenteredonlythroughthe
cracks.Sowetravelledfor24hours,withoutfoodorwater.Wewerehungryandthirsty.
Butthedesireandhopetoseeourfamiliesmadeusforgeteverythingelse.

David,aPolishJewaged13,Thereisnoroomtosit.Inordertomakeroomweare
forcedtostandwithourhandsaboveourheads....Suddenly,thedoorisslammedshut
andsealed.Awaterbucketistossedintothecarforuseasadisposalcontainerforhuman
waste.

Manypeoplediedinthejourneybecauseofhungerorthirst.Eventually,when
theyarrivedatthecamps,theselectionprocessbegun.WhentheJewsgotdownfromthe
trainsorcattlecars,theywereseparatedintotwolines,boysandgirlsfordoctorstobegin
separatingthemintogroups.Thosewhowere14yearsoldandolderwerefitenoughfor

work,theyweresenttoonesideoftheunloadingramp,therestweresenttotheother
side.Oldpeopleandwomenwithchildrenwerekilledingaschambers.TheJews
selectedforworkweresenttoaseparatebuildingforregistration.Theywouldbe
registered,beforeundressing,placingtheirclothesonahook,togetherwiththeirshoes.
Theywouldthenbetattooedwitharegistrationnumber,shavedofallbodyhair,
disinfectedputthroughshowersthatwereeitherextremelycold,orextremelyhot.When
theyweredoneshowering,theyweregiventhestripedpajamasandshoes,thenushered
tobegintheirlabor.

TheHolocauststartedbecauseofamannamedAdolfHitler.Hitlerwasa
chancellorinGermanyduringWWIIandhehadalotofpower.HeconvincedGermany
thatJewswerethecauseoftheirproblems.
GermanylostWWIbecauseoftheJews.
Germanswerethesuperiorrace.
Germansweregoingtomakethisworldabetterplace.
Hitlersaidallthosethings,aswellasthethingsIputinthebeginningoftheessay.
Becauseofallthepowerhehad,andfollowers,hetookahugestepandstartedthe
Holocaustin1933.HesentoutNazistoeachcountryinEuropetosearchforallJews.

TheJewsfoundwouldthenbetakentoGhettos,asortofspecialneighborhoodonlyfor
Jews.Thentheyweretrickedintothinkingthattheywouldbetakensomeplacebetter.

TheHolocaustendedgradually.Thealliesweretakingliberatingconcentration
campslittlebylittle.In1945,afterHitlercommittedsuicide,theyliberatedAuschwitz,
thebiggestandmostimportantcamp.ThiswasahugesteptoendingtheHolocaust.
EventhoughtheHolocaustwasaterriblething,manythingswerediscovered.Some
prisonersgottestedtofindthingslikemedicineweusetoday.Doctorslearnedmore
aboutthebody,thingstheydidntknowabout.
Theholocaustkindofremindsmeofaproblemwearefacingtoday.Amanhates
aspecificgroupofpeople.Hewantstoruletogetmorepower.Hewantstoremove
everyonewhoisnotlikehimfromhiscountry.HewantstoMakehiscountrygreat
again.WhatImtryingtosayisthathistoryisrepeatingitself(thankfullyonasmaller
scale)anditsnotagoodthing,butweknowthatthereasonthosepeoplediditandare
doingitrightnowisbecausetheythoughtoftheircountryastheperfectcountry.Ihope
(alongsideeveryonewhoknowswhatsgoingon)thatthatmandoesnotbecome
presidentorhewillbeonestepclosertoanewHolocaust.

IthinkthattheHolocaustwasTERRIBLEanddontknowhowahumancan
causesomuchdestructionandhavesomuchhatredtowardsagroupofinnocentpeople.I
wishthatsomethingsobiglikethiswillneverhappentoanyone,eveniftheyarebad.
Imagineiftheallieswerenotabletostoptheaxis.Imagineiftheaxisweresuccessful.
ImagineifalltheJewswerekilledandthereligionwouldbedead.Thatwouldbeaworld
Iwouldhatetolivein,aworldwhereNazisgovernus.Thankfully,asmyfriendIvan
stated,theaxisweredefeatedandwearefree.