Holocaust (4428 words) Essay Example For Students

Holocaust (4428 words) Essay Holocaust(1)INTRODUCTION The Holocaust is the most horrifying crime against humanity of alltimes. Hitler, in an attempt to establish the pure Aryan race, decidedthat all mentally ill, gypsies, non supporters of Nazism, and Jews were to beeliminated from the German population. He proceeded to reach his goal in asystematic scheme. One of his main methods of doing away withthese undesirable was through the use of concentration camps. In January 1941, in a meeting with his top officials the final solutionwas decided. Jews were to be eliminated from the population. Auschwitz wasthe concentration camp that carried out Hitlers final solution ingreater numbers than any other. In this paper I will discuss concentration campswith a detailed description of the most well- known one, Auschwitz. (2)CONCENTRATION CAMPS The first concentration camps were set up in 1933. In theearly days of Hitler, concentration camps were places that held people inprotective custody. Victims for protective custody included those who were bothphysically and mentally ill, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Jews andanyone against the Nazi regime. Gypsies were classified as people withatleast two gypsy great grandparents. By the end of 1933 there wereatleast fifty concentration camps throughout occupied Europe. At first,the camps were controlled by the Gestapo (police), but by 1934 the S.S. (Hitlers personal security force) were ordered, by Hitler, to control thecamps. Camps were set up for different purposes. Some for forced labor,others for medical experiments and, later on, for death/ extermination. Transition camps were set up as holding places for death camps. HenrickHimmler, chief of the German police, the Gestapo, thought that the camps wouldprovide an economic base for the soldiers. This did not happen. The workforce was poorly organized and working conditions were inhumane. Therefore,productivity was minimal. Camps were set up along railroad lines, so that theprisoners would be conveniently close to their destination. As they were beingtransported, the soldiers kept telling the Jews to have hope. (3) When the campswere finally opened, most of the families who were shipped out together ended upbeing separated. Often, the transports were a sampling of what went on in thecamps, cruelty by the officers, near starvation of those being transported,fetid and unsanitary conditions on the trains. On the trains, Jews werestarved of food and water for days. Many people did not survive the ride toarrive at the camp. Jews were forced to obey the guards orders from themoment they arrive d at the camps. If they didnt, they would be beaten,put into solitary confinement or shot. The prisoners usually had marks ontheir clothes or numbers on their arms to identify them. The sanitary conditionsof the camps were horrible. There was only one bathroom for four hundredpeople. They had to stand for hours in snow, rain, heat, or cold for role-call,which was twice a day. Within the first few days of being at the camps,thousands of people died of hunger, starvation and disease. Other people diedfrom the cruel punishments of the guards; beatings and torture. Typhus, adisease caused by germs carried by flies, was the main disease that spreadthroughout the camps. Even when people were sick, they still continued workingbecause they did not see that sickness meant death. In 1937, 7,000 Jewswere in camps. By 1938, 10,000 more Jews were sent to camps. Jews weretaken to camps if they expressed negative feelings about the government, if theymarried a non-Jew, if they were sick (mentally or physically), or if they had apolice record. (4) When someone escaped from the camp, all the prisonersin that group were shot. Nazis, who claimed that they did not necessarily hateJews, but wanted to preserve the Aryan race, seemed to enjoy making the Jewssuffer. They also felt that slavery was better than killing their prisoners. Gold fillings, wedding bands, jewelry, shoes and clothing were taken fromthe prisoners when they first entered the camps and were sold. Surroundingsome of the camps in Poland was a forest, that the Jews who planned to escapewould flee into. Before the escaped prisoners got very far, they were killed. When the Germans caught a Jew planning a rebellion, and the Jew refused toname his/her associates, the Germans would bring everyone from his/her barracksout and force him/her to watch the Germans mutilate the others. The peoplewho could not run away from the camps dreamt about revolt. Special areas of acamp were set aside for medical experiments. One doctor in a medical unitperformed an experiment in sterilization. He injected a substance intowomens ovaries to sterilize them. The injection resulted in temperature andinflammation of the ovaries. Joseph Mengels, one of the most notoriousNazi doctors, hummed opera tunes when selecting among the new arrivals thevictims for the gas chambers or medical experiments. His women victims forsterilization were usually 20-30 years of age. Other experiments includedputting inmates into high pressure chambers to test the effects of altitude onpilots. Some inmates were frozen to (5) determine the best way to revive frozenGerman soldiers. (6) DEATH C AMPS The first death camp, Chelmno, wasset up in Poland on December 8, 1941. This was five weeks before the WannseeConference at which time the final solution was planned out. Usually,the death camps were part of existing camps, but some new ones were just set upfor this purpose. When the prisoners first arrived at the camps, those sent tothe left were transferred to death camps. When Jews entered the death camps,their suitcases, baby bottles, shawls, and eyeglasses were taken and were sold. Once in the death camps the prisoners were again divided. Women were sent to oneside to have their hair shaven and the men to the other. They were allsent to the showers, naked with a bar of soap, so as to deceive them intobelieving that they were truly going into a shower. Most people smelled theburning bodies and knew the truth. There were six death camps; Chelmno,Treblinka, Auschwitz (Birkenau), Sobibor, Maidanek, and Belzec. These camps usedgas from the shower heads to murder their victims. A seventh death camp,Mauthausen, used a method called extermination through labor. (7)AUSCHWITZ Auschwitz, located in Poland, was Nazi Germanys largest concentrationcamp. It was established by order of Himmler on April 27, 1940. At first, it wassmall because it was a work camp for Polish and Soviet prisoners of war. Itbecame a death camp in 1941. Auschwitz was divided into three areas:Auschwitz 1 was the camp commanders headquarters and administrative offices. Auschwitz 2 was called Birkenau and it was the death camp with forty gaschambers. Auschwitz 3 was a slave labor camp. On the gate ofAuschwitz was a sign in German which read, Arbeit macht frei, which means workmakes you free. Auschwitz included camp sites a few miles away from themain complex. At these sites, slave labor was used to kill the people. Theworking conditions were so poor that death was a sure result. In March26, 1942, Auschwitz took women prisoners, but after August 16, 1942 the womenwere housed in Birkenau. When the Jews arrived at Auschwitz, they were metwith threats and promises. If they didnt do exactly as they were told,they would be beaten, deprived of food, or shot. From time to time, they wouldbe assured that things would get better. The daily meals in Auschwitzconsisted of watery soup, distributed once a day, with a small piece of bread. In addition, they got extra allowance consisting of 3/4 ounce of margarine, alittle piece of cheese or a spoonful of watered jam. Everyone in the camp was somalnourished that if a drop of soup spilled (8) prisoners would rush from allsides to see if they could get some of the soup. Because of the badsanitary conditions, the inadequate diet, the hard labor and other torturousconditions in Auschwitz, most people died after a few months of theirarrival. The few people who managed to stay alive for longer were the oneswho were assigned better jobs. The prisoners slept on three shelves ofwooden slabs with six of these units to each tier. They had to stand for hoursin the wet and mud during role call, which was twice a day. Some people thoughtthe reason hundreds of people died, daily, was because when it rained they laywith wet clothes in their bunks. In place of toilets, there were woodenboards with round holes and underneath them concretes troughs. Two or threehundred people could sit on them at once. While they were on these troughs theywere watched in order to assure that they did not stay too long. There wasno toilet paper, so the prisoners used linings of jackets. If they didnt havethey might steal from someone else. The smells were horrible because therewasnt enough water to clean the Latrine, the so called bathrooms. When peoplewere loaded onto trains to be taken to the gas chambers, they were told thatthey were being resettled in labor camps. This was one of the manylies told. It was impossible for the Jews to make out which building was the gaschambers because they looked presentable from the outside, just like any otherbuilding. Over the gas chambers were well kept lawns with flowers borderingthem. When the Jews were being taken to the gas chambers, (9) they thought theywere being taken to the baths. While people were waiting for them baths,a group of women prisoners, dressed in navy skirts and white shirts, played verydelightful music. In Auschwitz, Jews were killed by something calledLykon B. It was hydrogen cyanide which was poured through the ceiling of the gaschambers and turned into gas. The S.S. commanders of Auschwitz preferred LykonB. because it worked fast. At first, there were five gas chambers inAuschwitz, the procedure for gassing was as follows : About 900 peoplewere gassed at a time. First they undressed in a nearby room. Then, they weretold to go into another room to be deloused, They filled the gas chambers likepacked like sardines. After a few minutes of horrible suffering, the victimsdied. The bodies were then transported to ovens where they were burned.The gas chambers were not large enough to execute great numbers at a time, socrematoria were built. The crematoria would burn 2,000 bodies in less than 24hours. An elevator would take them from the dressing room to the crematoria. Gay marriage EssayGold fillings, wedding bands, jewelry, shoes and clothing were taken fromthe prisoners when they first entered the camps and were sold. Surroundingsome of the camps in Poland was a forest, that the Jews who planned to escapewould flee into. Before the escaped prisoners got very far, they were killed. When the Germans caught a Jew planning a rebellion, and the Jew refused toname his/her associates, the Germans would bring everyone from his/her barracksout and force him/her to watch the Germans mutilate the others. The peoplewho could not run away from the camps dreamt about revolt. Special areas of acamp were set aside for medical experiments. One doctor in a medical unitperformed an experiment in sterilization. He injected a substance intowomens ovaries to sterilize them. The injection resulted in temperature andinflammation of the ovaries. Joseph Mengels, one of the most notoriousNazi doctors, hummed opera tunes when selecting among the new arrivals thevictims for the gas chambers or medical experiments. His women victims forsterilization were usually 20-30 years of age. Other experiments includedputting inmates into high pressure chambers to test the effects of altitude onpilots. Some inmates were frozen to (5) determine the best way to revive frozenGerman soldiers. (6) DEATH C AMPS The first death camp, Chelmno, wasset up in Poland on December 8, 1941. This was five weeks before the WannseeConference at which time the final solution was planned out. Usually,the death camps were part of existing camps, but some new ones were just set upfor this purpose. When the prisoners first arrived at the camps, those sent tothe left were transferred to death camps. When Jews entered the death camps,their suitcases, baby bottles, shawls, and eyeglasses were taken and were sold. Once in the death camps the prisoners were again divided. Women were sent to oneside to have their hair shaven and the men to the other. They were allsent to the showers, naked with a bar of soap, so as to deceive them intobelieving that they were truly going into a shower. Most people smelled theburning bodies and knew the truth. There were six death camps; Chelmno,Treblinka, Auschwitz (Birkenau), Sobibor, Maidanek, and Belzec. These camps usedgas from the shower heads to murder their victims. A seventh death camp,Mauthausen, used a method called extermination through labor. (7)AUSCHWITZ Auschwitz, located in Poland, was Nazi Germanys largest concentrationcamp. It was established by order of Himmler on April 27, 1940. At first, it wassmall because it was a work camp for Polish and Soviet prisoners of war. Itbecame a death camp in 1941. Auschwitz was divided into three areas:Auschwitz 1 was the camp commanders headquarters and administrative offices. Auschwitz 2 was called Birkenau and it was the death camp with forty gaschambers. Auschwitz 3 was a slave labor camp. On the gate ofAuschwitz was a sign in German which read, Arbeit macht frei, which means workmakes you free. Auschwitz included camp sites a few miles away from themain complex. At these sites, slave labor was used to kill the people. Theworking conditions were so poor that death was a sure result. In March26, 1942, Auschwitz took women prisoners, but after August 16, 1942 the womenwere housed in Birkenau. When the Jews arrived at Auschwitz, they were metwith threats and promises. If they didnt do exactly as they were told,they would be beaten, deprived of food, or shot. From time to time, they wouldbe assured that things would get better. The daily meals in Auschwitzconsisted of watery soup, distributed once a day, with a small piece of bread. In addition, they got extra allowance consisting of 3/4 ounce of margarine, alittle piece of cheese or a spoonful of watered jam. Everyone in the camp was somalnourished that if a drop of soup spilled (8) prisoners would rush from allsides to see if they could get some of the soup. Because of the badsanitary conditions, the inadequate diet, the hard labor and other torturousconditions in Auschwitz, most people died after a few months of theirarrival. The few people who managed to stay alive for longer were the oneswho were assigned better jobs. The prisoners slept on three shelves ofwooden slabs with six of these units to each tier. They had to stand for hoursin the wet and mud during role call, which was twice a day. Some people thoughtthe reason hundreds of people died, daily, was because when it rained they laywith wet clothes in their bunks. In place of toilets, there were woodenboards with round holes and underneath them concretes troughs. Two or threehundred people could sit on them at once. While they were on these troughs theywere watched in order to assure that they did not stay too long. There wasno toilet paper, so the prisoners used linings of jackets. If they didnt havethey might steal from someone else. The smells were horrible because therewasnt enough water to clean the Latrine, the so called bathrooms. When peoplewere loaded onto trains to be taken to the gas chambers, they were told thatthey were being resettled in labor camps. This was one of the manylies told. It was impossible for the Jews to make out which building was the gaschambers because they looked presentable from the outside, just like any otherbuilding. Over the gas chambers were well kept lawns with flowers borderingthem. When the Jews were being taken to the gas chambers, (9) they thought theywere being taken to the baths. While people were waiting for them baths,a group of women prisoners, dressed in navy skirts and white shirts, played verydelightful music. In Auschwitz, Jews were killed by something calledLykon B. It was hydrogen cyanide which was poured through the ceiling of the gaschambers and turned into gas. The S.S. commanders of Auschwitz preferred LykonB. because it worked fast. At first, there were five gas chambers inAuschwitz, the procedure for gassing was as follows : About 900 peoplewere gassed at a time. First they undressed in a nearby room. Then, they weretold to go into another room to be deloused, They filled the gas chambers likepacked like sardines. After a few minutes of horrible suffering, the victimsdied. The bodies were then transported to ovens where they were burned.The gas chambers were not large enough to execute great numbers at a time, socrematoria were built. The crematoria would burn 2,000 bodies in less than 24hours. An elevator would take them from the dressing room to the crematoria. It took 30 minutes to kill 2,500 victims, but close to 24 hours to burnthe bodies. Many Jews and non Jews tried to escape from Auschwitz. Somesucceeded. Of course they wanted to inform the world of what was going on. Thosewho escaped wrote descriptions of the horrors they suffered. Information spreadto many countries, yet no countries seemed to do anything to help the situation. In fact, as the war progressed, the number of prisoners increased. Intotal, between 1.5 and 3.5 million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz between the(10) years 1940 and 1945. Where were our brothers in America when millionsof Jews died? (11) CONCLUSION The Nazis, under Hitler, organized the destructionof the Jews. Why they did it is unknown. Perhaps it was because of a history oftension between the Christians and Jews, or perhaps, because Hitler needed ascapegoat for Germanys problems. People throughout history have been murdered;but never as many people as during the Holocaust in such a short period of time. 1/3 of all the Jews in the world were eliminated. The estimated total issomewhere around six million. This number included Jews from all over Europe. There were also 500,000 non- Jews murdered. Hitlers method of killing thejews and other undesirable people was first by torture and then by plain murder. In the early days of his leadership, he took away their rights as citizens andthen as people. They were treated like slaves and lived like animals. After1942, his goal was to exterminate all Jewish and unpure people. ManyJews were killed before that date, but they were a small number compared to themass murdering of the Holocaust. We Must Never Forget are thewords that every Jew must remember. By not forgetting, we are preventing anotherholocaust from occurring. We are also letting the entire world know and rememberthe millions of loved ones lost in the horrible killing that we call theholocaust. (12) BIBLIOGRAPHY Bauer, Yehuda. A History of the Holocaust. NewYork: Franklin Watts, 1982. Chartock, Roselle. The Holocaust Years: Society onTrial. New York: Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith, 1978. Gilbert, Martin. The Holocaust A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. NewYork: Holt, Reinhardt Winston, 1985. Meltzer, Milton. Never to Forget theJews of the Holocaust. New York: Harper Row, 1976. Rossel, Seymour. TheHolocaust. New York