Research Paper

During the times in 1939 to 1945 major things that molded this world into what it is today happened. In this period of time, the great event named the Holocaust occurred. It started in 1939 and ended (in Europe) in 1945. Times were very tough for all but especially for the Jewish people because of Hitler. During the Holocaust about six million Jews were murdered in many different ways. Some unlike others may have been lucky. For example, Helga Edelstein Stummer. She was very lucky and didn’t have to go through what others did.
Born on August 17th, 1926, Helga was born in and lived in Berlin, Germany. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and grandmother. Her and her sister Lotte were very close as children and throughout their childhood. At the age of 11, Helga’s mother passed away of cancer. As a child, times were hard, and when the Nazi occupation began, they were even harder. Hitler came in power and Helga hated him. Her biggest dream was to save the world from Hitler. Once he came in power, everything went from bad, to worse. On November 9th and 10th, 1938, Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass befell. 14,000 synagougs were trashed, about 91 Jews were murdered, and about 30,000 Jewish men were imprisoned. The German troops finally invaded Poland in 1939, and World War II begins with a bang.
During World War II, the Jews were put through many different kinds of things. They were put through concentration camps and many were killed. Throughout the war Helga, like many people was having a tough time. Her father passed away and her grandmother was sent to a concentration camp. Knowing how old her grandmother was, Helga automatically knew that her grandmother would not survive. Along with her sister, Helga was lucky enough to leave Germany to England before the worst part of the war actually happened! They got to England by the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport was a rescue that brought thousands of Jewish children to Great Britain between 1938 and 1940. Lotte left for England in December 1938 and then a little later, Helga went to join her in July 1939. Both girls lived with a guarantor which is a person who was responsible for the children from the Kindertransport. When they were in England, Helga and Lotte unfortunately didn’t live with each other. They still kept in touch by writing. They both couldn’t wait until the war would end.
By the end of the war, about six million Jews were dead. Hitler had total power over most of Europe. The Jewish population was decreasing rapidly. Once the war was coming to an end, things started to get slightly better. Hitler committed suicide April 30th, 1945 and a little bit after that the war was over.
Winston Churchill announced victory in Europe and VE day started to be celebrated. Street parties were held all over Europe. People were released from concentration camps and Jews could come out hiding. Helga got married and she continued to live her life in England.
The seven year war of World War II was finally over. From September 1st, 1939 to September 2nd, 1945, the world was going through one of its toughest moments. After all of the fighting and disagreeing, on May in 1945 the war officially ended in Europe. Although people had to build everything back to what it was before the war. The economy was collapsed and more than 40 million people were dead. Europe was very poor but since then, it has done a great job and it has improved a lot.