The Horror Of The Holocaust
HOLOCAUST
Introduction
1. The Holocaust was one of the world’s darkest hours, a mass murder conducted in the shadows of the world’s most deadly war. The German government, controlled by the brutal Nazi Party and its leader Adolf Hitler, killed between five and six million Jews who lived in Europe. These were not the only victims, however. The Germans also tried to exterminate Europe’s Gypsies, or Roma, and they targeted other groups, as well.
2. When all was said and done, 11 million people were murdered as a result of Germany’s fanatical racial policies. It didn’t matter their age, millions were infants and children. It didn’t matter their social status or educational background, they were doctors and lawyers, laborers and tradesmen. It …show more content…
Despite the overwhelming persecution and death that surrounded them, hundreds of thousands of Jews survived the Holocaust. Some survived thanks to the heroics of others non-Jews who took great risks to help their neighbors, friends, and even strangers in need. Some survived out of their own will to live, even when there was little to live for. And some, though broken in body and spirit, were liberated by the Allied Forces at the end of World War II. These stories of survival provide the only glimpse of “goodness” that comes from the terrible story of the Holocaust. It proves that, even in history’s darkest hour, there was a glimmer of hope; that in a world that seemed to be falling apart, good still had the capacity to overcome …show more content…
Jewish resistance against the Nazis was both planned and spontaneous, armed and unarmed. It took many forms and met with varying degrees of success and failure. Many Jews resisted persecution by escaping from Europe as the Nazis came to power. Those who were trapped survived by smuggling food, medicine, and other necessities. As the Jews realized that the Nazis’ ultimate plan for them was death, they turned to more violent forms of resistance. They formed guerrilla groups and organized ghetto and camp uprisings. One of the largest revolts occurred at the Warsaw Ghetto in January 1943. When the Germans entered the ghetto to take several thousand people away, small groups of Jews with smuggled weapons attacked. After four days of fighting, the Nazis withdrew, taking fewer Jews than they had intended. They returned, however, in April of that same year and tried to remove the remaining Jews. This time, the resisters greeted the Nazis with homemade bombs and additional weapons. They fought from bunkers and sewers, evading the Germans for 27 days. Eventually, the superior German army brought in tanks and machine guns and killed many of the 60,000 Jews who remained in the
Introduction
1. The Holocaust was one of the world’s darkest hours, a mass murder conducted in the shadows of the world’s most deadly war. The German government, controlled by the brutal Nazi Party and its leader Adolf Hitler, killed between five and six million Jews who lived in Europe. These were not the only victims, however. The Germans also tried to exterminate Europe’s Gypsies, or Roma, and they targeted other groups, as well.
2. When all was said and done, 11 million people were murdered as a result of Germany’s fanatical racial policies. It didn’t matter their age, millions were infants and children. It didn’t matter their social status or educational background, they were doctors and lawyers, laborers and tradesmen. It …show more content…
Despite the overwhelming persecution and death that surrounded them, hundreds of thousands of Jews survived the Holocaust. Some survived thanks to the heroics of others non-Jews who took great risks to help their neighbors, friends, and even strangers in need. Some survived out of their own will to live, even when there was little to live for. And some, though broken in body and spirit, were liberated by the Allied Forces at the end of World War II. These stories of survival provide the only glimpse of “goodness” that comes from the terrible story of the Holocaust. It proves that, even in history’s darkest hour, there was a glimmer of hope; that in a world that seemed to be falling apart, good still had the capacity to overcome …show more content…
Jewish resistance against the Nazis was both planned and spontaneous, armed and unarmed. It took many forms and met with varying degrees of success and failure. Many Jews resisted persecution by escaping from Europe as the Nazis came to power. Those who were trapped survived by smuggling food, medicine, and other necessities. As the Jews realized that the Nazis’ ultimate plan for them was death, they turned to more violent forms of resistance. They formed guerrilla groups and organized ghetto and camp uprisings. One of the largest revolts occurred at the Warsaw Ghetto in January 1943. When the Germans entered the ghetto to take several thousand people away, small groups of Jews with smuggled weapons attacked. After four days of fighting, the Nazis withdrew, taking fewer Jews than they had intended. They returned, however, in April of that same year and tried to remove the remaining Jews. This time, the resisters greeted the Nazis with homemade bombs and additional weapons. They fought from bunkers and sewers, evading the Germans for 27 days. Eventually, the superior German army brought in tanks and machine guns and killed many of the 60,000 Jews who remained in the