Alhussani 1

Laila Alhussani
Hawkins
Modern World History P Period 6
10 April 2016
Liberation: The Holocaust
A shower doesnt necessarily mean a person will come out squeaky-clean, let alone alive.
During the Holocaust, these showers were a nickname for gas chambers which suffocated sixthousand Jews a day in Auschwitz, a leading concentration camp. Liberation was greatly needed
to save the children and the conditions were unsafe.
Firstly, These prisoners were suffering from starvation and disease. (Evidence #1)
This was pre-liberation, but it should be stated. This is why other countries wanted to liberate the
concentration camps. Secondly, The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center
and concentration camp, in January 1945. (Evidence #1) This event took place fourteen
months before World War II ended. Albeit signing a no-violence contract with Germany, the
Soviet Union walked in and ended terror for anyone not of the Aryan race. The land of the free
did their part as well, US forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near
Weimar, Germany, on April 11, 1945, a few days after the Nazis began evacuating the
camp. (Evidence #1) Both Auschwitz and Buchenwald were on the border of Germany, also
known as Grossdeutschland. Strangely enough, Grossdeutschland translates to Gross
Germany. Perhaps this was because the concentration camps had an abundance of dead bodies
lying around.

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As for the children, Few Jewish children survived. In killing centers and
concentration camps across Europe, systematic murder, abuse, disease, and medical
experiments took many lives. (Evidence #2) If this were done to todays children in the
United States, about ninety-nine percent of parents would either move out of the country or strike
against the government. Despite this being morally wrong to kill children in such a brutal
manner, Germany did so. Secondly, When the camp was liberated on January 27, 1945,
Soviet troops found just 451 Jewish children among the 9,000 surviving prisoners.
(Evidence #2) Approximately five percent of Jewish children survived. There were probably
children of gypsies as well, and that statistic of survival is probably lower than five percent.
Thirdly, In the Low Countries, perhaps some 9,000 Jewish children survived. (Evidence
#2) The Low Countries can be inferred to be the areas away from the concentration camps. There
was still suffering because of fear of being taken to the showers.
Firstly, An Austrian-born Jewish U.S. soldier, Fred Bohm, helped liberate
Nordhausen. (Evidence #3) The concentration camps were made to terminate anyone of
Jewish descent. Yet a Jewish soldier freed Nordhausen. Secondly, On April 5, 1945, units from
the American Fourth Armored Division of the Third Army were the first Americans to
discover a camp with prisoners and corpses. (Evidence #3) This was two months and a day
before D-Day. This must have been a surprise for the Americans because Germany was trying to
keep the results of the concentration camps confidential. Finally, When the American Combat
Team 9 of the 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, Sixth Armored Division were led to
Buchenwald by Russians, the camp contained 30,000 prisoners in a pyramid of power, with
German Communists at the top, in the main barracks, and Jews and gypsies at the bottom,
living in Little Camp, in an assortment of barns. (Evidence #3) This is most likely a

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communist-type camp. Also, a barn isnt all that great of a living accommodation, but the
prisoners must have pleased to be living at all.
To conclude, the Holocaust is an event that should never reoccur because it put the entire
world in a state of sadness. The Holocaust claimed about 1.9 billion lives that were documented.
Hitler was a notorious leader who lead Aryan-extremist events that devastated the world at a time
that was already sorrowful.