Tania Salazar

Comp 104
4/22/14
The Holocaust

The Holocaust was a massacre of innocent people known as the Jews. The time period in
which the Holocaust occurred was from 1941-1945. In Europe in 1933 the Jewish population
stood at over nine million (Intro. To Holocaust). However, it is estimated that only about three
million survived after the Holocaust. More than half the population was killed thanks to one man
named Hitler. He had a terrible racial hatred towards the Jews that was sickening. The Jews to him
were a threat to growing Germany. Hitlers goal was to exterminate all the Jews from Europe and
leave the superior race. Hitler committed many evil acts in order to exterminate the Jews. The Jews
suffered greatly during the Holocaust. The Holocaust is an event that will mark history forever and
will certainly never be forgotten. The Jews lives during the Holocaust was full of abuse and
suffering because of three main reasons, which were because Jews had to emigrate to live in
hiding, the treatment in concentration camps, and having to live with the racial discrimination.
Before the Holocaust even began many Jews were beginning to emigrate. They were
forced to flee from Europe due to discrimination and anti-Semitism (Jewish Federation).Many
Jews emigrated to Palestine, the United States, and England. However, small amounts of Jews
immigrated to other countries such as Argentina and Africa. You can almost say Jews were like
emigrating birds during the winter flying away from their death. After Hitlers leadership Jewish
emigration took a leap. Hitler began to restrict Jews from Germany and neighboring countries. As
a result, many Jews were fleeing to Palestine. More than "60,000 Jews moved to Palestine during
that time of emigrating. Palestine was becoming too populated that The U.S. had to open their
doors to the Jews (Jewish Federation). Approximately 27,300 refugees of Jews came to the U.S.
However, the 1924 quota limited the number of people; therefore, many who tried to get out of
Europe had no place to go.
Since, there was no escape from Europe for some Jews they had to go into hiding.
Sometimes families would just send their children into hiding, but some children with their
families would go into hiding. They would get cut off from the world for months even years.
Sometimes the families had to move from household to household because of problems they
would confront. In some cases, households where the families would stay would turn them in of
fear they would get caught for helping them (Jewish Life). In order not to be caught they had to
hide in clever places. Jews would find many different locations to go into hiding. The Jews would
Hide in barns, cellars, and built in secret rooms (Jewish Life). Sometimes not even those
locations were safe enough and they would get caught. If the whole family did not go into hiding
Jew children would sometimes be sent away to live with other families. They would do this to
make them blend in with other non Jewish children. Jew children were like chameleons wherever
they went to they had to blend into their surroundings.
Many Jews had go into hiding in order to not to be sent to concentration camps. One of the
biggest reasons why Jews went into hiding was because they wanted to keep their families safe and
together. Hiding was not an easy task for many Jews. When in hiding they struggled greatly to get
by every day. The Jews had to be very careful that no one noticed they were going away because
they could be reported and sent to concentration camps. When the Jews went into hiding they
knew that they would only be able to take with them the few necessary things they would need
(Seyareid). It was not an easy task for many of them because they would have to leave some of
their most precious possessions behind. During hiding, the Jews had to be extra careful and quiet
that no one heard, or saw them (Seyareid). The Jews couldnt leave the hiding spot in fear that
they would get caught (Seyareid). They suffered in hiding because they had to live with the fear
that they would get caught and horrific consequences that came after. Not to mention, that
sometimes they ran out of things they needed and had to figure out a way to get those things
without getting caught. The Jews lives hung from a short string every day.
Concentration camps were the number one thing the Jews feared the most. They knew that
if caught in hiding they would go straight to a camp. Well, even if they were not in hiding all Jews
were sentenced the camp life. The Nazis built two kinds of concentration camps which were labor
and death camps (Just a Normal Day). In both camps the Jews were forced to become hard
laborers. However, if they were sent to death camps they were they directly sentenced to their
death. At death camps Jews were most often killed with poisonous gases. According to
Diggerfortruth.wordpress.com, the death camps were simply containment camps for the
destructive anti-social Jews that were strangling Germany. The camps had sufficient food,
theaters, swimming pools, football pitches, and even prostitutes. However, there is sufficient
evidence out there that proves these anti-Holocaustics are wrong. The Nazis used many techniques
proven that killed thousands of Jews. Some Jews were even forced to pick up the dead bodies of
their fellow inmates. The Jews suffered many abuses on them. Some Jews were used for cruel
experiments by Dr. Josef Mengele (Just a Normal Day). For example, he would inject needles with
dye into their eyes to try to change their eye color. Most of his test subjects were children, which
made it even worse. However, even though not much proof exists women were also sexually
abused. Jewish women were raped by Nazis soldiers, but also by their liberators. The abuse just in
general to the whole population was astonishing.
Jews suffered greatly in the concentration camps as you can see. Many Jews that were
sent to concentration camps never even came out because they died in them. The living conditions
in the concentration camps were not even livable. In some cases, others might argue that Hitler
cared about the conditions for the Jews in the work camps (Jewish Federation). People tend to
argue that Hitler never really wanted to kill any Jews. Those people argue that we look at Hitler as
a demon because it has been shoved down our throat 24/7. They say that if Hitler really had wanted
to kill the Jews he would have mentioned it in his speeches, manuscripts, and in his book Mein
Kampf. No matter how much destruction he had observed the Jews commit to his people; he had
enough self-discipline and ethical code not to take revenge. If this had been true millions of Jews
would have survived his torturous concentration camps. Depending in which camp they were in
[many] prisoners [were forced to] live in old brick barracks (Auschwitz-Birkenau). At least
several hundred tree-tier wooden bunk beds were installed in each building (Auschwitz-
Birkenau). This caused much overcrowding in the sleeping areas making it even more
uncomfortable for the Jew prisoners. There were two types of barracks, brick and wooden,
[which] housed prisoners (Auschwitz- Birkenau). The Jews sleeping areas were done without
insulation and on a marshy ground. The barracks lacked any true heating; nor did they contain
sanitary facilities (Auschwitz- Birkenau). Apart from that, the Jews had to suffer through
dampness, leaky roofs, and the fouling of straw mattresses and straw mattresses from prisoners
suffering diarrhea made difficult living conditions worse. Then their barracks were filled with
vermin and rats that crawled everywhere. The Jews were not even treated like humans, or animals
they were treated even worse like they were not from this earth.
Apart from the living conditions in the concentration camps the Jews at the camps were not
fed correctly. To go with hunger for who knows how many days or weeks was a torture for the
Jews. Prisoners at the camp received meals three times a day: morning, noon, and evening
(Auschwitz- Birkenau). The nutritional value of the food included the official nutritional norms in
the Nazi concentration camps. Depending what work the Jew prisoners did [For example,] less
physically demanding labor assignments received approximately 1300 calories per day
(Auschwitz-Birkenau). However, while those engaged in hard labor received approximately 1700
[calories] (Auschwitz- Birkenau).Still Hitler and Nazi soldiers expected them to work 12 hours
straight. After several weeks of such starvation rations in the camp, most prisoners began to
experience organic deterioration that led- to, extreme physical exhaustion that ended in death. Or
sometimes if the Jews were too weak to work they would just get shot because they were
worthless. If any Jew were to not get up when they were suppose to for work because they did not
want to they would also get shot. If they were ill and could not work because of that illness they got
shot. Pretty much any little excuse could have been used to shoot a Jew and no punishment was
brought upon the Nazis soldier shooter. The suffering they suffered without getting proper
nutrition must have been horrible for the Jews. Let alone the abuse they were receiving from the
hard labor they had to do and barely any food afterwards. The Jews were not receiving the energy
from food they needed in order to do the work they were ordered to do by the Nazi soldiers.
Apart from the suffering they received in concentration camps many Jews suffered having
to live day to day life with racial hatred. Many of us have seen in sometime of our lives the movie
The Diary of Anne Frank. This movie depicts the racial hatred that the Jews had to face before they
were forced out of their homes. According to The Diary of Anne Frank, when Hitler was taking
over countries, many of their stores and places in town forbid Jews from going in. They would
paint the Star of David with a line going through it on their windows to let the Jews know they
were not allowed in. The things the Jews use to do day to day was becoming impossible to do.
They could not shop in their regular stores due to the racial hatred towards them. Or like Anne in
the movie could not go to the movie theater to watch movies, which she loved to do.They went as
far as shown in The Diary of Anne Frank, to keep Jew children away from non-Jewish children in
schools. Jew kids were sent to special schools where only Jew children went. They were not
allowed to go to a non-Jewish school, which was abuse to the poor children. They left friends
behind and probably many did not know the exact reason why they were being taken apart. From
the Movie Anne definitely did not know why she was being separated from her school and friends.
All she felt was confusion and cried about it asking why the Jews were being targeted.
Another form of discrimination the Jews faced in everyday life was having to wear Davids
Star on their clothing. The Diary of Anne Frank depicts this discrimination well because in one
scene Annes family had to register to receive those stars. Once, they had it they had to be sewn to
their clothing. For example, much of the clothing the star was sewed onto were coats. However, if
they had no coats then it would be the shirts they wore. The Nazis used this form to discriminate to
outcast the Jews from the public. Wearing the star was also a way to distort the pride of the Star of
David to the Jews that was sacred to them (Jewish Federation). It was also a technique used to
keep the Jews from trying to sneak into a place they were not allowed. Since, the Jews were easy
targets to spot on the street they could be taunted and racially abused at. In other words, they were
publicly out casted from the rest of the population in which they lived with. It was almost like the
Jews were holding big signs in front of them saying, Im a Jew and Im worth nothing. The Jews
could not live peacefully; they had to be on their feet at all times. If the Jews werent alert at all
times it could cost them their life or the little liberty they had left.
It was not enough hate for Hitler and his Nazis to outcast Jews from the rest of community,
or keep them away from businesses because he also took the Jews private owned businesses from
them. As the Germans were taking over countries they also overtook the Jews prize possessions,
which were their businesses. The Aryanisation of Jewish business was a Nazi priority from
1933 (Jewish property). The businesses the Jews worked so hard for were being taken away in a
flash. Jews were soon subjected by Germans to surrender or to sell their property to non-Jews
(Jewish Property). If Jews didnt comply with these orders their businesses were going to suffer
either way. Boycotting happened against Jew owned businesses that resulted in sales, revenues,
and customers [reducing] (Jewish Property). The Nazis also exerted pressure on suppliers or
wholesalers, which left many Jewish businesses without stock. These pressures made many
Jewish businesses unviable and thousands ran at a loss or slipped into bankruptcy (Jewish
Property). The Nazis and Hitler would stop at nothing to take over all the Jews Businesses.By
January 1933 there were around 100,000 Jewish-owned businesses registered in Germany; within
five years around two-thirds of these businesses had changed hands and were no longer owned by
Jews (Jewish Property). The Germans had succeeded in taking away most of the Jew businesses.
This form of discrimination against the Jews was probably the hardest for the Jews with
businesses. It did not matter how many years they had, had that business they were going to have to
give it up. The Jews were treated like cockroaches in this situation because they got stepped all
over by the Hitler and his Nazis.
The Holocaust was one of the worst genocides the world has seen over the years. The Jews
suffered many abuses for four long years. The Jews had three main causes of suffering, which were
because they had to emigrate to go into hiding, the treatment in the concentration camps, and
because of the racial discrimination they faced. The Jews who did survive can still recall their
terrible experiences in the camps. Nothing can ever take back the abuse and hurt the Jews felt
during the Holocaust. Many innocent lives were lost in this historic event and will never be
forgotten. Although some people may deny that the Holocaust even happened there is sufficient
proof out there that it did. The Holocaust will forever be one of the most important unforgotten
historic events in world history.