Cause of the Holocaust

The Holocaust took millions of lives, people of all ages. This catastrophe is still impacting people 75 years later. In this, Jews and others were snatched out of their homes and told to bring valuables, thinking they were going to a delightful place. Instead, they would line up and a Nazi would point left or right. If pointed to the right, then they were spared and transmitted to concentration camps. If pointed to the left you were transported to gas chambers. Unknowingly to their death.

If spared then they would get whipped, starved, and worked endlessly. They had tiny sleeping chambers, and the bodies of others that perished were abandoned on the ground in mounds.

To begin with, Hitler hated jews, saying that they were the root of all evil. Hitler hated Jews because he blamed them for losing the war. According to“Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?” Hitler would often state that he was disappointed in his half jew heritage. Before he came into power, Hitler was a painter living in Vienna. (why did Hitler hate jews) Although he did not seem in the beginning to be cold-hearted to jews, he would later come out to say that Jews were an evil race wanting world domination. Hitler joined world war one which made him feel powerful to be part of something. According to “why did Hitler hate jews? When Germany surrendered Hitler was in a hospital bed his eyes hurt due to a poison gas attack and when he heard of the surrender his eyes started to go black again. (why did Hitler hate jews).

When he eventually came to power legally on January 30th, 1933 he then started Jew propaganda, posters, and newsletters. These papers listed the reason why german is still in much debt because of Jews. the hate did not just include jews but anyone who was supposedly weak as in having mental or physical disabilities. Even as this was true he still targeted jews and as the hatred for Jews increased in 1935 and the Jews were imaged as undesirable disgusting human beings. according to “holocaust Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,” Berenbaum Michael stated “the assault against the Jews began on April 1 with a boycott of Jewish businesses. A week later the Nazis dismissed Jews from the civil service and by the end of the month the participation of Jews in German schools was restricted by a quota.”(Michael). On may 10th the Nazis started burning books. Little did the Jews know this would be the start of a 13-year long catastrophe.

However, Jews did not give in easily struggling to keep their religion. Later this went awry because of Kristallnacht. This night is often called broken glass because they broke all the windows in Jewish businesses. Kristallnacht took place from November 9-10th 1938. This riot meant destroying over 8,500 Jewish buildings. According to “Holocaust Encyclopædia Britannica” Berenbaum Michael stated “ 30,000 Jewish men between the ages of 16 and 60 were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Police stood by as the violence often the action of neighbors, not strangers occurred. Firemen were present not to protect the synagogues but to ensure that the flames did not spread to Aryan property.”(Berenbaum Michael) The event caused Jews to quickly lose hope that they had a home in Germany.

On the 12 of November, they were forced to clean up the trash that was made of the horrific night. As the following weeks/months came along they weren’t allowed to go into certain buildings, would have to walk on certain sides of the road, not allowed to go on trains, they would have to wear the Star of David, Jews could not own business, and Jewish children were not allowed to go to the same school as non-Jewish germans. Hitler was not satisfied with this and decided to make a final solution. In this solution, he would ‘cure ‘ Germany of Jews. Hiter’s twisted solution later caused an onslaught. When Hitler invaded Poland, making the largest and camp with the most killed prisoners. Soon, the final solution took place.

Eventually, Hitler thought the only way to make Germany great again was if they killed jews. Being consistent on the fact that jews needed to die for german’s sins. Every jew shop that was plastered on it does not come from here. Soon jews were being dragged out of their homes. Before they were sent to the camps Jews, gypsies, and germans not supporting Hitler and the nazis would often be held in ghettos. Ghettos are small blocks surrounded by a wall to keep them the people in. In these ghettos they received little to no food, the houses were small and they had old clothes. Over 500,000 people died from diseases or starvation. A ghetto could be pointed out by signs on the street. The ghettos would be held outside of the town they were in. Gypsies and Surviving Jews of the ghettos would be sent on a train, that would send them to concentration camps. Unaware Jews in the ghettos still had faith that this terror would end soon.

However, sometimes Jews were sent directly to camps instead of going to ghettos. They would be taken from their homes bringing suitcases of the most valuable possessions. Then they would go on a crowded train full of jews, germans, gypsies, etc. They would be on this train for weeks until arriving. Once they arrived they would witness terrible sights. According to “Auschwitz Survivors Recall Harrowing and Heroic Moments From the Death ” Billy Harvey(a survivor) stated that “smoke was going all over. We didn’t know where the smoke was coming from, but we found out soon enough—the smoke was coming from the crematorium. They were burning—burning between 12,000 and 13,000 people a day.“ According to “Auschwitz Survivors Recall Harrowing and Heroic Moments From the Death ” Mindu Hornick stated “There were bodies everywhere, and there were these watchtowers with machine guns pointing at us…this terrible grey ash falling around us. There were the barking dogs, viciously walking around, there were loudspeakers always and these SS men walking around, with shiny boots and guns on their back. I mean, we were just frightened out of our wits.” (Mindu Hornick)

You were placed in a line and a Nazi would point left or right. If pointed to the right then you were spared and transmitted to concentration camps. If pointed to the left you were transmitted to gas chambers. Unknowingly to your death. According to “Auschwitz Survivors Recall Harrowing and Heroic Moments From the Death ” Edith Edgar stated “So Doctor Mengele points my mother to go this way, and my sister and I the other. I followed my mum, and…the very person who annihilates my family grabs me, and there is eye contact and tells me, ‘You’re gonna see your mother very soon, she’s just gonna take a shower.’” (Edith Edgar) So many children were unaware of the torture they would endure the fact that they would most likely never see their parents/children again.

To be mothers were in danger and were mostly sent to gas chambers. Some mothers would hide the fact that they were soon baring children not knowing if it was bad or good to do. “According to Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope.” Holden Wendy stated “roll-call area where they waited barefoot in cold, wet clay for over an hour before facing their second ‘Selektion’ by the man who would later become known as ‘The Angel of Death’. to ask if they were expecting a child. When it was her turn, Priska Löwenbeinová had only a few seconds to decide how to respond to the smiling officer with the gap between his front teeth. She didn’t hesitate. Shaking her head quickly, the accomplished linguist replied to his question in German: ‘Nein.’”(Holden Wendy.)

The doctor Josef Mengele was one of the main Nazis Who took a post in Auschwitz. He would point left or right in Auschwitz when the roll call. He was often seen smiling, seeming extra nice through his evil, Melish personnel. One day he came across identical twins with this inhuman experiment that started in 1940. According to “Josef Mengele, Angel of Death” it states “Mengele was almost fanatical about drawing blood from twins, mostly identical twins. He is reported to have bled some to death this way. Once Mengele’s assistant rounded up 14 pairs of Gypsy twins during the night. Mengele placed them on his polished marble dissection table and put them to sleep.

He then proceeded to inject chloroform into their hearts, killing them instantaneously. Mengele then began dissecting and meticulously noting each and every piece of the twins’ bodies.” Twins often sent to separate sections of Auschwitz were controlled by Mengele According to “Why the Nazis Were Obsessed With Twins.”Blakemore, Erin stated. “They were not selected for the gas chambers, lived in separate quarters, and were given additional food and medical care. In exchange, though, they became the unwilling subjects of inhumane experiments at the hands of Mengele, who gained a reputation as the “Angel of Death” for his power, his mercurial temper and his cruelty.” Mengele did this because he believed that twins had the same genetics. The fact that he thought that they had the same genetic one twin would be experimented on endlessly. The other twin was used for restraint. If one twin deceased they were still used to examine. He would often hold exp like lethal injections, removal of organisms, incestuous impregnations, and more. Towards the end of the holocaust when gas became more expensive he told them to put children in ovens or burn them alive. These experiments left only 200 of 3000 twins breathing after Auschwitz was liberated.

In conclusion, the holocaust that a horrific event that took millions of lives. This event shouldn’t be taken lightly because it took millions of lives. Most of the survivors weigh under 100lb. After liberation, people often killed themselves, if they went to Auschwitz took off the number, or went to therapy. As humans, we should remember this and never forget the lives it took because of one crazy human being.

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