...war. The war has been generally believed to start on September 1, 1939 and lasting until September 2, 1945. Historians are still arguing about the exact cause of World War II, however the common belief of fault resides on the implementation of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was possessed by a passionate set of ideals to expand Germany, and with his election as German chancellor in January 1933, marked the start of an accelerating progression towards world war. Under the dominion of Hitlers ambitions, Germany invaded western Poland as a result of the intransigence between both countries. World War II ravaged civilians more severely than any previous conflict, and served as the justification for genocidal killings by Nazi Germany, under the order of Hitler. To fully understand how Hitler attained the support of a nation to agree with his ideology, one must know the conditions before the wake of World War II, and how Hitler instilled influential ideas of national pride. In this essay, I intend on showing why it is important to understand a certain aspect of World War II. I will first focus on establishing the importance of knowing what events led Germany into the circumstances it was in prior to World War II. Accordingly, I will then analyze Hitlers ideology, and why it is vital to understand his point of view. That being the case, I will then narrow the focus on the genocidal killing of Jews by Hitler, and emphasize the importance of understanding why this was happening...
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...Halting the Holocaust World War II itself has many incredible topics, but the most important is, indeed, the Holocaust. Countless Jewish lives were lost. Many people believe the Holocaust was inevitable because of Hitler’s institutions on solving the “European Jewish problem”. However, the holocaust was preventable. It could have been stopped if the Spanish Republic had won their civil war in 1939 due to support by an imperial power such as Britain, USA, France, etc., if Britain and France would have finished their war treaty with the Soviets against Germany, and if the Treaty of Versailles wasn’t so badly composed and not screwed over so many nations/countries. First off, the Spanish Republic was a strong force. The Republic was all alone against Nationalists, whom were the superior force. If the Republic had support in the war by an imperial force such as Britain, France, or even the U.S., they would have won. Because of the strong power that Spain held during this time, they were a serious threat. Having a victory over the Nationalists, Spain would have survived. And Spain could have been a serious factor in the war. Given a win, Germany would have been much more cautious in their actions with another...
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...Fascism in Germany The Holocaust was the mass murder or genocide of Jewish people, homosexuals, gypsies, blacks, and other minority groups. When the Holocaust is brought up, the most common question I’ve heard is “how did the German people get away with this, and why did anyone support them?” By the time the holocaust took place, a precedent to anti-Semitism was already historically present. In the late 19th century and early 20th century there was a strong presence of social Darwinism and a eugenicist world view, which declared certain types of people to be biologically better than other inferior groups. After the great depression hit Germany, it led to the idea of euthanizing the mentally ill, or physically disabled to save costs across the country. This opened the idea of euthanasia as a way to solve any problems with unwanted or undesirable people. By the time the Nazi party came to power the idea to preserve the valuable people, and rid the world of undesirable people was already common among society. Hitler was very open about his hatred for the Jewish people, but was careful to proceed slowly while introducing the hatred to fellow members of the Third Reich and other German citizens. It started with limits for the Jewish people, such as careers they could have, places they could go, assets they could have or obtain etc… Then the introduction of the Jewish Ghetto’s took place, to separate the unwanted people from the non-Jewish Germans. Several families would be forced...
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...Shannon Trubatch Imaginary Worlds Assignment 2 ENG201 Behind the Lens: Photographs of the Holocaust Religion has been found to be, time and time again, a factor that influences the actions taken by many, both kind and cruel, across the globe and throughout history. My mother is a Christian, and I grew up in a household celebrating Christian holidays and attending church on Sundays. My father, however, was raised in Long Island in a Jewish home, where he celebrated Hanukah, had a bar mitzvah, and went to temple. As I grew up, I would learn of the history of the world, but nothing would strike me more than the events of the Holocaust. As I continued to learn and grow older, I would begin to understand the atrocities that took place during this time, half a world a way, and the images and films that I saw in regards to the Holocaust would haunt me most of all. A photo essay, compiled by the English department at the University of Illinois, contains a number of photographs from the Holocaust that demonstrates the atrocities that occurred during this time. These photographs support the argument developed by Susan Sontag that photographers must make the decision between a photograph and a life, and that the viewers of these images also have a responsibility to actions of atrocity and human suffering. In Susan Sontag’s book On Photography, she develops the argument that photography is an act of nonintervention; that the photographer is faced with the choice between capturing...
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...Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer with Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck, compares the life of two young people in Germany during the rise of Hitler and the outbreak of World War II. They were born within sixty miles of each other, but their lives took dramatically different paths. Alfons, is a boy who grew up on a farm in Germany. When Hitler came to power he became involved with the Hitler Youth. Alfons grew up on a farm but was a Nazi boy who became a commander at age sixteen. This book truly depicts Hitler's impact and influence on the youth of Germany. Alfons was brainwashed by Hitler's promises, a full pledged Nazi youth is how it is presented in the book he participated in all rallies. He started his training to become the future of Germany and eventually of the world. There he learned discipline and order. He trained to become a soldier and he learned the ways of warfare. He was taught to be a follower of anti-Semitism and was told to hate the Jewish people. He along with millions of Nazi’s believed that they were the reason for Germany's problems. As years went by, Alfons rose through the ranks of the military until the end of the war where realized what atrocities had been committed, he than took off his uniform and went on to help people. On the other side of the spectrum we have Helen Waterford a young Jewish girl who grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. She married Siegfried Wohlfarth and moved to Amsterdam because of tension brewing in Frankfurt. She had a baby girl...
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...Josh Thompson History Ms. Kadlecek 7 April 2014 Remembering The word holocaust means “sacrifice by fire” and comes from the Greek words “holos” meaning whole and “kaustos” meaning burnt. The Holocaust of the 20th century was the mass murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi command during World War II. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, he states, “…in their early days of their accession to power, the Nazis in Germany set out to build a society in which there simply would be no room for Jews. Toward the end of their reign, their goal changed: they decided to leave behind a world in ruins in which Jews would seem never to have existed” (viii). The shock and horror does not lessen regardless of how many times a book or article is read or a movie watched about the Holocaust. Learning about the horrible, dark period from 1935 – 1945 is important in several ways. On one hand, it has been said we must learn about the past in order not to relive it. However, we are also told not to dwell in the past. When studying the Holocaust, both adages have truth. Chilling questions occur when learning about the Holocaust. They are questions that Elie Wiesel repeated in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Wiesel says he remembers asking his father, “Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?” (118). Millions of Jews were killed by overwork, starvation, torture, and cold blooded murder just because they were a different race and...
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...1933. Berlin, Germany. Seas of people surround their new appointed chancellor, Adolf Hitler. He stood, five foot eight, poised and sharp in front of the population. His words poured from his lips, first one by one, then all at once. His face would flush, slurring words with a fiery passion. People cheered, uttering the infamous words “Heil, Hitler!” Did they understand the concept of his “revolution” of which he spoke? January 30th would be the beginning of the end for undesirables who lived within Germany, including the handicapped, the gypsies, homosexuals, and, most devastatingly, the Jewish population. These mass killings only became more intricate and efficient from 1933 to 1945, and it is obvious to say that the blame should be pinned...
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...who died at Auschwitz at the age of thirteen and how, although her life was taken at such a young age, her memory and spirit continue to live on today. Adapted from the book of the same title by Karen Levine, HANA’S SUITCASE explores the journey of teacher and children at the Tokyo Holocaust Education Center take to find out who Hana Brady is—all from a suitcase the Center received with Hana’s name, birth date, and the word waisenkind (orphan) written on it. The children at the Center are captivated by this suitcase, and the girl who once owned it, and they begin flooding Fumiko Ishioka, the Center’s Director, with question after question about Hana. Fumiko recognizes the importance of uncovering Hana’s story for her students. This tragic event cannot be summed up in numbers or facts— it affected individuals, young and old, who each had a story, families, and hopes and dreams. As Fumiko slowly but determinedly reveals Hana’s story, she discovers that Hana was sent to live in Theresienstadt, a Jewish ghetto, and eventually died at Auschwitz. However, as devastating as this is for Fumiko and the children at the Center to find out, they also learn that Hana had an older brother who survived the Holocaust and was now living with his family in Canada. Fumiko and the children write to George Brady, asking him to share...
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...remove this darkness from one of the most tragic events to ever happen in history, the Holocaust. There is a classic German legend about a man named Faust. He was a highly successful scholar but was dissatisfied with his life. His legend has created stories of his success in art and music, but the legendary of this man doesn’t end there. According to the legend, Faust sold his soul to the devil in exchange for vast earthly rewards. Millions of innocent Jews were killed by this so called legend, driven by a force of madness and evil of his own ancestors. In his own sick twisted mind he saw an opportunity to solve the problem once and for all by killing off the Jews. It is said that the Holocaust was based upon vague, trivial, or even inaccurate representations. With so much controversy and doubt on the Holocaust did or did it not really happen, everyone has their own point-of-view. Ironically for the people of Germany this legend had an all too real comparison to true events on its history. According to stories from survivors the voices of the dead can still be heard crying out for help. There are many authors who wrote books with great detail on the Holocaust, giving their perspective point of view on this tragic event. During the Holocaust it is said that over six million Jews suffered countless amounts of obscenity throughout the history of time. In the book Histories of the Holocaust by Dan Stone, the author describes the legendary of one man, the will to survive, the...
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...Fascism in the Twentieth Century; Hitler and Nazism ‘Fascism’ is one of the most controversial political terms in modern history. The lack of a universally accepted definition for the term has meant that it can and has been applied to a wide variety of political contexts. Fascism developed from the destruction caused by the First World War. Its origins can be traced, however, to the intellectual revolt against liberalism in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. While there was a revolutionary reaction against the ideals of the French Revolution before 1914, it was the First World War which acted as a real catalyst for the emergence of fascism. The war swept away the Hohenzellern, Halsburg and Romanov dynasties in Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia respectively and sharpened class-consciousness (the idea of lower, middle and upper classes) and increased ethnic tensions, severely weakening the social fabric of many nations. Fascism, in part, was also the result of a reaction by the middle classes against the perceived communist threat caused by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. Fascism was the most severe reaction to the post-war political, social and national crisis. The First World War also had a positive significance on the rise of fascism. The survivors of the ‘lost generation,’ (the survivors of the First World War) had become disillusioned and embittered, and were attracted to the direct-action approach of fascist paramilitary organisations. This increased...
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...DL, FRS, RA (Knight of the Garter, Order of Merit, Companion of Honor, Territorial Decoration, Deputy Lieutenant, Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Academian) was a British politician. He was prime minister of the United Kingdom during most of World War II (1940-1945) and again from 1951-1955. His impact on World War II was almost immeasurably huge. He did after all lead the people of Great Britain against the Nazis, without him the Nazis would have been much harder to defeat, not only would Great Britain most likely have been knocked out of the war, the Nazis would have then been able to focus all their attention on the Soviets, which could have then proven too much for the Red Army to Handle. When Great Britain declared war against Germany, Churchill was made First Lord of the Admiralty and a member of the War Cabinet, the same position he had held during the First World War upon being informed of this, the Board of the Admiralty the British Fleet a signal saying “Winston is back”. Churchill Argued for a preemptive occupation of Norway early on in the war, this was however shot down by then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and the rest of the War Cabinet, such action wasn’t taken until after successful German invasion of Norway, an event it seems Churchill saw coming. On May 10, 1940, only hours before the German Blitzkrieg invasion of France, it became painfully obvious that the country had little to no faith in Chamberlain’s abilities to govern Great Britain during...
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...The Nuremberg Trials by R. D. A student essay from Dr. Elliot Neaman's History 210 class (historical methods - fall 1996) © Elliot Neaman / PHDN Reproduction interdite par quelque moyen que ce soit / no reproduction allowed ________________________________________ The Nuremberg Trials took place during the immediate aftermath of World War II. They were the first trials in history to indict an entire regime for aggressive war crimes. These crimes included invading other nations, violating the Treaty of Versailles and most significantly, "crimes against humanity". These crimes were what later became known as the Holocaust, in which millions of innocent victims were deported, enslaved and systematically executed. The victims were primarily Jewish however many other victims suffered at the hands of the Nazis such as: Poles, Gypsies, the handicapped and the elderly. The Nuremberg Charter "defined war crimes as violations of the laws or customs of war"(Rosenbaum p, 30). Including killing of hostages, ill-treatment of civilians, use of forced labor and looting of public and private property and racial persecution. The International Military Tribunal, the prosecutors consisting of lawyers and judges from the United States, France, England and the Soviet Union had countless evidence of these crimes committed by the Nazis, however to serve justice to every individual for their inhumane actions was impossible. The Nuremberg Trials prosecuted twenty one defendants (all of whom were...
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...Andrea Cohen October 4th, 2012 Professor Marcel Nazi era- Companies that Help in the Holocaust Throughout history, there have been important events that have distinct a particular ethical issue within various companies. One of these horrific events was the Holocaust, which is defined by Michell R Marrus as “the systematic mass murder of European Jewry by the Nazis”, which “sits uneasily in the history of our time” (Marrus, 1987). To many people the Holocaust is still a source of remorse. Consequently they feel embarrassed, since many were apathetic towards the people suffering, but many also believe that historical investigations can bring about additional insight regarding companies and their commitments. The Holocaust is a part of the history that produces an uncomfortable sensation because of the horrible that happened in this era. As Nora Levin stated, it is not only the magnitude of the destruction- the murder of six million Jews- but because the events surrounding are in a very real sense incomprehensible. No one can understand how mass murder in such a scale could have happened or could have been allowed to happen. The purpose of this paper is not to talk about the Holocaust, however, to create a profound analysis of the German automobile companies that helped the Nazis to perform and gain profits from this holocaust of innocent people. Examples of these companies are the Ford Company, BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke), Daimler Benz, and Volkswagen. From 1930-1945...
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...Final Paper The Holocaust September 1st, 1939 marks the day in which the Holocaust began, a day we should never forget. Hitler had dreams to purify Germany and deem the Aryan race supreme however, he did not succeed. The strength and will power of the Jewish people to survive these unbearable times must be remembered for many generations to come. We must remember and teach about the incredible people who survived and give tribute to those who perished through documentation of the Holocaust, the community aspects, representation and religion of the Holocaust. Documentation of the Holocaust is very critical in teaching the future generations. Soon, all the survivors will be gone and it will be in the hands of our generation to tell the stories of the Holocaust. Several books and movies have been produced in memory of the Holocaust such as the Yizkor books. About “1,300 books have been published since the end of WWII”(Dr. Neil Jacobs) and they are great outlets of telling the stories of specific towns. For example, my Yizkor book project was on the city Dzialoszyce which was a thriving community in Poland. This book explains aspects of the town in the form of four main sections; “The Town and Its Residents Before World War I, Between Two World Wars, Customs and Traditions and The Holocaust” (Moshe Rozneck). In Dzialoszyce, societies were an integral part of everyday life in order to form a more communal lifestyle among the citizens. Another outlet of documentation was...
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...Arguing Cause Essay In January 1993, Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany and with this title came the harsh persecution and murder of 6,000,000 Jews and the destruction of 5,000 Jewish communities. These Jews were victims of Germany’s deliberate and systematic attempt to annihilate the entire Jewish population. In a time of economic hardship, after the loss of a large amount of territory in World War I, the Nazi party gained the advantage in the political system of Germany and used a vicious propaganda campaign against political opponents (Franklin). This government was soon consolidated and within a year of taking office, Hitler was in absolute control of Germany. With grassroots organization, a police infrastructure and secret police, the Nazis were blamed for Germany’s ills and terrorized, beaten, killed or sent to concentration camps in an effort to eliminate the race (Marrus). Many have questioned the motives of the Holocaust and tried to find a name to blame or an explanation for the actions the followers took who seemed to have no issues following their leader without questioning the actions they were being told to take. Naturally, people blame the key initiator and conceptualizer, Adolf Hitler (Marrus). Without hiding any hatred towards the Jews or showing any remorse or regret for his actions, Hitler lead a nation to believe that the Jews were a race of sin. Did one person shatter the ability of a world full of people to think for themselves? Was it the...
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