Free Essays on The Holocaust

The Holocaust during World War II was arguably one of the worst human induced disasters that have happened to the human race. The Holocaust orchestrated by the Nazi Empire destroyed millions of lives and created questions about humanity that may never be answered. Many psychological effects caused by the Holocaust forever changed the way the Jewish people view the world and themselves. The Jewish people have been scarred for generations and may never be able to once again associate with the rest of the free world. Further, these scars have now become the looking glass through which the survivors and their children view the world. Through narrow eyes, the survivors relate everything to the experiences they endured during the Holocaust. Likewise, these new views on the world shapes how the survivors live, interact, and raise a family both socially and spiritually. Some survivors are scarred so deeply they cannot escape the past feelings and images of terror; psychologists call this â €Å"Survivor Syndrome†. A survivor of the war is one who has encountered, been exposed to, or witnessed death, and has himself of herself remained alive. The symptoms affected not only survivors, but their families as well. These symptoms were also caused by some of the horrifying experiences that happened especially to the Jewish women. The symptoms included an inability to work, and even at times to talk. The Jewish people fear that it may happen again. Also a fear of uniformed police officers because of their position of power became very common. There were also many feelings of guilt for having survived when others had not. "Why am I alive?" â€Å"Why not my sister and brother...my whole family?" The Jewish holocaust survivors posed those and other questions. The survivors had thoughts of death, nightmares, panic attacks, and various other symptoms. Disinterest in life, people, and sometimes even in reality played a huge role in marital problems and suicid... Free Essays on The Holocaust Free Essays on The Holocaust The Holocaust â€Å"Do You Remember When† This exhibition was written about Gad and Manfred, two Jewish friends who went through torture, discrimination, and suffering, only to be ripped apart in the end. Manfred was born on September 8, 1922 in Berlin. His father worked as a barber while his mother stayed home to take care of him and his 4 siblings. Gad was born on June 30, 1923, along with a twin sister named Miriam. Gad was only considered â€Å"half-Jew† because his mother had been a Protestant before converting to Jewish. Manfred had written Gad a journal, titled â€Å"Do you remember when,† to make Gad happy when he read it. In Manfred’s journal, he wrote about Hitler, saying, â€Å"how could anyone bring us someone like this?† The two friends used to spend nights together in the basement of their Jewish school as part of an obligatory air raid patrol. Gad and Manfred became members of the He-halutz youth group, a band of Jewish teens. Although the youth group did have their fun pl aying games, they were soon forced to work, as were all Jewish people over the age of 14. By September 15, 1941, all Jews were forced to wear a yellow star. The He-halutz group reacted by banning together and becoming more political. These two men eventually became more than friends, bringing out their homosexuality. As torture from the Nazis grew stronger, conflict rose in Jewish communities on how to react. Rumors about the Jewish’s destination had been heard, but nobody knew the exact truth. In the Fall of 1942, Manfred’s family â€Å"got their lists.† They were being forced to go to Grosse Hamburger Strasse, a destination â€Å"for work.† Gad, disguised as a Hitler-lover, managed to sneak in to see Manfred. Gad gave him $20, as Manfred told him that he did not have the heart to escape, he could not leave his family. â€Å"Hidden History of the Kovno Ghetto† The Holocaust began in the summer of 1941, as German troops invaded... Free Essays on The Holocaust The Holocaust is a major event in world history. Indifference was to blame for the millions of unique people slaughtered. Prejudice begins with the â€Å"less than we are† logic. Hitler and the Nazis believed that the pure Arian race was above all other races. They believed this to the extent of butchering all who didn’t fit in, or anyone challenging Hitler's master race. These were the gradual steps that led to the ultimate consequence, sprouting from that first name calling. Some of the first Anti-Semitism acts were boycotts of all Jewish shops. This was instigated by the S.A. Not only small business owners suffered, the same action was directed against Jewish physicians and lawyers. Schooling for Jewish students was forbidden. Around the same time, Jewish people were to wear the Star of David so they could be identified without confusion. Many people are surprised to hear that the German government elected in 1933 was completely democratic. Remember, Hitler was voted into power, there was no military overthrow. However, Hitler did have his 50 000 body guards which he named schutzstaffel (SS) founded in April 1925. Heinrich Himmler was the commander from 1929 until its collapse in 1945. 1934 to 1936 served as the high point of Hitler’s rein of horror; The SS now gained control of Germany’s police forces, which included â€Å"racial matters†. The SS divided into two sub-units: Allgemeince-SS (general SS) and the Waffen-SS (armed SS). These two organizations combined totalled over 250 000 troops by 1939. The main component of the General SS was the Reichssicherheitshauptamt ("RSHA," Reich Security Central Office in German). 4 sub-groups were included within the RSHA including the notorious Gestapo controlled by Heinrich Muller. The Armed SS consisted of three main groups. The first was the Leibstandarte, they served Hitler as his personal bodyguard. The Totenkopfverbande were in charge of the death ... Free Essays on The Holocaust The Holocaust during World War II was arguably one of the worst human induced disasters that have happened to the human race. The Holocaust orchestrated by the Nazi Empire destroyed millions of lives and created questions about humanity that may never be answered. Many psychological effects caused by the Holocaust forever changed the way the Jewish people view the world and themselves. The Jewish people have been scarred for generations and may never be able to once again associate with the rest of the free world. Further, these scars have now become the looking glass through which the survivors and their children view the world. Through narrow eyes, the survivors relate everything to the experiences they endured during the Holocaust. Likewise, these new views on the world shapes how the survivors live, interact, and raise a family both socially and spiritually. Some survivors are scarred so deeply they cannot escape the past feelings and images of terror; psychologists call this â €Å"Survivor Syndrome†. A survivor of the war is one who has encountered, been exposed to, or witnessed death, and has himself of herself remained alive. The symptoms affected not only survivors, but their families as well. These symptoms were also caused by some of the horrifying experiences that happened especially to the Jewish women. The symptoms included an inability to work, and even at times to talk. The Jewish people fear that it may happen again. Also a fear of uniformed police officers because of their position of power became very common. There were also many feelings of guilt for having survived when others had not. "Why am I alive?" â€Å"Why not my sister and brother...my whole family?" The Jewish holocaust survivors posed those and other questions. The survivors had thoughts of death, nightmares, panic attacks, and various other symptoms. Disinterest in life, people, and sometimes even in reality played a huge role in marital problems and suicid...