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Research Paper

Holocaust Overview

Abby Eubanks

ENG Comp 102-102

Mr. Neuburger

2 April 2012

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The rise of the Nazi power.

Source: http://bit.ly/9Re3Py

The Holocaust should not be forgotten for the fact that it has had huge impact on many

family histories in the world. The Holocaust was not just a one step process, but a series of steps

that brought about the destruction of over eleven million people. The torture that was done to

families over a time of thirty years should never be repeated. In order to prevent another

holocaust from occurring, one needs to understand the series of events that led up to and the

methodology used that allowed the Holocaust to occur.

The rise of the Nazi power

According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, when World War I was

nearing an end the Germans started to try and find a type of government that would work for

them. That was when the Weimar Republic started taking off for democracy, but there were

certain groups that felt offended and the groups started to show that by political violence and

extreme movements toward the Weimar Republic.

These groups, later known as the National Socialist

Party (the Nazi Party), were the ones that did not

agree with them. In the middle of trying to find

democracy a Treaty of Versailles came through from

France. The Treaty took Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Poland from Germany had to traded

Alsace and Lorraine to France. When the Weimar Republic was begging to diminish Hitler was

voted into the leader of the Nazi party in the early 1920s. When Hitler became dictator in 1932

the Weimar Republic was then shut down all together. (The Rise of the Nazi Party)

Antisemitism

By this time the Nazi Party had about three thousand members and was starting to

demonstrate antisemitism. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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The Nazis destroying a gravestone of the Jewish.

Source: http://bit.ly/9YKvN2

The rally that led to the Nuremberg Laws.

Source: http://bit.ly/HQIq5b

(USHMM), antisemitism was starting to show up

everywhere. Anitsemitism is when the Nazi Party had

hatred against Jews and wanted everyone to know how

Jews had wronged society in some way. Adolf Hitler

decided that he wanted to eliminate all the Jews in

whatever way he could. Since the Nazi Party was in

control, this was going to get done under his command. The Jews are later forced to mark

themselves as a Jew when out in public to be recognized. Even after death the Nazi Party would

go around and mark the grave sites with the famous symbol. Another antisemitism action forced

Jews to sit separately at publicparks. The benches in the parks were painted with the words

Only for Jews according to the USHMM (Antisemetism: The Longest Hatred). Separation like

this should never be an issue in public. To point out a certain religion or race counts as any type

of antisemitism which is what the Nazi Party demonstrated.

Nuremberg Laws

According to the USHMMwhen Hitler was voted in as dictator in 1934 the Nuremberg

Laws started to surface. The Nuremberg Laws stated that a person was considered a Jew if he or

she had any grandparents. This is regardless to any individual that did not consider himself or

herself having a Jewish preference. The laws also stated that any German would not be able to

have any kind of relationship with any Jew or they would be considered a Jew themself and be

condemned the same way a Jew was. These Laws

made it impossilbe for people to socialize with

anybody for the fact that they thought they would get

repremanded for any action they took. But, in1935

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was when the Nuremberg Laws actually took effect. When the Olympics took place in Berlin the

Jews unwelcome signs were taken down so social media did not take an uproar about the

situations going on. When the Olympics were over the signs were put back up to let the Jews

know that the Laws were still being enforced. The Jews were even stripped of their buisnesses

and manager positions at work, so they were not in power of something. The businesses were

sold at fixed prices by the Nazis, so the Jews lost a lot of money in all this mess. In the

meantime, Jews also had to get new identity cards, because the new cards were marked with a

big red J indicating a Jew. If the first and middle name was not able to be German

recognizable then the names were changed. Common names included Sara or Israel. They were

names that every German could pronounce. The cards helped the officers identify the Jews faster

and were more efficient. (The Nuremberg Race Laws)

The night of crystal

In November of 1938 terror spread through Germany. The shattering of glass while it hit

the ground was known as the Night of Crystal or Kristallnacht. This night struck fear into Jews

across Germany. A lot of people ended up refering to it as Night of the Broken Glass according

to USHMM. Violence broke out in the middle of the night from the assumed Nazi Party. This

violence broke synagogue windows and Jewish owned

buisnesses and homes. When people got up the next

morning and realizing the mess of all Jewish possesions

and ownerships. This cost Jews millions of money that

they really didnt have. The owners of the stores were

responsible for cleaning up the mess that the Nazis

made. When you walked down the streets of Germany you could not step somewhere without a

The streets lined with broken glass fromKristallnacht.

Source: http://bit.ly/HDKZsx

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Open ghetto.

Source: http://bit.ly/HCLaJ1

piece of glass being under your foot. It is stated that the reason for Kristallnacht is because of the

assasination of Ernst vom Rath, a German embassy official stationed in Paris. On November

seventh he was shot by a Jew for the fact of his family being deported out of there home in

Germany. On November ninth is when he officially passed, which resulted in Kristallnacht itself.

(KristallKacht, A Nationwide Program)

The great ghettos

After Kristallnacht, Jews were becoming very worried about where the future was going

to take them. At the end of the 1930s there were certain districts that Jews had to live in. These

districts were called Ghettos. Ghettos were fenced in areas that had awful living conditions and

were unsanitary. These conditions were technically not livable, but Hitler and the Nazis did not

worry about the conditions because they wanted Jews to suffer. With the ghettos on Germany

occupied land, the Nazis were able to produce over a thousand of them according to USHMM.

The main reason for forming ghettos was to eliminate all European Jews. This was known as the

Final Solution. Jews were sent to the ghettos and the ghettos were systematically erased off the

map. Some of the Jews were sent off to do some manual labor for the Nazis and some were

shipped to concentration camps. There were three different kinds of ghettos though.

The first kind of ghetto is an open ghetto. These ghettos did not have any fences or walls,

so the jews were able to have room to at least roam

around. The restrictions were for entering and exiting

the camps. Stated in the USHMM open ghettos were

stationed in German occupied Poland and the Soviet

Union. There were also some located in Transnistria.

(Types of Ghettos)

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Destruction ghetto.

Source: http://bit.ly/HFHt68

Closed ghetto.

Source: http://bit.ly/IQVxXX

The second kind of ghetto is a closed ghetto.

These ghettos were more popular and wide spread.

These were located in German occupied Poland and

Soviet Union. Now these kinds of ghettos have walls

and are fenced in with barbed wire. This also made

the living conditions worse than the open ghettos.

The closed ghettos were more crowded and definitely

unsanitary. Huge problems started to occur and starvation became one of the main ones. Jews

were not fed properly and they just sat anywhere and starved before actually dying. They would

wither away until the Germans would come to collect bodies to take them to the grave holes.

Weather was a big issue as well, because when winter struck Jews would have no way to stay

warm. A thought, the Germans did not allow the Jews to have heating as a house hold amenities.

This caused a lot of diseases that would never be cured and cleaned. The diseases would be never

ending because the Germans would not want to control it. To them, controlling it would be like

saving the Jews and that was not the initial plan. As a result to the diseases the closed ghettos had

a very high death rate. (Types of Ghettos)

The third type of ghetto is a destruction

ghetto. This is the ghetto that Jews were scared of. No

Jew wanted to be sent to the destruction ghetto. This

ghetto normally lasted at the most six weeks. When

the ghetto was done the Jews were shipped off to

concentration camps, or put to death in a mass grave.

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The Jews taking control of the armedresistance.

Source: http://bit.ly/HHnLSf

This was a big part in the Final Solution. Now, these ghettos survived in German occupied

Poland and the Soviet Union, and some parts of Hungary. (Types of Ghettos)

Jew resistance

According to Yad Vashem online, rumors started spreading like wild fire. The rumors

consisted of how the mass murdering of Jews were going to take place. Some of the rumors were

unfathomable and were not believed in the beginning. The Jews had couriers outside of the

ghettos and camps to find this information out. When the Jews were scared enough the Jewish

rebellion started taking place. They knew if they worked together

that they could conquer something. The rebellion was carried out

in three steps. The first step was the uprising of armed forces in

the ghettos and camps. The second step was the escape of the

Jews from the ghettos and camps to the forests for welfare. The

last step was the hiding of individuals in random places for the

rescue of people. By the end of 1944 the Jews had created family

camps deep into the forests and were being protected by Jewish

fighters. Over ten thousand Jews were able to make it to the family camps and have a higher

chance of survival. (Combat and Resistance, Jewish Armed Resistance and Rebellion)

Selektion (Selection)

Before a Jew would get to go to a death camp, they had to pass through a selection. This

is a process that placed Jews where the Germans wanted them to go. This process included

splitting families up and sending them different ways. Along with splitting families up, this is

where you find out if you will go to forced manual labor or go to the death camps. Previous to

leaving on the freight trains, the Jews had to go through multiple steps to be cleared to board the

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The selection of Jews.Source: http://bit.ly/HGHfL5

train carts. These steps include being shaved, turning in

their possessions, turning in all jewelry, and get all gold

teeth pulled out. This handy work wasnt by the Germans

though; it was the forced labor of the Jews. The Jews

were responsible for seeing these steps get done. The

other kinds of forced labor included cleaning out the carts

of the trains and disposing of the bodies that did not make the trip. If you were forced to labor

then you would be sent to any camp to help do the dirty work. The women, on the other hand,

were sent out to help make the Germans uniforms. The women were always in a clothing shop to

make things. Although the women never got paid, it was also considered forced labor. If one was

sent to the death camp then you knew that it was the last of your days. Most people that were

sent were elderly and small children because they were the ones that could not work like the

Germans wanted them to.

The death camps

Along with ghettos forming in Germany owned lands, so did death camps. Death camps

are exactly what they sound like. They all consisted of three things: a living area, a reception

area, and the extermination area. The living area was for the workers, and the reception area was

where the Jews were shaved of all their belongings, and the extermination area was for the

murdering. Germans came up with death camps to get rid of the jews at a faster rate. This would

assure that the mass murder of the Jews would be so fast acting that there would not be any

evidence to show what Germans were doing. There were three major death camps that were

created under the Aktion Reinhard. This was a certain program in the Generalgouvernement.

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The layout of Belzec death camp.

Source: http://bit.ly/IdOQ0X

Sobibor death camp layout.

Source: http://bit.ly/IV03GI

Belzec This is where over six hundred thousand Jews were murdered. In the beginnig of

the camp opening, there were only three to four gas

chambers open.When the Jews were shipped in on

freight trains only a select few would be chosen to stay

alive and be used for manual labor. The laborers would

clean the trains and dispose of all the bodies into the

pits. Every time a train would ship the Jews in, the gas chambers would fire up. This camp only

lasted for nine months then was shut down to cover all the tracks of the murders.

Sobibor This is where about two hundred and fifty thousand murders took place. At this

camp another selection was taken place to find the strongest Jews to work in the camp. At one

point there were over one thousand Jews that were forced to work. Every two to three hours

around five hundred Jews were killed. This happened everyday until the railroad broke and had

to be fixed. This is when the Germans used the time to build three more gas chambers so more

people would be murdered at one time. When the camp reopened the Jews that arrived were

made to write letters to their family member letting them

know they made it to a labor camp, but after the letters

were shipped the Jews were murdered like everyone else.

When an uprising took place from the Jews about fifty of

them survived all together. Everyone else was killed for

the actions of them. As the camp was being discovered

in public, it was plowed down and made into a national memorial site. When the camp was

finally shut down, it had been open for a year and a half.

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Treblinka death camp layout.

Source: http://bit.ly/HJhANl

This is what a gas truck looked like.Source: http://bit.ly/IdPV9b

Treblinka While this camp was open for a

year and three months it killed around eight hundred

and seventy thousand people. This camp operated the

same way as the other ones. It was the last one to be

attempted . When learning the mistakes from the other

camps. Only three gas chmabers were first installed,

but later ten more joined in. This was to ensure faster murders. After the uprising from the Jews

again, the camp was plowed and crops were planted. The area was given to a Ukranian family.

At the end of 1943 all the death camps were closed down. (The Implementation of the Final

Solution, The Death Camps)

Extermination Methods

The extermination methods were part of the Final Solution. Once again, this was to

eliminate all European Jews. Many methods came about, but only three were sought out to be

tried. Any way possible to kill all the Jews was thought of. The Germans could not do much

because they wanted to hide the tracks of themselves so the media could not put all the blame on

them. The three methods used were; mass shooting, gas trucks, and gas chambers.

The mass shooting was the first sought out method. This method turned out to be

inefficient. The Germans did not like how the evidence could be traced back to them. This

method also proved to take too long and the Nazis wanted it done as soon as possible. It was also

hard for the Nazis to dispose of the bodies in a decent manor. In the end the Germans decided it

was not the best method for the final solution.

The second method that took place was gas

trucks. The gas trucks were set up by covering the

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This is a gas chamber used in the camps.

Source: http://bit.ly/mRPL5p

exhaust pipe and redirecting it to the inside of the truck. This was a better and faster way than

shooting people. After driving around for sometimes hours to assure the Jews were dead, the

bodies were dumped and the process started all over again. After a couple weeks of this, the

Germans were still not happy with how fast the eliminating was going. So they quickly thought

of another method which became the most efficient.

The method that proved to be the most effective turned out to be the one and only gas

chambers. The gas chambers are what the Germans used in the death camps. This seemed to be

the most effective and efficient. This was the cause of death for the majority of the Jews. The

Germans would set up chambers and make them look like shower room, so when the Jews

arrived at the camp it would look like a shower. The shower heads were connected to an engine

so the fumes would have direct contact with the room.

When the engine started it would shoot out the fumes

and kill the Jews in the chamber within half an hour. The

bodies were then taken to a crematoria and disposed of.

Later a better type of gas that was found to be efficient

was something called Zyklon B, hydrogen cyanide. A lot

of chambers were swtiched to this when discovered. When nearing an end of the Holocaust, the

gas chambers were quickly plowed down and made into untouched land to assure the evidence

was covered up.

Liberation

When the Holocaust was nearing the end of 1944 liberation, was due. The Nazis often let

the remaining survivors go on what was called Death Marches. This was when the survivors

were set free to run in the forests to get away. Little did they know that the germans were waiting

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The Jews rejoicing in the Liberation.

Source: http://bit.ly/flEIXy

for them and would shoot any person they stumbbled upon. This was to shut up any evidence

that would get out. Most people did not make it because of malnurishment. They just could not

go any further in the cold, harsh conditions. As the Allies

took back control of the German occupied lands, so many

things were found. When the allies found the remaining

Jews they tried to help as much as they could, but in most

cases it was too late. Most of the survivor Jews dies in

the later weeks of the liberation. The allies also found

almost all the mounds of corpses that had not yet been burried or burned. As the Allies found the

scared running Jews they had no place to put them, so camps later known as displaced persons

camps saved a lot of people. This is wher the Jews were able to find out who was left in their

families and communities. Most of them found that they were the only remaining ones. So they

had no choice but to live there and start their life all over again. When finally finshed the

Holocaust was the cause of over eleven million people in so many different ways. Either from

malnurishment, diseases, chambers, shootings, and in the end just giving up with nothing left to

live for. For the people still alive who lived through that have a lot of strength in them.

These series of events that took place allowed over eleven million to perish and displaced

many more. Families were broken apart and some even wiped off the face of the earth with no

trace left behind. In this reading hopefully, one understands the methodology used and never

allows for this to happen again.

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Works Cited

"Antisemitism." Yad Vashem. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.

"Gas Chambers." Gas Chambers. Yad Vashem. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"Gas Vans." Gas Vans. Yad Vashem. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students." The Nuremberg Race Laws. United States

Holocaust Memorial Musem. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust History." Ghettos. United States Holocaust Memorial Musem, 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 15

Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust History." Kristallnacht: A Nationwide Pogrom, November 9-10, 1938. United States

Holocaust Memorial Musem, 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust History." Types of Ghettos. United States Holocaust Memorial Musem, 6 Jan. 2011.

Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust."Jewish Armed Resistance and Rebellions. Yad Vashem, 2012. Web. 15 Apr.

2012.

"The Holocaust." The Death Camps. Yad Vashem, 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust Timeline: The Rise of the Nazi Party." Florida Center for Instructional Technology.

University of South Florida, 2005. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"Liberation." Yad Vashem. Shoah Resource Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

"The Rise of the Nazi Party." Yad Vashem. The Holocaust Resource Center. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.

Abbie, Outside of the fact there are no parenthical citations and some of your facts

have been misinterpreted, I can still see some solid work here in your paper. It is

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extermely important to have those parenthical citations. They are the finishiong

touch to in text citations.

Points Available

Score

40Content paper demonstrates understanding

and confidence about topic 30

20Sources uses only primary and secondary

sources 20

40

In-Text Citations integrates sources within

text with effective use of signal words and

phrases 25

35 Formatting properly uses MLA formatting 28

25Works Cited works cited page has the

required number of sources and is properly

formatted25

15Pictures uses pictures to enhance the text

with effective captions and source information 15

25Writing Mechanics Paper is free from errors

in spelling, punctuation, etc. 18

Total = 200

Total Score

161