Essay, Research Paper: The Holocaust

The Holocaust was the systematic annihilation of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators during World War II. During the fourteen years following the end of World War I, the Nazi party grew from a small political group to the most powerful party in Germany. Millions were victimized by the Nazi Regime during the Holocaust: Jews, Gypsies, political enemies, Jehovah s Witnesses, homosexuals and people with disabilities. Hitler s rise to power was the beginning of a period that caused great fear and destruction. Millions were forced to live in ghettos, only to be deported later to the concentration camps. Hitler was able to create an atmosphere of terror, which was maintained by force. Once he became Chancellor, Germany s political, social and economic structure was changed. Germany was suddenly turned into a police state. Within months of Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, the Dachau concentration camp was created. The Nazis began arresting Communists, Socialists, and labor leaders. Concentration camps were prisons where selected groups of people are confined, usually for political reasons and under inhumane conditions. Death, disease, starvation, crowded and unsanitary conditions, and torture were a daily part of concentration camps. Camps that were equipped with facilities for gassing people were developed in Poland. The concentration camps were Hitler s final step in the annihilation of the Jews. Most victims were brought to these death camps from ghettos nearby. The ghettos were like captive city-states. Throughout the world, many stood by and watched as the bloodlust continued. Being a bystander was the norm during the Holocaust. They were just ordinary people who played it safe, complying with the laws and trying to avoid the terrorizing activities of the nazi regime. They wanted to get on with their daily lives. During the war the world response towards the murders of millions of people was minimal. The world acted as passive bystanders. They did a number of things to stay uninvolved. They may have stayed unaware, either consciously or unconsciously. Or perhaps they were aware, but, being fearful of the consequences chose not to take responsibility to help individuals. Ultimately, they did make a choice to be docile, compliant and unresponsive.
On the other hand, there were some people that wanted to get involved. Some call them Rescuers, those who saved many who would have perished by hiding victims in attics or by helping them to escape to other countries. They defied the Third Reich policy. They were just ordinary people who became extraordinary people because they acted in accordance with their own belief system while living in an immoral society. Although in total their number is small, these people were very important people. Individuals and groups often behaved differently depending upon changing events and circumstances. Many people resisted by any means possible, from stealing a slice of bread to sabotaging the Nazi installations. It was a partisan movement that ranged from smuggling messages, food, and weapons to actual military engagementA permanent haven in palestine was established by the allied powers. When the war ended, millions of jews, Slavs roma, homosexuals, jehovah s witnesses, communists and others targeted by the nazis had died in the holocaust. After the war, Nazi perpetrators faced punishment for their war crimes and survivors began to rebuild their lives. It wasn t an accident in history, it occurred because individuals, organizations and governments made choices which not only legalized discrimination, but also allowed prejudice, hatred and ultimately, mass murder to occur. The nazi legacy was a vast empire of murder and exploitation that had affected every country of occupied europe. The toll in lives was enormous. The moral and ethical purposes of this tragic era are beginning to be understood more fully.