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The Holocaust
Nearly six million Jews were killed and murdered in what historians have
called "The Holocaust." The word 'holocaust' is a conflagration, a great
raging fire that consumes in it's path all that lives. In the years between
1933 and 1945, the Jews of Europe were marked for total annihilation.
Moreover, anti-Semitism was given legal sanction. It was directed by Adolf
Hitler and managed by Heinne Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann.
There were many other great crimes and murders, such as the killing of the
Armenians by the Turks, but the Holocaust stood out as the "only sysmatic
and organized effort by a modern government to destroy a whole race of
people." The Germans under Adolf Hitler believed that the Jews were the
cause of all the German troubles and were a threat to the German and
Christian values.
Dating back to the first century A.D. the Jews and Christians were
always at war. The Jews were considered the murderers of Christ and were
therefor denounced from society, rejected by the Conservatives and were not
allowed to live in rural areas. As a result, the Jews began living in the
cities and supported the liberals. This made the Germans see the Jews as
the symbol of all they feared.
Following the defeat of the Germans in WW1, the Treaty Of Versailles
and the UN resolutions against Germany raised many militaristic voices and
formed extreme nationalism.
Hitler took advantage of the situation and rose to power in 1933 on a
promise to destroy the Treaty Of Versailles that stripped Germany off land.
Hitler organized the Gestapo as the only executive branch and secret terror
organization of the Nazi police system. In 1935, he made the Nuremberg Laws
that forbid Germans to marry Jews or commerce with them. Hitler thought
that the Jews were a nationless parasite and were directly related to the
Treaty Of Versailles. When Hitler began his move to conquer Europe, he
promised that no person of Jewish background would survive.
Before the start of the second world war, the Jews of Germany were
excluded from public life, forbidden to have sexual relations with non-Jews,
boycotted, beaten but allowed to emigrate. When the war was officially
declared, emigration ended and 'the final solution to the Jewish problem'
came. When Germany took over Poland, the Polish and German Jews were forced
into overcrowded Ghettos and employed as slave labour. The Jewish property
was seized. Disease and starvation filled the Ghettos. Finally, the Jews
were taken to concentration camps in Poland and Germany were they were
murdered and killed in poisonous gas chambers in Auschwitz and many other
camps. Despite the harsh treatment of the Jews, little Germans opposed this.
When the news reached the allies, they all refused and put down any
rescue plans to aid the Jews. American Jews were warned against seeking any
action for the benefit of the European Jews although Zionists managed to
save small groups of young Jews and brought them to Palestine. The Vatican
condemed racism in general but did hardly anything to stop the German
actions.
The victories of the Germans in the early years of the war brought most
of the majority of the European Jews under the control of the Nazi's. The
Baltics, Ukrainee's and white Russians gladly joined the Nazi's. France and
Italy sent 100,000 Jews to Germany but refused to send any of it's Jews.
Holland and Belgium were Anti-Nazi's and refused to co-operate with Germany.
Denmark protected it's Jews from Germany and Norway sent it's Jews to
Switzerland for protection.
Unaware that they will be gassed, the Jews kept quiet until the last
moment. When their fate was clear, the first Jewish uprising came in April
1943 in Warsaw Ghetto, when more than 60,000 pitifully armed Jews decided
to resist. The battle took 28 days before the heavily equipped German
forces put down this violent uprising. Individual Jews also resisted by
joining partisan groups. Jewish resistance, however, was mainly
spiritual.'The Jews prayed, wrote, observed festivals and also refrained.'
The war in Europe ended on May 8th, 1945. The following years tended to
heal a few wounds, but the damage caused to the Jews of Europe could not be
fully repaired.'A great deal of the Jewish culture and learning perished.
Deep mental scars plagued the survivors and their children.'' An aspect of
human cruelty was exposed more brutal than the civilized world could
admit.' In Israel, the Holocaust day is celebrated on Nisan 27, the date
that marked the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943.
Although the Germans had lost the war, they won their war on the Jews of
Europe.
END NOTES
1.) Rossel, Seymor. The Holocaust, Toronto:Canada. 1981 edition.
2.) Britanica Publishing Company. Britanica Vol.6, Toronto:Canada.
1984 edition.
3.) Americana Publishing Company. Americana Vol.14
Washington:America. 1988 edition.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Seymor Rossel. The Holocaust, Toronto:Canada. 1981 edition.
Britanica Publishing Company. Britanica Vol.6, Toronto:Canada. 1984 edition.
Americana Publishing Company. Americana Vol.14, Washington:America. 1988
edition.
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