Atrocities Executed by the Jews during the Holocaust - Essay Example

Holocaust After the death of Christ, more than 2000 years ago, the Jews started spreading to different areas across the globe. Itis for this reason; they occupied most areas in European countries. As they continued spreading, their population also increased rapidly. Most of the Jews settled in Germany since the country offered a favorable environment for executing their activities. The Jews and Germans formed close ties such that they started participating in business activities. Some ended up intermarrying. The relationship between the two groups came to a halt after the First World War. Germany lost battle during the war. The German economy dropped drastically. Apparently, the Germans started developing hatred towards the Jews since most of them, at that time were well off. Hitler was among those who had an extreme hatred for the Jews. He tried unsuccessfully to vie for presidency in Germany. However, he occupied a leadership position in the German governing system. It was through that position that he started spreading the message of hate towards the Jews. In 1933, Hitler rose to power and introduced anti-Semitism that meant hatred towards to Jews. He introduced holocaust that lead to the death of 6 million Jews. This paper will attempt to explain activities that took place during the Holocaust. It is obvious that many Jews and some Germans perished the atrocious events that happened during the reign of Hitler. Apparently, Hitler did not commit the activities alone. He received support from collaborators who did not like the Jews. Moreover, due to his experience, education, and influence he was able to lure people and collaborators to join his quest. Causes of Holocaust According to most articles considering events that took place during the holocaust it is difficult to explain the causes of Holocaust. However, many factors supported it and contributed largely to atrocious activities that took place during Hitler reign. Some of the factors that influenced holocaust dates back when Jesus Christ was alive and living in Israel, home to many Jews (Walters, 2009). After the death of Christ, most people across the world, including the Germans, developed hatred towards the Jews. Germans viewed them as the people responsible for the death of Jesus. Many Germans are Christians. Therefore, most of them believed in the message communicated by Jesus. For this reason, they grew hatred when they met those related to Jesus murderers. According to the most Germans, they were revenging for Jesus Christ. At a young age, especially after First World War, Hitler had developed hatred towards the Jews. He together with others viewed Jews as the reason they lost the First World War. He wanted to revenge, but he had no power and influence at his young age. He, therefore, joined politics and proclaimed the same message as he grew (Aroneanu, 1996). At some point, he influenced others who ended up developing a hatred for the Jews and joined anti-Semitism. When he attained power, he became a dictator and released hatred towards the Jews. In addition, Hitler gave Germans the authority to kill Jews. He supplied arsenal to Germans who agreed to kill the Jews. Due to fear, most Germans obeyed his demands. Another factor that led to the Holocaust was jealousy the Germans had for the Jews. In terms of resilience, the Jews recovered the First World War faster than the Germans did. It is for this reason; they occupied fertile lands and started engaging in business activities. Most of the Jews became rich yet they were in a foreign country. In addition, most of them occupied professional jobs. Other became political leaders at the expense of other Germans. The Germans developed a hatred for the Jews as they viewed them as colonizers, rather than people who came to seek refuge. Most of the Germans wanted to chase the Jews and reclaim what was once there’s. During the Holocaust, they occupied the position occupied by the Jews. They killed every Jew that had a high position in terms of social stratification. Altshuler, & Dawidowicz, (1978) explains that, in his letter, Hitler wrote various reasons as to why he did not want Jews in German. Hitler had studied the Jews and found out that they did not refer to themselves as Jewish Germans. According to Hitler, he wanted Jews to be loyal to Germany as a nation. He grew anger and hatred when the Jews did not refer to themselves as Germans; he viewed their behaviors as treason and unfair to the nation. He also added that the Jews had a different skin color. According to Germans, their country deserves to have one person having the same skin color. Germans skin color was brighter than color belonging to the Jews. It was, therefore, easy to differentiate the difference between the Jews and Germans (Aroneanu, 1996). Hitler noted that as the Jews increased they could rule their nation. Despite, his explanation for hatred towards the Jews, the German leaders rejected the letter. However, the rejection did not stop Hitler from spreading the message of hate towards the Jews. When Hitler rose to power, he introduced the Nazi army, who were responsible for 6 million lives lost during the Holocaust. The Nazis thought of the Jews as selfish people since they occupied high position after the First World War and failed to share the position with the Germans (Walters, 2009). The more the Jews occupied a position higher portion, the more the Nazis grew a hatred for them. Almost all Nazis soldiers were Christians, they believed in words Jesus Christ said when he was alive. They followed the steps as Jesus suggested. After Jesus had died they saw it as unjust and unfair to the person they most loved and who influenced their activities (Rosen, 2010). Most, Jews were unaware of the anger people across the globe had for them when they murdered Jesus. Therefore, they innocently walked in various countries and realized the anger their ancestors put on people. Nazis were among those angered by the heinous acts they subjected to Jesus. They, therefore, viewed them as murder. For this reason, they wanted to revenge for Jesus and show them and other Jews it was unfair and unjust when they killed the most influential man on earth (Altshuler, & Dawidowicz, 1978). When the Jews settled in Germany, their population increased rapidly. The Nazis feared and people from other nations in Europe feared the Jews might rule the nations. In order, to reduce the risk of colonization they had to take the Jews lives. Atrocities executed by the Jews during the Holocaust Through interviews conducted with survivors of the Holocaust, most people could contemplate the action done to Jews during Hitler’s reign. Hitler’s mission was to wipe all Jews in German and Europe. He, however, did not succeed in his mission as some Jews survived the Holocaust. However, he was able to murder more than six million Jews. Most survivors survived at the mercies of the Nazis while others survived from the mercies of German citizens. Some of the survivors survived for some time while other lived to tell the tales of the heinous acts. According to the interviews, Jews passed through harsh conditions and treatment from the soldiers. When Hitler came to power, he together with collaborators supplied weapons and gave people freedom to execute Jews. Hitler offered rewards to everyone who killed the Jews or showed soldiers where they were hiding. He also punished the Germans who failed to follow his rule. Jews working for the Nazis used to eat a quarter of a loaf for three days. For this reason, they were weak and could not work as the Germans required. The Germans killed those who could no longer work. The Nazis forced the Jews out of their houses, forced them to cleanse, and swept Germans streets. The soldier forced the Jews to clean and burn trash used by Germans. The Jews also were responsible for cleaning all trenches in Germans. Women and children were more vulnerable to the heinous acts as they were unable to protect themselves. Most female Jews succumbed to rape from the Nazis soldiers (Walters, 2009). The soldiers then killed the women after raping them. Mentally and physically disabled Jews were also more vulnerable to the atrocious acts. Hitler had ordered a collection of all physically, and mentality disabled people and putting them in one place, kill them and throwing them in a large pit. The Nazis soldiers also took the Jews put them in one room and kill them by shooting in the neck. However, before killing them, the soldiers forced the Jews to take off their clothes. They would then mock them while killing them. Some soldier separated men, women, and children. They started killing men and finally killing the children. An interviewee says the soldiers were merciless, as they did not feel mercy for the children who screamed for mercy. One interview explained the situation by saying the earth had turned to hell. The soldiers also took Jews and forced them to board a train and transport them to a place unknown. One interviewee explained that the train led to where the Jews would meet their death. One of the most heinous act, the soldiers subjected the Jews was when they evaporated them (Altshuler, & Dawidowicz, 1978). They first forced them to take their clothes off, put them in a room in the barracks, and then increase temperature and release harmful gasses that caused flash evaporation. Within ten minutes, every Jew had evaporated. The soldier’s purpose for the holocaust was to reduce the Jews population, as it was a threat. The number of Jews had increased such that they had occupied powerful position existing in Germany. According to them, it was necessary to reduce the number fearing they could subject the Germans to colonization (Rosen, 2010). The Germans also wanted to reclaim what was once belonged to them. They wanted to reclaim their previous economic status and power and the only way towards their goals was killing the Jews. They also wanted to possess land Jews occupied. Justice to the Jews Most countries across the world responded negatively towards the acts conducted by Hitler. Most countries demanded justice and reimbursement for the Jews. Unfortunately, Hitler had died before the world demanded justice for the Jews. However, in November 1945, the Nuremberg courtroom apprehended 21 people suspected to have participated in controlling and advocating on the heinous acts (Lingen, 2013). The defendants, as the court referred to them, accused each of them more than four charges. The court accused them of crime against human rights and liberty, Crimes against peace, crimes leading to war and among others. On October 1, 1946, the court found 18 defendants guilty and acquitted the remainders. The courts punished the defendants according to the actions they undertook (Walters, 2009). For this reason, they sentenced 11 of the suspect to death by hanging and the rest served in jail for more than ten years or life imprisonment. It would be unfair to punish the Nazi leaders only even though they contributed most to the Holocaust. It is important to punish both the leaders and those who participated in killing the Jews. The courts should punish the leaders because they spread messages of hatred. The leaders also, gave people the authority to kill people, the leaders distributed weapons to Germans and give them and the opportunity to kill. The court should also punish the other people as they accepted the weaponry and executed the heinous acts. Moreover, most of them raped women and children. The court should also punish those who collaborated with the Nazi. Reference Altshuler, D. A., & Dawidowicz, L. S. (1978). Hitlers war against the Jews: A young readers version of The War against the Jews, 1933-1945, by Lucy S. Dawidowicz. New York: Behrman House. Aroneanu, E. (1996). Inside the concentration camps: Eyewitness accounts of life in Hitlers death camps. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Praeger Lingen, K. (2013). Allen Dulles, the OSS and Nazi war criminals: The dynamics of selective prosecution. Rosen, A. (2010). The wonder of their voices: The 1946 Holocaust interviews of David Boder. New York: Oxford University Press. Walters, G. (2009). Hunting Evil: The Nazi War criminals who escaped and the quest to bring them to justice. New York: Broadway Books Read More