| Term Paper Title | THE HOLCAUST, THE WAY IT WAS |
| # of Words | 4979 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 19.92 |
THE HOLCAUST, THE WAY IT WAS
Definition of the Holocaust
What does Webster's dictionary defines the Holocaust as?
ho·lo·caust \'hO-l&-"kost, 'hä- also -"kästor'ho-l&-kost\ noun
1 : a sacrifice consumed by fire,
2 : a thorough destruction especially by fire. (i.e. a nuclear holocaust)
3 a often cap. : the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II -- usually used with the b : a mass slaughter of people; especially genocide.
Beyond the Definition
The Holocaust is generally regarded as the systematic slaughter of not only 6 million Jews, (two-
thirds of the total European Jewish population), the primary victims, but also 5 million others,
approximately 11 million individuals wiped off the Earth by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. It is hard
to grasp the idea that it isn't just 11 million deaths, but 11 million people whose lives were cut off because
of racism and hate, all in a period of 11 years (1933-1945). There are actually two main phases to the
Holocaust, the period between 1933 and 1939, the Nazi rise, and the period between 1939 and 1945, the
period of war, or more specifically, World War II. The first concentration camp opened in January 1933,
when the Nazis came to power, and continued to run until the end of the war and the Third Reich: May 8,
1945.
The idea that the Holocaust represents 11 million lives that abruptly ended is a difficult concept,
but this is an important point, and one this site hopes to help bring across. The Holocaust was the
extermination of people not for who they were but for what they were. Groups such as handicaps, Gypsies,
homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, political dissidents and others
were persecuted by the Nazis because of their religious/political beliefs, physical defects, or failure to fall
into the "Aryan" ideal.
The unfortunate truth is that the Holocaust is a subject whose gravity is obvious, but it is easy to
become almost numb to it. As Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and famous Holocaust survivor has said, "the
essense of this tragedy is that it can never be fully conveyed." When viewing this site, think about the
individual people in the images you see. Remember that the Holocaust is something that we should all learn
about so that we never let such a terrible crime against mankind happen again. One of the reasons you can
listen to survivors is that it helps to show that every one of those 11 million has a story, but they aren't alive
to tell it.
A Testament
The Holocaust shows something amazing: the strength of the human spirit. Prisoners survived
because of their sheer will to live, unwilling to be broken by the oppression of the Nazis. It is
incomprehensible how life truly was for those in the camps, the day in, day out, monotony of horror that
grew into weeks, months, and even years. The fact that there were survivors shows that there is something
in us that cannot be taken away no matter what, and that is a true testament to the human spirit.
Obviously this is a summary description of precisely what the Holocaust is. Entire books could be written
on the subject, but we are trying to provide you with a graspable overview to familiarize you with the
subject.
Period between 1933-1939
Once firmly in power, Hitler's plans for the ending of the struggle between the Aryan race and the
"inferior races" was set to work. These races were feared as a biological threat to the "master race" purity.
Hitler gained further support for his ideas via The Nazi Propaganda Ministry, headed by Dr. Joseph
Goebbels, which filled the popular media with pro-Nazi material. Anything opposing the Nazi Party was
censored and removed from the media. All forms of communication: the Nazis controlled newspapers,
magazines, books, public meetings, rallies, art, music, movies, and radio. Bookburnings of books that didn't
gel with the "Nazi ideals" we...Read entire document
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