Throughout the course of history, there have been many outrageous acts performed against individuals and groups of people as well. World War II, more specifically the Holocaust, is one of the most well-known, despicable black marks in history. It wasn’t just a war, it was the attempted genocide of an entire race: the Jewish people. Germany wanted to purge the world of them and started by using concentration camps, otherwise known as death camps. In these camps, the “unfavorable people” were placed and unfathomable humiliation and abuse was showered upon them. One of the most notorious concentration camps of them all: Auschwitz. This camp was a heinous place to be during WWII; it broke the minds of men and left an imprint on their lives forever,
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There are too many factors leading to the mental illnesses many left the camp with. Amongst them are the separation of family members, inferior living quarters, and unbearable hunger. Upon the moment of arrival to Auschwitz, prisoners were abused and humiliated, confronted with their inferiority with violence, and reduced to a mere number tattooed onto their arm (Kleber). With the ever present death and destruction around them, along with the threat of their own death hanging over their heads, there was too much at Auschwitz for a person not to leave untouched. When the camp was liberated, all this continued to haunt the minds of the victims in the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD, as it’s otherwise called, is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening events. Symptoms of PTSD in Holocaust victims include the death imprint, which is when a person is assaulted with death so intensely, images are burned permanently into their minds. This causes them to fear their own mortality and what will become of themselves one day. Another common symptom is survivor’s guilt, or the question of why am I still alive when so many others perished? There is much concern for their lack of feeling …show more content…
At first, not every German thought they were doing the correct thing in the genocide of the Jewish people. There were some, such as Oskar Groening, who though it was wrong; “And the kind of way in which these people were treated brought me doubt and outrage. . . I couldn’t understand that and SS man would take a child and throw its head against the side of a lorry. . .” Astonishment and sympathy were popular amongst newbie soldiers, but soon, due to propaganda, they became to believe they stood in the right. Besides, if they wished, they could turn a blind eye to the suffering and displeasing sights around the camp or pull up a mental shield to cloak the mind. They told themselves, this is war, and all of a sudden the brutality was acceptable. But by the time the war was over and the Nazis were mostly captured, many men again felt shame and discomfort for their actions. They knew their behavior did not comply with human rights and was atrocious. Still, they continued to hide behind the line “I was just following orders.” As Frank Stephenson wrote, “Ohlendorf was quick to correct his questioner: ‘I didn’t shoot women. I merely supervised.”’ They pushed and shoved the actions and blame off one another. In the words of Oskar Groening, “We drew a line between those who were directly involved in the killing and those who were not
There are too many factors leading to the mental illnesses many left the camp with. Amongst them are the separation of family members, inferior living quarters, and unbearable hunger. Upon the moment of arrival to Auschwitz, prisoners were abused and humiliated, confronted with their inferiority with violence, and reduced to a mere number tattooed onto their arm (Kleber). With the ever present death and destruction around them, along with the threat of their own death hanging over their heads, there was too much at Auschwitz for a person not to leave untouched. When the camp was liberated, all this continued to haunt the minds of the victims in the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD, as it’s otherwise called, is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening events. Symptoms of PTSD in Holocaust victims include the death imprint, which is when a person is assaulted with death so intensely, images are burned permanently into their minds. This causes them to fear their own mortality and what will become of themselves one day. Another common symptom is survivor’s guilt, or the question of why am I still alive when so many others perished? There is much concern for their lack of feeling …show more content…
At first, not every German thought they were doing the correct thing in the genocide of the Jewish people. There were some, such as Oskar Groening, who though it was wrong; “And the kind of way in which these people were treated brought me doubt and outrage. . . I couldn’t understand that and SS man would take a child and throw its head against the side of a lorry. . .” Astonishment and sympathy were popular amongst newbie soldiers, but soon, due to propaganda, they became to believe they stood in the right. Besides, if they wished, they could turn a blind eye to the suffering and displeasing sights around the camp or pull up a mental shield to cloak the mind. They told themselves, this is war, and all of a sudden the brutality was acceptable. But by the time the war was over and the Nazis were mostly captured, many men again felt shame and discomfort for their actions. They knew their behavior did not comply with human rights and was atrocious. Still, they continued to hide behind the line “I was just following orders.” As Frank Stephenson wrote, “Ohlendorf was quick to correct his questioner: ‘I didn’t shoot women. I merely supervised.”’ They pushed and shoved the actions and blame off one another. In the words of Oskar Groening, “We drew a line between those who were directly involved in the killing and those who were not