Liberators/Rescuers/Resisters of the Holocaust
The Liberators of the Holocaust were people who were allies and went to Nazi concentration camps and saved the people there. The people who liberated camps were not just Americans though, Soviet troops liberated Majdanek in July 1944 and continued in liberating camps all across Eastern Europe, another camp that the Soviets liberated was Auschwitz in January 1945. Starting from the Western side of Europe, the United States forces liberated Buchenwald and Dachau in April 1945, the British liberated Bergen-Belsen that same month as well. The groups of liberators encountered the wretched conditions of the camps they went to, terrible nutrition, all of the diseases about, and the corpses that were not …show more content…
Rescue efforts varied from isolated acts of individuals to large organized networks that were both small and large. Individual people who took part in helping rescue the Jews faced terrible consequences if they were found out, helping hide Jews also meant that there would be consequences. The religions of the rescuers varied, there were Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslim. Some churches, orphanages, and families in Europe did their part in rescuing by providing hiding places for the Jews. In France, the small village Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, had sheltered an amount between 3,000 and 5,000 refugees total during the Holocaust, the majority being Jewish. Also, in France, Belgium, and Italy, there were underground networks ran by Catholic clergy and and lay Catholics that saved thousands of Jews. These networks are somewhat comparable to The Underground Railroad. A great deal of these networks were active in Southern France, where the Jews were hidden and then transferred safely to Sweden or Switzerland. The networks in Northern Italy were also very active in hiding the Jews after Germany had taken over Italy in September, …show more content…
And the Jews, being the Nazi’s primary targets, also proved to be resistant towards them in multiple ways, individually as well as in groups. Organized armed resistance proved to be the most forceful form of opposition to the Nazi Germany-occupied Europe. Jewish civilians had revolted in armed resistance in over 100 ghettos in occupied Poland and the Soviet Union. Between April and May, in 1943, there was another armed revolt in the Warsaw ghetto after rumors that stated the rest of the inhabitants would be transferred to a place where they would be killed. As German SS and Police units had entered the ghetto, members of the Jewish Fighting Organization, and other Jewish groups began to attack German tanks with Molotov cocktails, hand grenades, and a fair amount of small arms. Although the Germans were shocked by the revolt, it only took them a matter of days to end the major fighting, though it did take nearly a month to pacify the entire ghetto and deport virtually all of the remaining inhabitants. For months after the end of the uprising in Warsaw, Jewish resistance had hidden in the remains of the
The Liberators of the Holocaust were people who were allies and went to Nazi concentration camps and saved the people there. The people who liberated camps were not just Americans though, Soviet troops liberated Majdanek in July 1944 and continued in liberating camps all across Eastern Europe, another camp that the Soviets liberated was Auschwitz in January 1945. Starting from the Western side of Europe, the United States forces liberated Buchenwald and Dachau in April 1945, the British liberated Bergen-Belsen that same month as well. The groups of liberators encountered the wretched conditions of the camps they went to, terrible nutrition, all of the diseases about, and the corpses that were not …show more content…
Rescue efforts varied from isolated acts of individuals to large organized networks that were both small and large. Individual people who took part in helping rescue the Jews faced terrible consequences if they were found out, helping hide Jews also meant that there would be consequences. The religions of the rescuers varied, there were Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslim. Some churches, orphanages, and families in Europe did their part in rescuing by providing hiding places for the Jews. In France, the small village Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, had sheltered an amount between 3,000 and 5,000 refugees total during the Holocaust, the majority being Jewish. Also, in France, Belgium, and Italy, there were underground networks ran by Catholic clergy and and lay Catholics that saved thousands of Jews. These networks are somewhat comparable to The Underground Railroad. A great deal of these networks were active in Southern France, where the Jews were hidden and then transferred safely to Sweden or Switzerland. The networks in Northern Italy were also very active in hiding the Jews after Germany had taken over Italy in September, …show more content…
And the Jews, being the Nazi’s primary targets, also proved to be resistant towards them in multiple ways, individually as well as in groups. Organized armed resistance proved to be the most forceful form of opposition to the Nazi Germany-occupied Europe. Jewish civilians had revolted in armed resistance in over 100 ghettos in occupied Poland and the Soviet Union. Between April and May, in 1943, there was another armed revolt in the Warsaw ghetto after rumors that stated the rest of the inhabitants would be transferred to a place where they would be killed. As German SS and Police units had entered the ghetto, members of the Jewish Fighting Organization, and other Jewish groups began to attack German tanks with Molotov cocktails, hand grenades, and a fair amount of small arms. Although the Germans were shocked by the revolt, it only took them a matter of days to end the major fighting, though it did take nearly a month to pacify the entire ghetto and deport virtually all of the remaining inhabitants. For months after the end of the uprising in Warsaw, Jewish resistance had hidden in the remains of the