At the onset of World War II, there were approximately 500,000 Jews in Germany. The National German Socialist Workers Party, better known as the Nazi Party, ghettoized and relocated numerous Jews to labor camps where they were starved and worked to death. After the invasion and subsequent defeat of Poland in 1939, the Nazis had another three million Jews under their control. While fighting a two front war in Europe, the detaining of such a massive amount of people turned into the Jewish Problem, or what to do with these millions of Jews. Eventually, the Final Solution was devised to exterminate all Jews under Nazi authority. Six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Six million is a staggering number even today when weapons of mass
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The majority of Jews transported to concentration camps were unsuspectedly driven to gas chamber and had their lives terminated within hours of arrival. Those who were fortunate enough to escape this fate were forced into grueling labor with minimal rations with which to exist. The combination of the labor and starvation not only killed many, but also limited the physical conditions of the prisoners which in turn reduced their ability to rebel. In order to maintain control and to quell any future upheaval, the Nazi guards committed brutish retaliations upon the concentration camp prisoners. In an interview, Jozef Paczynski, a Jewish slave at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp who happen to be the camp commander, Rodolf Hoess’ personal barber, was asked why he did not slit the commander throat. Paczynski responded that had he done so, half of the Jewish slaves would have been executed in retaliation to his act, and that they would still be imprisoned with a new commander brought in to replace Hoess. Paczynski’s statement affirms the hopeless situation of the prisoners and the mindset of many of the prisoners when it came to opposition of their imprisonment. In addition, many Jews at the concentration camps did not know the despicable end that was in store for them. Professor Wilhelm Pfannenstiel, hygienist in the Waffen-SS indicates to the what extent to the Nazi subterfuge of the …show more content…
The Jewish attitude, of this has happened to our people before and we survived, towards anti-Semitic laws, such as the Nuremberg Laws, led many Jews remaining in Germany and German occupied countries to their end in the ghettos or concentration camps. More Jews were led to their deaths by Nazi trickery and the well keep secret of the Final Solution, often not believing they were being led to their deaths while being forced into the gas chambers. Jewish under Nazi control often did not resist for fear of horrible Nazi reprisal against themselves and fellow prisoners. That is not to say there were no uprisings by Jews during World War II, however, when considering there were six million Jews exterminated during the Holocaust, the resistance was diminutive in scope. The world could not imagine the outcome of the Holocaust, and neither could those of Jewish faith. The Jews did not allow the Final Solution to happen to them, whether disbelief, trickery, or just being dominated by a superior force, Jews were dragged down a path to their
The majority of Jews transported to concentration camps were unsuspectedly driven to gas chamber and had their lives terminated within hours of arrival. Those who were fortunate enough to escape this fate were forced into grueling labor with minimal rations with which to exist. The combination of the labor and starvation not only killed many, but also limited the physical conditions of the prisoners which in turn reduced their ability to rebel. In order to maintain control and to quell any future upheaval, the Nazi guards committed brutish retaliations upon the concentration camp prisoners. In an interview, Jozef Paczynski, a Jewish slave at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp who happen to be the camp commander, Rodolf Hoess’ personal barber, was asked why he did not slit the commander throat. Paczynski responded that had he done so, half of the Jewish slaves would have been executed in retaliation to his act, and that they would still be imprisoned with a new commander brought in to replace Hoess. Paczynski’s statement affirms the hopeless situation of the prisoners and the mindset of many of the prisoners when it came to opposition of their imprisonment. In addition, many Jews at the concentration camps did not know the despicable end that was in store for them. Professor Wilhelm Pfannenstiel, hygienist in the Waffen-SS indicates to the what extent to the Nazi subterfuge of the …show more content…
The Jewish attitude, of this has happened to our people before and we survived, towards anti-Semitic laws, such as the Nuremberg Laws, led many Jews remaining in Germany and German occupied countries to their end in the ghettos or concentration camps. More Jews were led to their deaths by Nazi trickery and the well keep secret of the Final Solution, often not believing they were being led to their deaths while being forced into the gas chambers. Jewish under Nazi control often did not resist for fear of horrible Nazi reprisal against themselves and fellow prisoners. That is not to say there were no uprisings by Jews during World War II, however, when considering there were six million Jews exterminated during the Holocaust, the resistance was diminutive in scope. The world could not imagine the outcome of the Holocaust, and neither could those of Jewish faith. The Jews did not allow the Final Solution to happen to them, whether disbelief, trickery, or just being dominated by a superior force, Jews were dragged down a path to their