The Holocaust is one of the biggest atrocities of the 20th centaury. Trying to imagine and understand the horrors that the victims and survivors felt its simply impossible. Although we may truly never understand the experiences of those whom were affected by the holocaust, survivors and historians have created journals, diaries, books etc. in order for those who are outsiders to try and understand the horrors of the Holocaust. There are many reasons why witnesses who survived the Holocaust chose to share their stories; one of their main goals is to make sure their suffering dose not get silenced. As Jankiel Wiernik stated in his journal, “Dear Reader: It is for your sake that I continue to hang on” (Wiernik 18). Survivors aim to make sure that
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During the Nazi hold of Europe German officials took some of the responsibilities from themselves by creating Jewish councils. Jewish councils were typically leaders in Jewish communities such as doctors, lawyers, teachers etc. These individuals were responsible for the Jews in the ghettos. They were often even responsible for in selecting individuals to their death. As Bergan states, “The Jewish Councils are sometimes charged with having handed Jews over to their deaths” (Bergan 117). Bergan discuses on whether the Jewish Council could be blamed for what the Nazis made them do and whether they were aware of what was happening. Seeing that in 1941 the Jewish council even prepared lists of those who were to be transported from ghettos to killing …show more content…
Many people, particularly those who have not experienced such tragedies are desensitize and often don’t understand what genocide is. It is easy to read numbers and facts in a history book because at the end of the day these are just statistics nothing more. However, reading the personally experiences and accounts of those who have been through and have witnessed such acrostic crates an emotional bond. These who lost their lives are no longer just numbers in a history book or faceless individuals they have identities. They are someone’s family, people with feeling dreams and hopes. The journals and diaries help those who are in the outside understand the horrors of the Holocaust but relating to the writer, following the writer in his or her journey. The journals although different from scholarly historical interpretations of the Holocaust they balance each other out. Knowing the number of people that died is important, understanding why such government could ever come into power is very important as well in order to prevent future genocides. However, knowing who the victims were and putting names to numbers is significant and important in its own ways, they were people who mattered not just numbers for people to
During the Nazi hold of Europe German officials took some of the responsibilities from themselves by creating Jewish councils. Jewish councils were typically leaders in Jewish communities such as doctors, lawyers, teachers etc. These individuals were responsible for the Jews in the ghettos. They were often even responsible for in selecting individuals to their death. As Bergan states, “The Jewish Councils are sometimes charged with having handed Jews over to their deaths” (Bergan 117). Bergan discuses on whether the Jewish Council could be blamed for what the Nazis made them do and whether they were aware of what was happening. Seeing that in 1941 the Jewish council even prepared lists of those who were to be transported from ghettos to killing …show more content…
Many people, particularly those who have not experienced such tragedies are desensitize and often don’t understand what genocide is. It is easy to read numbers and facts in a history book because at the end of the day these are just statistics nothing more. However, reading the personally experiences and accounts of those who have been through and have witnessed such acrostic crates an emotional bond. These who lost their lives are no longer just numbers in a history book or faceless individuals they have identities. They are someone’s family, people with feeling dreams and hopes. The journals and diaries help those who are in the outside understand the horrors of the Holocaust but relating to the writer, following the writer in his or her journey. The journals although different from scholarly historical interpretations of the Holocaust they balance each other out. Knowing the number of people that died is important, understanding why such government could ever come into power is very important as well in order to prevent future genocides. However, knowing who the victims were and putting names to numbers is significant and important in its own ways, they were people who mattered not just numbers for people to