The tragedy known as the Holocaust was the systematic murder of 6 million Jews (Strahinich 7). However, not only Jews were ruthlessly murdered by the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party, or the Nazi Party. Approximately 5 million gypsies, handicapped people, Soviets, homosexuals, Slavs, and anyone deemed sub-human by the Nazi regime also perished in the Holocaust (Strahinich 8). The Holocaust took place mainly in Germany and its annexed countries like Poland, but it was present in several Eastern European nations (Strahinich 8). The victims of the Holocaust were relocated from their homes to ghettos and, finally, concentration camps. These places were often spread very far apart from each other (Rossel 31). The main perpetrators of
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When the Jews arrived, they were separated into two lines. The women, young children, elderly, and sick went to one line, and the strong and healthy were sent to the other line. The first line was sent unknowingly to be killed by the toxic Zyklon B gas in the Nazi gas chambers disguised as showers. The second line’s members were stripped of their clothes, belongings, and hair. They were given prison outfits and were sent to work. Sometimes the Jews carried out tasks to help the Nazi war effort. However, in many concentration camps, the work was pointless and was used to break their spirits (Strahinich 36). Prisoners were starved and beaten by the S.S. guards who treated them as Hitler outlined in his book Mein Kampf: unworthy of life and subhuman. The only way to survive these camps was to be a good slave. This meant running everywhere and doing everything you are told without hesitation (Concentration Camps). The Nazi physicians and doctors performed inhumane and excruciating experiments on the Jewish prisoners. These experiments included injecting fatal diseases, amputating limbs, cutting tissues out, breaking bones, and putting the subjects in freezing water. The subjects of Nazi experiments often died during or shortly after the experiment was carried out (Strahinich 37). There were few uprisings in the camps because the Nazis kept an iron grip on the prisoners. However, there were some instances of resistance from the prisoners. The most famous of which is the uprising at Treblinka. On August 2, 1943, approximately 1,000 Jewish prisoners stole weapons from the armory and charged the front gate. Only 200 managed to escape into the surrounding woods, and half were captured and killed (Jewish Uprisings In
When the Jews arrived, they were separated into two lines. The women, young children, elderly, and sick went to one line, and the strong and healthy were sent to the other line. The first line was sent unknowingly to be killed by the toxic Zyklon B gas in the Nazi gas chambers disguised as showers. The second line’s members were stripped of their clothes, belongings, and hair. They were given prison outfits and were sent to work. Sometimes the Jews carried out tasks to help the Nazi war effort. However, in many concentration camps, the work was pointless and was used to break their spirits (Strahinich 36). Prisoners were starved and beaten by the S.S. guards who treated them as Hitler outlined in his book Mein Kampf: unworthy of life and subhuman. The only way to survive these camps was to be a good slave. This meant running everywhere and doing everything you are told without hesitation (Concentration Camps). The Nazi physicians and doctors performed inhumane and excruciating experiments on the Jewish prisoners. These experiments included injecting fatal diseases, amputating limbs, cutting tissues out, breaking bones, and putting the subjects in freezing water. The subjects of Nazi experiments often died during or shortly after the experiment was carried out (Strahinich 37). There were few uprisings in the camps because the Nazis kept an iron grip on the prisoners. However, there were some instances of resistance from the prisoners. The most famous of which is the uprising at Treblinka. On August 2, 1943, approximately 1,000 Jewish prisoners stole weapons from the armory and charged the front gate. Only 200 managed to escape into the surrounding woods, and half were captured and killed (Jewish Uprisings In