Night Of Broken Glass: The Persecution Of The Holocaust

Improved Essays
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi rule and its collaborators . The Holocaust being merely a culmination of Nazi persecution is true to a large extent and was meticulously planned and preceded by Hitler and his party. Laws of Jewish exclusion were enforced in 1935 and marked the beginning of the Nazi oppression. In1939, Nazi’s then pressured the Jewish society into deportation and Ghettoization before 1942, where the Jews were forced into the ‘Final solution’ and mass genocide. These three differentiating occurrences prove that the holocaust was a culmination of the Nazi’s systematic persecution of the Jews.

Although the Holocaust is mainly viewed as events
…show more content…
The outbreak of violence against the Jewish community began in November of 1938, in a night known as ‘The Night of Broken Glass’, or Kristallnacht, which is now seen as the first major act of violence within the ever-developing Holocaust. This night marked the transition of the Nazi policy against Jews from merely social exclusion, the removal of legal rights and economic boycotts, to organized physical violence and murder. As such, some consider ‘The Night of Broken Glass’ as a mark to the actual beginning of the Holocaust – which is where the date when anti-Jewish persecution in Germany began moving toward genocide . This opinion though, does not consider the amount of support the Nazi party would have needed by the public to undertake/enforce such brutality without mass backlash. In 1942, once approved by Hitler himself and after the ghettoization of the majority of the Jewish population, the ‘Final Solution’ brought with it the next major influx of violence against the Nazi victims. After constructed, in 1943, this included the transference to death and concentration camps, where, if they survived the journey, would be exterminated immediately, or worked to death. The methodical way Hitler went about transferring and uprooting the Jews, especially to the concentration camps, even after the initial arrest of 50,000 in 1938. These camps were used as a form of punishment, and were very much unknown of existence. Hitler himself stated, "When I came to power, I did not want the concentration camps to become old age pensioners homes, but instruments of terror." . The intentions for the camps usage were malicious and subsequent to the construction within 1938- not

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    John Damski: The Holocaust

    • 1864 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The holocaust was the mass slaughter of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, and Jehovah Witnesses by a German organization called Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Nazi) from 1941 to 1945. The Nazis believed they were a superior race of people, and anyone they thought was inferior or believed something different should be killed. In the time span of four years the Nazis are believed to have killed 11 million people, 6 million are believed to be Jewish. (Rosenberg 1) Many citizens of Germany and the countries the Nazis conquered believed that what the Nazis were doing was wrong; but they were afraid to publically disagree. There was, however, every-day, ordinary people who risked their lives to help Jews escape the Nazis persecution.…

    • 1864 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lasting 12 years, the Holocaust was the mass genocide of Jewish people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and gypsies. It was estimated that 11 million people died during this time period, 6 million of which were Jews. The name Holocaust comes from the Greek word ‘Holokausten’, which means sacrifice by fire. According to most historians, the Holocaust began on April 1st, 1933, when Germany, under Nazi control, passed the first anti-semitic law, effectively boycotting all Jewish run businesses. Legislation against those of the Jewish faith continued to be passed and was referred to as the Nuremberg Laws. The horror of this event has caused many to study and learn from it so that it can never be allowed to happen again. To ensure that no one could ignore it’s happening, 17 countries have established laws banning Holocaust denial.…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Holocaust, which was the systematic persecution and murder of over six million Jews during World War II, is often cited as one of the worst atrocities committed in the history of human civilization. People speak of it in hushed, mournful voices as they wonder at how the German Nazis could be so malevolent as to annihilate a whole generation of Jews. Hundreds of eminent scholars have eloquently explained the horrific nature of the Holocaust and its effects on the modern world (Gerstenfeld). Yet, it can be said that emphasis should be placed on understanding why Adolf Hitler decided to exterminate so many Jews. Only by looking through the perspective of the Nazis can one begin to understand that the Nazi Party and its leader, Hitler, brutally…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Holocaust was a time of pure evil and grief. From when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, lasting to the day the war ended in 1945, the Jewish population was taken from their homes, put to work, and faced with shocking living conditions. One of Hitler’s goals was to racially cleanse the society of Germany and areas in Poland to become a complete Aryan race. In 1933 the first concentration camp was established. These camps were used as either work camps, transit camps, or killing camps. Jews were forced to overcome absurd emotional and physical obstacles, and many were killed. Out of the approximate ten million Jews alive before the Holocaust, only about four million survived. In 1945, Anglo-Americans and the Soviets discovered…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the early 1940’s Germany had begun its pursuit on starting and ending its grand master plan which was called the “Final Solution.” The solution was primarily for the Nazi’s to exterminate the Jewish people, thus creating a massive genocide leading to an annihilation of over six million Jews. The mastermind behind the entire regime was Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party and dictator of the Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. Hitler was the central cause for beginning World War II, and the Holocaust. The holocaust is something that we must never forget nor must recur, because of how treacherous and agonizing the events were. Whenever genocide occurs many lives are lost and massive tolls become unbelievably unimaginable and for what cause…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Most people know very little about the most infamous case of genocide in the world, the Holocaust. Altogether, the Holocaust was the mass murder of over six million Jews and other persecuted groups under the German Nazi direction in the 1940’s. Jews were led into camps where they died in horrific, inhuman ways. Between the number of people killed, methodology of the killing, and the premeditated destruction that was allowed by the entire world, the Holocaust is one of the most important genocides in the history of the globe.…

    • 1641 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Holocaust was a time of historical conflict and darkness. At the hands of Adolf Hitler, he and his Nazi party, the Third Reich, motivated to bring the Jewish religion to an end, as well as homosexuals, gypsies, and others. Anyone who defied the social norm should be exterminated. They were not people; they were merely creatures. What fueled Hitler’s hatred remains a mystery today. Some mention the grandmother he hated, some say he blamed the religion for losing World War 1, but there is no black or white answer. There isn’t any mean of justification. Today, the human race has, to reflect and analyze the motions of the Third Reich are scholarly essays, journals, and books- we are forced to infer, as to what could’ve fueled the movements of the infamous, Third Reich.…

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Holocaust was one of the cruelest and brutal times for the Jews. The way life in the Auschwitz concentration camp was very hard to live by. The holocaust started in January of 1933 and ended on May the 8th of 1944 the construction of the camp began in October 1931. 125 prisoners were sent there in the very first train load, but as soon as they realized how many of the Jews there were they started to pack more people in at a time. Auschwitz was a concentration camp for the uncooperative prisoners, but soon it became a regular camp because this camp was for uncooperative people the Nazi were trained to be tougher and more brutal (The Holocaust).…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The definition of the holocaust is a mass scale of destruction or slaughter. In this case of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis it is a unique event that evolved from and takes place in 1933-1945 with the Jew’s being the main target in the eyes of the Nazi regime. The Nazi’s were led by a man called Adolf Hitler, also known as the Führer. He believed that the Jews were blame for the failure of World War One and were the reason why Germany had gotten to such a point where there was mass unemployment, debt and the loss of a military foothold. This spurred Hitler’s hatred for the Jews and ultimately motivated his desire to persecute them. This is supported by Hitler who stated “The symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew.” This supports Hitler’s hatred of the Jews and his belief that they were to be treated with contempt.…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Holocaust, one of the more well-chronicled atrocities in history, was a genocide where approximately six million Jews were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime, led by Adolf Hitler, from 1941 to 1945 as a part of the Final Solution. Even in modern times, it is revered as a grim reminder that inhumane historical occurrences such as the Holocaust must not repeat itself. However, some often deny that the Holocaust even took place. This is generally driven by the claim that it was overemphasized or falsely fabricated by the Jews as part of a plan to lead and spread awareness about Jewish beliefs. This assertion illustrates…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, and state sponsored persecution of over 6 million people living in Europe (Introduction to the Holocaust). The Holocaust is also known as the mass murder of European Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and anyone who was different than what they expected (The Holocaust). On January 20, 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor and the mastermind of the genocide (The Holocaust). His two main intentions of racial purity and spatial expansion completed the core of his worldview (The Holocaust). Over the next six years, the Nazi regime undertook “Aryanization” of Germany, dismissing all non-aryans or anyone they deemed as imperfect to their Utopian society (The Holocaust). In a concentration camp owned by the Nazi’s known as Auschwitz, over 2 million people alone were killed there (The…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Effects Of The Holocaust

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Nazi party came to power in Germany in 1933 and believed that Jews, and many other racial groups including Roma people, the mentally disabled, and homosexuals were all inferior or substandard, and these groups were methodically mistreated by the Nazis. However, from 1941 to 1945 the Jewish people were murdered in enormous numbers in what has become known as the Holocaust. Genocide is the killing of a large group of people, but particularly those of an exact ethnic group, religion or nation. Importantly though, the term genocide did not exist before 1944 and it used now to refer to violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the group’s entire existence. The genocide was carried out in many phases with the ultimate goal of killing all of the Jews in…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The history of the Holocaust is one that continues to captivate the minds of historians, sociology, political scientist, and popular culture. One of the many lasting legacies that continues to haunt the memories of individuals concerning the Holocaust is the idea that six million people could be exterminated by a “western” modern, capitalist society while the rest of the world stood and watched. Nazi Germany created the environment where Jews and other undesirables such as gays, gypsies, and communist began facing persecution decades before this state-sponsored mass murder campaign, which systematically started in 1941. The Nazis extermination policy that began with pogroms and clear directed violence was recognized and known by other Western counties. One of the most devastating accounts of human rights…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Many people around the world are well aware of the cruel treatment, mass murdering, and inhumane acts forced upon Jews during World War 2, known as the Holocaust. The word Holocaust, actually meaning “sacrifice by fire” in Greek, represents the systemic and hateful planned actions performed onto Jews. “in 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over 9 million,” says author of “Introduction to the Holocaust” on www.ushmm.org, German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, would soon play a role in drastically changing that population.…

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As said earlier anyone who wasn’t for Germany was against it, but some were persecuted simply because of their religion, their families religion, their background, or how they looked. The first to be targeted in Germany was the Jews. Hitler blamed Jews for Germany’s defeat in the first war. The persecution started in 1933 by banning Jews from certain professions and would occasionally boycott their shops. By 1935 the Nuremberg Laws were put in place, making Jews second class citizens and prevented them from marrying Non-Jews. They lost the right to vote and had to use only yellow painted seats on the bus. In 1938 Crystal Night happened after a nazi was Murdered by a Jew in Paris; Jewish synagogues, shops, and houses all over Germany were destroyed.…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays