When we learn about the terrifying times during the Holocaust, the Nazis often come to mind first. Many ordinary citizens were trying to live their lives and support their families. The Nazis demanded that everyone follow their rules and beliefs, and that Jews should all be killed. Citizens decided the law was wrong when they understood that the Jews did no harm and saw the horrifying conditions of concentration camps. People were locked in wagons for days and had enormous difficulty because their limbs would not easily straighten from being squashed with others in the tiny wagons. Being a responsible citizen means to obey the law. Many times throughout the Holocaust, ordinary people turned themselves into rescuers …show more content…
“Can you guarantee they will live?” Sendler responded by saying, “I can guarantee if they stay, they will die.” Sendler still hears the cries of the young children when they parted with their parents in her dreams. Sendler had a jar filled with the childrens’ names who she saved. One night, the Gestapo arrived to Sendler’s home, and Sendler had to hide the lists. Fortunately, one of Sendler’s helpers, who was at her house at the time, hid the list in her clothing. When the Nazis found out about Irena’s activities, she was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. Her spirit would not be broken. She refused to reveal where the children who she saved are. She was scheduled to be executed, but members of the Zegota found out, and bribed a guard to instead leave her in the woods, where Zegota members found and rescued her. Sendler’s name was printed on the public lists of those shot by the Gestapo, and Sendler spend the rest of the war in hiding. After the war, Sendler worked to reunite the children she saved with their relatives, but nearly all of them were by then orphans as their families had been killed. Only one percent of the Warsaw Ghetto survived the war. She was honored for her wartime work, when people called her, telling her, “I remember you. I remember your face, you took me out of the ghetto.” One of the children which Sendler saved said, “To me and many …show more content…
Without knowing the horrifying stories of the past, we shall not move on to the future. Many survivors say about how they feel today as a survivor, “The wounds have healed, but the scars still remain.” Survivors pass Holocaust stories on to new generations. When telling the stories, it is emotionally exhausting to them. Those who hear these stories hold a responsibility to make sure, that in society, this shall never repeat again. The history is bitter but shall be known. It is our responsibility to spread the stories, for this manner. The stories of survivors affect me personally in a mentally hard way. I feel anger that the Nazis could treat human beings this way and feel awe for the people who managed to survive despite the emotional health intact. These stories affect history and have impacted the world because it helps people to understand the pain, torment, and suffering the victim felt. It affects history by making sure that we do not treat people like this again. It makes us think, “What can I do, to make sure this never repeats