Why Do People Survive The Holocaust

"A beautiful, sunny day has risen. The streets are closed off by the Lithuanians. The streets are turbulent...Suddenly everything around me begins to weep. Everything weeps” This excerpt was extracted from Yitskok Rudashevski’s diary. He is a 13-year-old boy and this was written in Vilna on September 6, 1941. The Holocaust was one of the most corrupted time in history. Many people were being killed during the time. Many lost their jobs, families, and homes. The ones that suffered most were the Jews. They were placed in ghettos, concentration camps, labor camps, and extermination camps. Up to six million Jews had died or been killed. Some Jews survived the Holocaust by hiding, but, most were found before the Holocaust ended in 1945. There was a great deal of resistance during the Holocaust. Resisting could be either armed or unarmed. Unarmed resistance could be from smuggling to putting on shows. Jacob …show more content…
On June 22, 1941 German forces entered Vilna and assumed control of the city meeting. In the beginning of September 1941, two ghettos were established in Vilna. Ghetto One was designated for craftsmen and workers with permits. Some Jews were forced to work in factories or in construction projects outside the ghetto. Further outside of Vilna, was Ponary. Ponary was a forest and a killing site for Vilna. The first killings happened on July 8, 1941. One hundred Jews were bought there at a time. Many of the children, elderly, and the sick were sent to the Sobibor killing center or shot at Ponary. Many at first did not know that Ponary was a killing center therefore, they did not resist. “Ponary is not a camp -- all are shot there.” On October 1941, the small ghetto was liquidated to thin the Jewish populace of all those but skilled workers. Over Ninety-six percent of the Jews living in Vilna were murdered during the Nazi occupation. Vilna Ghetto was liquidated on September 23, 1943 with a majority of women and children