Holacaust Spring PBL

 Jazmine Rocha

5/20/22

Holacaust

     We all know about the most impactful event in History. So many things happened during that period of time. Many people wish that the Holocaust would have never happened. So many innocent lives were killed. Many of us wish that some of the killings could have been stopped before all of these deaths. However, some of us think about what could have been avoided or what could have been done.  But maybe there was something that we could have avoided the treaty of Versailles and which made them admit full responsibility for the war. There are so many different opinions about this some people suppose "nothing could have been done" others say the "Jews could have acted sooner and stood up for themselves."   But however, when almost all Jews were captured there was nothing that much that could be done.  At the same time, they had opportunities to flee away.   According to, The Holocaust Encyclopedia  “Between 1933 and 1939, more than 90,000 German and Austrian Jews fled to neighboring countries (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland). Moreover,  when the rise of Hitler happened he persuade many of his people to go against Jews. This was called antisemitism. They thought Jews were a threat to German society. Hitler and the Nazi party had blamed the Jews for so many different reasons. One of the main reasons they were blamed was the collapse of German society and economy. According to the Nazis, the Jews were the solution to all of their problems in Germany. In addition to this, the Anti-Jewish boycott was targetting Jewish-owned businesses and offices of Jew professionals. The boycott was a way to was a way for Hitler and the Nazi party to blame the Jews for Germany’s defeat In World War I. 

    

    Eventually, the Jews were the focal point of the War. You might be asking yourself “What made the Holocaust the focal point of the war.”  For instance, The Nuremberg Laws were made to keep Jews and Germans apart by not allowing them in public areas. These laws made many Jews lose their rights and their properties forcing some of them to leave the country. Many people were shocked at what have they done to deserve this. Later on, this made them create ghettos. Ghettos were poor communities in towns. Jews were forced to move and leave their homes and live in these so-called ghettos. They were mistreated and tried to survive in the terrible conditions they were in. This was just a temporary arrangement. Afterward, their final solution was to create concentration camps. They would treat them so ruthlessly. They were beaten, starved, and tortured many died from the harsh conditions they were in while doing labor work. 

    
        We all know the Holocaust was devastating. Until this day there are still family members mourning their relative's loss. According to this site the Holocaust encyclopedia, there is an estimate of 6 million Jews deaths. It also states there were “ around 7million soviet civilians killed (including 1.3 Soviet Jewish civilians, who are included in the 6 million figure for Jews).” Including about 50,000 jew soldiers were killed. In the most known concentration camp, there were approximately 1 million deaths. Also in the ghettos, there were at least 800,000 deaths. This shows how Jews were mistreated which eventually lead to the cost of many people's lives. 

    It is said that non-antisemitism people helped many Jews.  Many Germans sacrificed their lives and their families to help them out and provided for them. They would hide them in their homes and provide them with food. Some Countries helped Jews. Such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, and France. France didn't deport any Jews they kept them and refused to give them to Germany. The Danish resistance organized a rescue operation. In which fisherman helped 7,200 Jews in small fishing boats to safety in Sweeden. Finland and Norway refused to give their Jews to the Germans. France didn't deport any Jews they kept them and refused to give them to Germany. 

Propaganda has always been around for a long time. It had a major impact on anti-semitism in Germany. They used propaganda so people can have hatred toward Jews. They had many forms of propaganda. They would use movies, books, radio, art, and music. The way they would show Jews in propaganda made them seem like bad people. They outcast them and made them view them as greedy, with poor manners, and ugly. The Nazis also use propaganda to dehumanize them. They had shown Germans that if a person had a big nose they are automatically Jews.   

In fact, the United States did not help the Jews. The U.S had Known about the killing of Jews since it began in the Soviet Union. The Allied Government cared more about defeating Nazism and not saving Jews. The U.S could open more immigration laws to rescue more Jews. They could’ve made the Nazi atrocities more public to have other countries' help. 

Who is to be blamed for the Holocaust? We can say Hitler is to blame because he was the leader and the idea that Jews should not be alive. However, others also participated in this not only Hitler. Just as the Nazi Party, the German Military, also common German people participated. Some European participated in the Holocaust too. They would treat them horribly just because they thought Jews were a threat to German society. 

What can we as a society learn from an instance in History so we do not repeat it again?  Now that we have seen the consequences of actions of how one event impacted the whole world. We can avoid this by stopping it before a genocide happens. We can also enforce more laws to handle situations if it ever gets to a big problem. There can be more control in countries and not let one person decide everything.