Holocaust Reflection

With something as diabolical as the Holocaust, it is important to know what situations and events led up to it. It all begins with anti-semitism. When Germany was defeated in 1918, Hitler blamed rich Jews for betraying the nation. Hitler became involved with politics in 1919 and began to lead a small Nazi Party. His hatred towards Jews became a much greater issue when he became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Hitler passed the Nuremberg Laws, which hindered the life of the Jews. These laws held back Jewish people from doing things they should have a right to do. Although it wasn’t until November of 1938 that the Nazis implemented mass violence in their hateful tactics to get rid of the Jews. Krystallnacht, which means “the night of the broken glass”, was a terrible event for the Jews. The Nazis burned synagogues, smashed stores, and about 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. The Nazi movement carried into Poland, France, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and Denmark, where many more Jews were forced into the hands of the Germans. The Nazis were concerned that they were not eliminating people fast enough; they wanted to kill as many people as they could and sacrifice the least amount of time. This thirst for murder created the idea of extermination camps. These camps would use technology to help the Nazis fulfill their cruel plan of mass-extinction. This is better known as Hitler’s “Final Solution”. Lives were taken away in gas chambers and disposed of in burning furnaces. Anti-semitism is traditional, and Hitler hated Jews. When he took control of Germany he used propaganda to steal the German people for his wicked plans. Hitler may have been the ringleader, but it is the collaboration of millions of regular people that helped bring into effect his plan to exterminate the Jewish “race”.
One of the few things the Holocaust taught us is that man is not born good. Eleven million people were murdered; that act did not come from a good heart. The Holocaust is an...