Chapter 21 Connection Task Holocaust

1) According to these accounts the ghetto was where the Jews were herded and contained and were forced to live during Hitler’s sweeps. They lived in little huts with sometimes two families living in the same room and in the same hut. There was no TV, newspapers or entertainment. The only form of outlet they had was the circulation among themselves of books to read. There were radios that broadcasted only the progress of the war. No one was allowed to leave and they were forced to work for the German army making army supplies. The stronger the person was the better off because they were able to work harder. Everybody worked in the family except for children under 12 and the elderly. Eventually all the children and elderly were separated and removed from the ghetto. The guards had total control and searched them constantly.

2) The Auschwitz concentration camps were cold, but they did have stripped pants and shirts to wear with no socks or underwear. The Jews had to do what ever they were told, and everyone that was with a child was always killed in the gas chambers. If a Jew did not go in the gas chambers than many of them were medically experimented on by Dr. Mengele, hanged, or shot. Some of the Jews took their own lives or thought how lucky others were when they died because they knew that they did not have to suffer anymore.

In the Stutthof concentration camps the men and women were separated, they were stripped naked and searched. They were registered and asked what their occupation was and about their scholastic background. The camps were infested with lice and disease and the weak women would be left behind to die. They have frozen and blistered feet and were starved. They were led into the woods, hunted and shot. Some were lucky enough to escape and were rescued by the Russians. Each concentration camp was unique.

3) These accounts tell of the terrible conditions that the Jews went through during this terrible time in history. These people were despite for answers and looked to heaven or other means. These accounts tell that there was no way to protect people from going to a gas chamber. Most men would brake down when they knew when their wives and children went to the gas chamber. One man even committed suicide because he couldn’t live with himself after his family was executed in the gas chamber. Everyday people were hanged, shot, killed, and/or cremated.

4) History is good to study and understand because intelligent people can learn from past experiences and apply the lessons to current times. Some people say that history has a way of repeating itself. In the case of Hitler and his reign I really hope that countries and their people have learned what can happen when a mad man is allowed to run unchecked This past experience in history should stand as a reminder to all current and future generations. The lesson to be learned from the holocaust would be that mankind needs to remember to fight to preserve everyone’s dignity, rights and than assume responsibility to see that this occurs. Power is always evident and someone is always trying to over throw another person, ethnicity or country. People need to remember to speak up for themselves and others and not ignore when powerful forces come into existence. During WW II the Jews found that few people helped others to survive, many of them were murdered by their own neighbors, they were unaided by the rest of the world and they really had no where to run or hide.





I remember when I was young I visited the Holocaust Memorial in Miami, Florida. It was very creepy and dark. The memorial was so realistic and scary that it caused me to think that I was experiencing the same horror that they had. I could feel their pain and their severe suffering. I thought I was going to die in the gas chambers just like them and I felt enormously despaired. The detail on the faces of the people in statue was astonishing. The experience was very unbearable and I had to escape it very quickly. It was a very traumatic experience. I suppose it was extra real to me because I grew up in a household were my grandfather was a highly decorated veteran that had fought on the front lines against Hitler and marched his way across countries to reach Auschwitz to liberate the Jews. My grandfather enlisted to fight in that war because he said someone had to help right a wrong.