Holocaust (2413 words) Essay Example For Students

Holocaust (2413 words) Essay HolocaustWhat is Holocaust Denial and Why Does it Exhist? What is Holocaust denial andwhy does it exhist? This is far from being a simple question, as itneccessitates a background knowledge of what the holocaust really was and whythere would be efforts to deny that it ever happened. In my paper, I hope toexplain some of the horrific aspects of the holocaust and provide ample factsfor proof that this terrible ordeal happened, then attempt to understand whyholocaust denial came about in the first place. Attempting to prove that theholocaust never happened seems virtually impossible given the known exhistanceof concentration camps in Auschwitz, Belzec, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, andWesterbork, to name a few. In Martin Gilberts Holocaust Journey, aprofessor and a group of students visit many of these former concentrationcamps. In order to prove that the holocaust really did happen, first one mustunderstand why and how the holocaust came about. It is important to note thatthe roots of the hol ocaust began years before the holocaust actually took place. One possible theory as to why there was anti-semitism against the Jews is thescapegoat theory of prejudice. Because of the social and economical depressionsfacing Germany at the time, the people of the country were very susceptible to apowerful leader who promised to make them the superior race and who providedthem with a scapegoat as to why there is situation was so dismal. By paintingthe Jews as a penny-pinching, money-taking, elitist class that was causing allof Germanys problems of the day, the people were easily led to believe thatthe Jews were the reason that they faced hunger, poverty and a poor economy. Oneweb site that I visited that had a chronological order of events that led to theholocaust was Holocaust and Genocide Studies at http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/chronology.html. Some of the events that led to the holocaust that can be related to thescapegoat theory were the collapse of the Germany economy due to hyper-inflationand Hitlers drafting of his anti-semetic views in Mein Keimf while he wasimprisoned in 1923 and the collapse of the Great Coalition in German governmentin 1929. The collapse of the economy and the government were linked to the Jewsbecause they were a convenient group to blame. The scapegoat theory fitsperfectly into the scenario of the holocaust and it is because of it that onecan understand why the common people supported the holocaust whether directly orindirectly. The support of the common people is absolutely essential to causedestrucution of this magnitude, and in order to obtain their support, a powerfulleader, such as Adolph Hitler must prove to them why the Jews are the cause ofall their problems. Through the use of propoganda and powerful speeches, Hitlerwas able to prove his point to the masses. In a time of extreme weakness inGermany, he was able to grab these helpless individuals and make them believethat the Jews were and inferior race and that only through their destrcutioncould the Germans once again become a powerful and great people. Now that wehave established a sound theory as to why the holocaust occured, it is now timeto provide evidence that it happened. For instance, there are a wealth ofpictures available that were taken at concentration camps that show the terribleconditions in which the Jews were forced to live and the horrific images of deadbodies piled up on top of one another like so many dead animals. There arepictures of the gas chambers, the mass graves, the human ovens. I was able toview a great many of these pictures at the web site The Holocaust Projectat http://www.holocaust-history.org/hungarian-photos/. Among these photos werepictures of tight living areas, forced labor upon the prisoners, and multuplepictures of Jewish victims of the holocaust whether in concentration camps or inthere place of living. Among the more chilling pictures from the holocaust werethe victims of scientific testing done on these poor individuals and the massgraves that the Jews were dumped into following their deaths at theconcentration camps. Other pieces of evidenc that prove the holocaustsexhistance and severity are the first-hand accounts delivered by individuals whosurvived the holocaust or people who witnessed it. One website that contains alink to the stories of holocaust survivors is About.com which can bereached at http://holocaust.about.com/education/holocaust/. Here is a breifexert of one of the first-hand accounts taken from the site: In March, orApril, 1944, we got the dreaded notice that we had been selected forre-settlement further East. The train cars they took us in were actually cattlecarsthere was not much room between us and the roofthe SS troops were onthe roofs of the cattle cars shooting past the windows to discourage people fromsticking their heads out. The story goes on to tell of how they werestipped of all valuables and property by the Nazis and about the conditions inwhich they were forced to live. This survivor also describes daily life at thecamps and portrays the grotesque images of the dead being piled up likecordwood, naked, and without dignity. He also speaks of the massgassings and mass graves that holocaust deniers attempt to prove did not exhist. How Can We Help the Homeless and Should We?: Searc EssayHere is a god example of the goal of holocaust deniers and what they believe in. This qoute was taken from The Student Revisionist Resource Site at http://www.wsu.edu/~lpauling/:Revisionists are, in fact, Holocaust DIMINISHERS, not deniers. They arequestioners about what they believe are significant exaggerations in theHolocaust tale, and they are critics of the view that somehow this historicalevent is beyond discussion on pain of being placed in the category ofchild-molester or worse, shunned by society, even fined and imprisoned by someso-called free countries in the western world. It goes on to say thatRevisionists do not deny that there were wrongs done to the Jews such as thewrongful stealing of property, brutality and many deaths due to disease in poorconditions, yet they look to diminish the terrible things that happened to theJews by pointing to other horrible aspects of World War II. They believe thatwhat happened to the Jews was just ONE of the terrible things that happened inthe war, and far from the worst. Here is a paragraph taken from the page that belittles what the Jews went through: One needs merely mention Hiroshima,Nagasaki, the deadly carpet bombing of German and Japanese working class livingareas, the Soviet of Germany in their 1945 advance, the treatment of Germancivilians and German POWs after the war. One could go on almost ad infinitum inthis recitation of atrocities. Fifty million some say sixty million died asa result of the war. Was there more criminal behavior on one side than theother? By denying the mass killings of Jews and claiming they were victims ofpoor conditions at the concentration camps which came from a lack of materialsdue to the war costs, which in turn led to disease, holocaust deniers attempt tobelittle the terrible things that were done to the Jews by Nazi Germany beforeand after the war. They do however, take blame for persecuting and robbing theJews of their possessions, and in addmitting so much, they may come off as beinga group that is speaking the truth. Now that we have established what holocaustdenial, or revisionism is, we may now examine why holocaust denial cameabout in the first place. Well, one reason may be that due to the lack ofphysical evidence, it is easy for them to flat out deny that it happened. Butwhat are the gains from denying the holocaust? Denying the holocaust everhappened is a terrible injustice to the not only the millions who suffered andperished in the concentration camps, but the people close to them who sufferedalong with them. It is considered by many to be a new form of anti-semitism andone can only imagine the pain it causes to the families of holocaust victims andespecially the survivors. Imagine surviving this terrible ordeal and then havingsomeone belittle what happened to you, the grotesque things you witnessed, thegrim conditions, the hunger, the forced labor, the imminent threat of beingkilled alongside many others. This is why the force of holocaust denial is sostrong in terms of anti-semitism, and that is often the goal of hate -orientatedgroups, to find the best way to hurt a group of people. There are also otherbenefits of white supremacists in denying the holocaust. First and foremost, itis easier to gain support for their cause if they dont come off as the animalsthat they are made out to be. Being associated with what happened during theholocaust can turn away many potential followers who hate, but do notneccessarily condone violence and killings. Another paragraph taken from theStudent Revisionist Resource Site is yet another example of belittle the Nazitreatment of the Jews. It is as follows: Contrary to Holocaust Mythologythere was no attempt by Nazis, or anyone else, to exterminate the Jews. Therewas an attempt, largely successful in the areas controlled by the Axis, to expelthe Jews from Europe. In the context of the 1990s it was a terribleundertaking. In adifferent context, the context of European history over thelast two millennia, the expulsion of the Jews from this region or that regionwas no t uncommon. Historically there seems to be something about the Jews thatbrings forth a plenitude of animosity on the part of people amongst whom theylive. By painting the Nazis as just another group trying to remove the Jewsfrom Europe, Revisionists can claim there is something about the Jews that makesthem undesirable and there is a reason that people dont want them around. Thishas another along with diminishing the crimes the nazis committed, it feeds intothe hatered of Jews as well and makes it seem that this type of hatred has ajust cause. Its as if they are saying that if everybody else hates the Jews,what is so wrong with us hating them as well?