The Holocaust and You
Read the following information then answer the questions in the space provided. These questions are designed for you to personally reflect on the subject matter and give your own personal response.
The Holocaust was an event that took place before and during World War II. Basically speaking, it was the annihilation of millions of people who were regarded by the Nazi party, and Hitler in particular, of being ‘subhuman’, ‘un-German’, or in other ways not worthy of living.
The Jews suffered especially, with an estimated six million murdered by the Nazis and their allies, mostly at SS-run concentration camps. These camps were specifically designed for killing people in the quickest and easiest way. Hundreds of thousands of people were taken from their homes and transported by train in cattle cars across German-occupied Europe. They were then sorted into different categories -those who could be worked to death as slaves and those who would be killed immediately. Those selected for immediate death did not know their fate. They were told they were to have showers. Their hair was cut, their clothes removed and they were locked in the shower and ventilation rooms. These rooms were really gas chambers. Their hair was later used by factories for material, their clothes and belongings were sold or used by German industry, and sometimes even their ashes were used as fertiliser on the surrounding fields.
By the end of the war 6 million of the 8 million Jews who lived in Central and Eastern Europe at the time had been murdered. In addition, much Jewish culture had been destroyed: Important books, paintings, music and buildings were lost forever.
Living Conditions Inside a Concentration Camp
What was the rest of the world doing at the time?
Many people like to accuse the Nazis alone of being guilty of murdering the Jews. However, should the German people and their allies carry all the guilt for allowing this human slaughter to take place? What about the other countries of the world who not only ignored what the Nazis were doing but also refused to offer any help to the victims? For instance, during the first 6 years of Nazi rule when it was very clear Hitler was intent on removing Jews from Germany, America left 80 thousand unfilled places in its immigration quotas. All of the western powers fighting the war, and many of those who were neutral, knew what was happening but did almost nothing to directly help the Jews.
There are several important questions we should ask here;
Are we responsible for other people in the world?
Should we always take notice of their suffering?
Surely some problems are just too big and difficult for us?
Pastor Martin Niemöller was a famous anti-Nazi German pastor who spent eight and a half years in a concentration camp for speaking out against Hitler. In a poem written in 1946 he stated,
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out--because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out--because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak out for me.
How did people feel after the Holocaust?
There have been many different reactions to the Holocaust. Many of those whose great sufferings were caused by the Nazis and their allies questioned their belief in a loving God? They asked why God parted the Red Sea for the ancient Israelites, but He could not stop Hitler?
However, for some, the suffering has actually bought them closer to God. Written on a cellar wall in Cologne (Köln) where Jews had been hiding was the poem I believe,
I believe in the sun when it is not shining
I believe in the rain when it is not raining
I believe in God, even when he is not looking
Some survivors have chosen to spend the rest of their lives seeking out those who are guilty of crimes during the Holocaust. One of these people is Simon Wiesenthal (see Lesson 8 After the Holocaust) who sought out and found many of the Nazis who had worked in the camps, changed their identities and then escaped justice after the war. His intention was not revenge, but to see them face ‘Justice’ for their Holocaust crimes in a proper court of law. He always claimed he wanted these criminal people to realise they did wrong and to feel guilt for all their actions against Jews.
Adolf Eichmann, the man who organized the transportation of Jews to Concentration Camps, on Trial for his crimes in 1960
Other people have said that some good has to come out of the Holocaust. They state that the Holocaust was a lesson that the world must learn about how bad things can get if left by themselves. The world needs a conscience. It is also said that the world has become a better place since the events of the Second World War and that something like the holocaust can never happen again.
Go back to Lesson 1 (What was the Holocaust?)
Go back to Lesson 2 (Racism and Prejudice)
Go to lesson 4 (Oskar Schindler)
Go to Lesson 5 (Man's Inhumanity to Man)
Go to Lesson 6 (The Milgram Experiment)
Go to Lesson 7 (God and the Holocaust)