Abstract This paper examines the theories of intentionalism and functionalism in relation to the development and implementation of Hitler's Final Solution. The first theory holds that the Final Solution was the direct result of Hitler's anti-Semitic ideology and his orders to that effect. The second theory of functionalism asserts that the Final Solution developed haphazardly as a result of external pressures. The paper draws upon a wealth of historiographical evidence to support its findings. The writer weighs the merits of both theories and ultimately finds in favor of the theory of intentionalism.
From the Paper "The Holocaust was the deliberate and bureaucratic annihilation of eleven million people, six million of whom were Jews, by Hitler and his Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945. The Holocaust was the greatest genocidal attempt ever made and arguably the greatest demonstration of man's inhumanity to man that the world has ever seen. Even now, the Holocaust's legacy of death and destruction strikes fear and sorrow into the hearts of people around the world. Perhaps one of the greatest and most pressing questions of modern civilization is just how and why the horrible atrocities of the Holocaust occurred. There are two modern theories as to the origin of Hitler's Final Solution, the final plan for the extermination of all Jews and other "inferior" peoples. These two theories are known simply as intentionalism and functionalism. The traditional theory of intentionalism holds that there is a clear linear relation between Hitler's anti-Semitic ideology and the Final Solution."
Tags: anti, final, functionalism, genocide, hitler, semitism, solution, germany, nazi
Analyzes Christopher R. Browning's history of the German Police Battalion in Nazi Germany, comparing it to Daniel Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners".
Abstract According to Christopher R. Browning's aptly-titled history of the German Reserve Police Battalion 101, "Ordinary Men", the most significant single factor influencing any given policeman's decision to participate in acts of Nazi genocide, was that individual's personal willingness to obey the orders given to him as a soldier and as a German. In other words, how much was that individual willing to be subject to, for want of a better word, ?peer pressure.? The paper shows that this is in direct contrast to the thesis advocated by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen in his book, "Hitler's Willing Executioners". Goldhagen stresses that the actions of the policemen, soldiers and citizens who enforced the larger Reich ideological agenda were performed enthusiastically. The paper explains Goldhagen's belief that this willingness was the result of many years of anti-Semitic propaganda in Germany, extending back in historical time to the earliest days of German Lutheranism's influences on Christianity.
From the Paper "The actions of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 become, in essence, even more chilling when viewed through Browning's schema of explanation. It is easy to rationalize inhumanity as a symptom of German culture, and to state that all human beings have pure free will to resist the pressures of position, country, and ideology. The idea that one can still retain one's ethical, moral compass (as evidenced by the disgust and horror of the policemen) and act against it when structural pressures persuade one to do otherwise is far more disturbing and a far more bracing slap in the ethical face of one's judgment."
Abstract This paper retells the story line of this Holocaust book and then offers a critique on it.
From the Paper "This book, which depicts the story of a young man's journey through concentration camps and WWII, is actually telling two stories. One story is the obvious aforementioned about his times at Auswitz and other camps, but there is another story of greater importance. This story deals with Elie constantly asking God questions to which he doesn?t understand the answer to, followed by his changing religiously, and then brought to a close when his question is answered and he finally comprehends the answer."
Tags: book, report, holocaust, literature, world, war, II, religion, Aushwitz, god, facism, nazi, crematoriumfascism, icism
Abstract This paper reports that the book is about the moral heroism of this small town called Chambon-sur-Lignon during the German occupation of France"when Jews were being extinguished by the Nazi genocide machine. The author describes that the people in this town saved the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees. The paperr expresses that even in the midst of such human cruelty, Hallie shows that there was still the light of goodness in many humans' hearts; but, throughout the book, he struggles with the dilemma over whether good can prevail over such tremendous evil.
Abstract This essay will argue that Bell's thesis is that personal choices and not the determinism of historical forces led to the Second World War. In particular, as will be seen, Bell focuses on the personal choices made by one: Adolf Hitler. He contends that German policies of aggression and expansion that ultimately caused the war were shaped more by the personality of one man than by any broader mix of social forces or national interests.
Abstract This paper details the social and political policies targeting German homosexuals, beginning with its early criminalization in Germanic provinces before unification, with the majority of the discussion centered on the treatment of homosexuals during Hitler's Third Reich. Included is discussion of Paragraph 175, Ernst Roehm's homosexuality, the 'Night of Long Knives', medical experimentation on homosexuals, and the imprisonment of gays in Nazi concentration camps.
From the Paper "It was Heinrich Himmler who would ultimately shape much of the Nazi's policy on dealing with the homosexual question. Himmler was the leader of the SS (Schutzstaffel), the elite guard of the Nazi party, and the chief architect of the concentration camp system begun in 1933 (Plant, 74). It was Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich who led Hitler to believe that a coup was being orchestrated by their rival Roehm, whose homosexuality Himmler abhorred. The result of this deception was the Night of the Long Knives in which Roehm and hundreds others connected to the SA were murdered in June of 1934 (Plant, 56). Himmler would later refer to the murder of Roehm as proof of the Nazi's willingness to rid Germany of homosexuals, "Two years ago...when it became necessary, we did not scruple to strike this plague with death, even within our own ranks" (Steakly)."
Abstract This paper presents a timeline of events and conceptual analysis of the events leading up to the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda in 1994. The paper examines causes of, as well as events which occurred during the genocide. It also looks at the reaction of the international community and what can be done in the future to prevent such a tragedy happening again.
From the Paper "Many of the early requests and pleas for help were denied. There
was a peacekeeping force in Rwanda called the United Nations
Assistance Mission for Rwanda, but when Force Commander General
Dallaire became aware of the genocide and asked for soldiers and
logistical support, the UN Security Council refused and voted to
reduce UNAMIR down to 260 men. The international community did not
believe that they had any place or any reason to help in Rwanda.
Senator Robert Dole stated, "I don't think we have any national
interest here. I hope we don't get involved there." This was the
thought process of many government officials at this point."
Abstract The paper argues in depth why men and women had different reactions to the Holocaust and how both roles were changed forever. It describes the women's burden of being both Jewish and female, with its different emotional and psychological experience, the domestic changes with the emergence of working women and biological issues.
From the Paper "Treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany, during WWII, brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ?women and children first.? Traditionally this phrase implies that women and children are the first to be saved, but in Nazi concentration camps they were the first to perish. Due to a man's natural physical strength, his manpower could be utilized in slave labor camps. Although there were some female labor camps, women and young children were often deemed unfit for such a brutal assignment, and were therefore sent to be executed upon arrival at various concentration camps. Babies and pregnant women, once at camps such as Auschwitz, were automatically targeted for death. Women and children, who have traditionally been protected in times of war, were mercilessly forced into gas chambers after being separated from their husbands and fathers. They too were part of an ideological goal to exterminate races deemed unfit by the Nazi Reich."
Tags: camp, concentration, gender, germany, hitler, ii, jewish, jews, war, warsaw, world, wwii
Critical review of account of causes & effects of massacres of half a million Tutsis by Hutus. Examines the international reaction as compared to other genocides.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 1 source, 1999, $ 47.95
From the Paper "Alain Destexhe, in Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century, describes the massacres of half a million Tutsis in Rwanda, places that genocide in its historical context, explains how such a holocaust could occur just fifty years after Hitler, and calls for punishment of the guilty by an international tribunal to forestall another genocide in the future. The book is brief but powerful, leaving the clear impression that what has happened in Rwanda is truly among the three most horrible mass murders in the century. The author is relentless in focusing on the fact that the international community allowed this horror to occur, did little to stop it, funnelled its efforts into largely after-the-fact humanitarianism, and failed to punish the guilty and thus deter future genocide. The author suggests that the world has learned little from the genocides of the Armenians and..."
Abstract Analysis of Art Spiegelman's books MAUS I and MAUS II about what it means to be human. Plot. Importance of the family and of people helping each other. Concept of fate. Horrors of Auschwitz & the Holocaust. Book's comic book style and format. Characters of mice who embody the highest human ideals.
From the Paper "Maus is presented by its author, Art Spiegelman, in an unusual comic-book-style format. The form selected has a number of powerful advantages--it is a fresh approach to a much-told story, it humanizes and personalizes the tragedy much more than might a dry narrative, it feeds to the particular understanding of a visual society and a generation more attuned to the image than to the word, it may be a more palatable mode of presentation of such difficult subject matter for some people, and it accomplishes all of this in an ironic fashion, utilizing the methods of the comic book to tell a very un-comic story.
The mice in Maus are if anything more human than human beings because they embody all of the ideals that humans prize. This fact is heightened by these characters being portrayed as mice--the characteristics we see in them are not the..."
Abstract This paper claims that the international community failed to act or even uphold international law as a genocide was occurring because Rwanda is a poor African nation, which has very little significance within international relations. The paper examines the issue of hypocrisy within international relations when it comes to upholding and applying international law. The paper claims that international law is applied, or not, depending on the status of a country. It attempts to prove this through an examination of the reaction of the international community to the events that occurred in Rwanda, starting in April of 1994. The paper analyzes the issue of the Rwandan genocide to illustrate that, within international relations, a country receives the protection of the international community, like Kuwait did, not because of any utopian ideals, but because of realistic calculations regarding the importance and significance of this country.
From the Paper "In the second place, and as Philip Gorevitch writes, the Tutsi sent several appeals to the international community to save them and sent detailed reports of what was happening to governments, media and to representatives of Western governments (98-99). In the third place, foreign governments found the reports of the genocide believable enough to order the evacuation of all their citizens from the country. The French government sent its military to evacuate French nationals and witnessed the genocide for themselves (142-144). Consequently, the explanation for lack of action as being lack of knowledge of the genocide is not acceptable by any standards."
Abstract This paper discusses several instances of how the Holocaust has been viewed through the different types of media. The author examines the impact of this and how it has influenced society's opinion about the Holocaust.
From the Paper "World War II is a well-known and well-studied historical event. One experience that is most commonly associated with this is the Holocaust, the worst incident of genocide in history. The accounts of this widespread murder of six million Jews by the Nazis have been passed down through history. Some even refuse to believe that the Holocaust ever took place, even with the numerous accounts and testimonies of survivors along with the countless pieces of evidence that still remain today. Nevertheless, the effects of the Holocaust, the crime of the century, continue to shape our culture long after the actual barbaric event took place."
Tags: adolf, camps, concentration, europe, germany, hitler, ii, jewish, nazi, prisoners, war, world, ww2, wwii
From the Paper Roger Daniels, in Prisoners Without Trials: Japanese Americans in World War II, makes clear that the internment of Japanese-Americans was not simply a fluke that was justifiable during wartime. To the contrary, that internment was part and parcel of both the long American history of prejudice and discrimination against minorities in general (Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, etc.) and especially against Asian Americans.
The argument that the interment was justified because Japanese Americans posed a threat to the security of the United States ignores the fact that Italian Americans and German Americans were not rounded up and placed in internment camps. This was true despite the fact that Germany and Italy were enemies in World War II along with Japan. The racism of the..."
From the Paper "During World War II, the United States interned Japanese residents of the Western states in internment camps such as that at Manzanar in California. The reason was indicated in Executive Order 9066, signed in 1942 by President Roosevelt to give authority to the War Department to define military areas in the western states and to exclude anyone who might be seen as threatening the war effort (Houston and Houston xi-xii). Japanese living in the Western states were seen as potential subversives and were summarily removed to camps to prevent this. The camps operated until after the surrender of Japan, though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled at the end of 1944 that loyal citizens could not be held in detention camps against their will (Houston and Houston, 1973, xii). The United States was wrong to place any Japanese who had not committed any offense into these..."
Abstract This paper states that Elie Wiesel's "Night" is a terrifying account of the horrors of Holocaust through the eyes of a child who sees his family killed and whose own spirit is sorely tested, even these many years later, as he looks back on these events. The paper explains that the boy questions everything that in the past has provided some sense of stability--the community, the family, and God as well. The author feels that this book is an exploration of personal identity and an attempt for one man to come to grips with the fact that he has survived while so many did not.
From the Paper "The Holocaust tested those who survived and left them with questions that cannot be answered, or with answers, they could not understand. Moshe says the questions come from the soul and stay there until death, and the question of how and why this could happen is such a question. It is evident that this book is in part an attempt to come to grips with that question, though ultimately the boy who wonders about God in the beginning and who feels by the end that he has been all but abandoned by God never finds the answer as to why this has happened."
