Abstract This paper presents a brief look at the beginnings and evolution of the Nazi concentrationcamps. The writer looks at the original purpose of these camps and at their evolution into death camps. The writer also argues that the Jewish people were not the only victims and the prisoners were not just Jews. The writer points out that righteous people, trying to stand up for the rights of their fellow man and people of many different ethnicities and religions were all victims of the Nazi campaign. The writer concludes that World War II and the Jewish Holocaust changed humanity.
From the Paper "World War II and the Jewish Holocaust is remembered as the darkest moment of humanity in recent history. It is generally believed that the Nazi party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, was on a quest to rid the world of Jewish people. The pictures of starving men and women in German concentration camps are probably remembered most. Most people believe that those men and women are the poor Jews hated by all Germans. However, the persecution included people of many faiths and ethnicities. The truth of the matter is that the camps were not originally planned to be extermination plants, and actually for the first few years only a small percentage of prisoners were Jewish."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the lives of those living in Nazi concentrationcamps during the Holocaust. The purpose of this paper is to try and show the inhuman brutality of these concentrationcamps. The paper further discusses the extermination camps that were built in 1942 with the purpose of murdering Jews.
From the Paper " Many prisoners eventually became what were known as Muselmanner. The Muselmanner are persons destroyed, devastated, shattered wrecks strung between life and death. They are the victims of a stepwise annihilation of human beings. The mere external appearance of the Muselmanner bespoke profound dehumanization. In a final stage of emaciation, their skeletons were enveloped by flaccid, parchmentlike sheaths of skin, edema had formed on their feet and thighs, their posterior muscles had collapsed. Their skulls seemed elongated; their noses dripped constantly, mucus running down their chins. Their eyeballs had sunk deep into their sockets; their gaze was glazed. Their limbs moved slowly, hesitantly, almost mechanically. They exuded a penetrating, acrid odor; sweat, urine, liquid feces trickled down their legs. The rags that covered their freezing frames were full of lice; their skin was covered with scabies. Most suffered from diarrhea. They ate anything they could lay their hands on--moldy bread, cheese wriggling with worms, raw bits of turnip, garbage fished from the bins. "
Abstract The paper discusses concentrationcamps built by Hitler's Germany in WWII for Jews as well as other prisoners. It provides a brief overview of the history of anti-semitism in Germany of the time, including Kristallnacht, and describes life as it was for prisoners in the camps.
From the Paper "The living conditions in both camps could be classified as dismal at best. The poor living conditions caused contagious diseases to spread like wild fire throughout the camps. In Auschwitz I, the prisoners lived in brick barracks with hundreds of three leveled bunk beds. The barracks did not have heating or any sanitary components to them. The barracks were extremely overcrowded, had leaking roofs, and there were rats running all over the place.
"While in the camps, prisoners received three meager meals a day. If they were performing "light" labor they would be given 1,300 calories of food a day. If they were doing more demanding work they would be fed 1,700 calories a day. As a result of being fed a very small amount of food in relation to the amount of work they were doing, many prisoners suffered from malnutrition and a form of physical deterioration they referred to as the "Muzulman state"."
Abstract The paper explores the role of prostitution in the Nazi concentrationcamps and how they related politically, economically and socially within these environments. The paper explains that by examining, in detail, all three of these tiers of Jewish women and the prostitution rings they were forced to participate within, one can realize the horror of German political and military policy in humiliating these marginalized peoples.
From the Paper "This holocaust analysis will examine the role of Jewish women and prostitution within the economic, social, and political formats of concentration camps within the Third Reich of World War II. Outline: A. Introduction. B. Political Issues of Prostitution in the Holocaust I. The concentration camp prostitution policy. II. The validity of concentration camp implementation of prostitution policy III. The military politics of prostitution for Jewish Women C. Economic variables of prostitution within Hitler's concentration camps I. Women and monetary profit from prostitution in concentration camps II. The profiteering of concentration camp officials through prostitution. III. Indentured servitude and prostitution in concentration camps."
Abstract This paper covers the origins, the operations and the ultimate shut down of the concentration and extermination camp system of the Third Reich. The author gives a comprehensive explanation on the differences between concentration and extermination camps. The activities that took place in the camps are also discussed as well as the types of prisoners that were held and killed in these camps. In addition, the author also looks at the medical experiments that took place.
Outline:
Origins of a Nightmare
Pre-War Derivations
The Camps in War
Concentration v. Extermination
Activities of Murder
Labor
Medical Experiments
Mass Murder
The End of Horrors
Evacuation and Liberation
Summary and Conclusion
From the Paper "Henrich Himmler and Oswald Pohl. Prisoners of the facilities quickly found themselves in a bleak world of suffering; a world filled with hard labor, cruel medical experiments, and mass murder. In nineteen-forty-four, a new hope was found in the advancement of the Allies and revolts spread throughout the camps. However, as the likelihood of liberation grew, so did Himmler's fears of losing control. In desperation, he ordered an evacuation of every concentration and extermination camp in the Reich's Eastern territories. The death marches that resulted sent many more innocents to their graves. The nightmare ended in April nineteen-forty-five."
Abstract An overview of medical experiments conducted on prisoners in the camps by Nazi doctors. The writer looks at the main 'doctors' who were responsible for these experiments and includes personal accounts by some people who were lucky enough to survive. The paper concentrates on the types of medical experiments performed and the reasons why these were made possible, due to the way the concentrationcamps functioned.
From the Paper "World War II was a period in which millions of atrocities were committed and millions of people were killed. Under the eye of the war, Hitler was able to perpetuate the massive killing of millions of people; the majority of them were Jewish, some others were gypsies, prisoners of war, political prisoners, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and more. The holocaust, as we called it today, was a massive genocide that changed the course of the world; the atrocity, and sadistic murders committed against innocent people marked forever the history of humankind. Hitler as the head of the Nazi Party was with no doubt the guiltiest person in this crime; however, camps were run by SS guards and SA guards, the perpetrators of the killing that were guilty as well. The concentration camps were indisputably, killing factories whether it was a death camp or not, where massive numbers of death and murders were occurring daily. The concentration camps were death factories due to the exploitation, starvation, the massive killing in gas chamber in some camps, and of course due to Medical Experiments."
Abstract This paper explains that Elie Wiesel's "Night" is a harrowing tale of a young boy and his father, who are shipped from their home in Sighet, Transylvania, to the Nazi death camps in Auschwitz and later Buchenwald. The author points out that, while the story is presented as fiction, the book is a true account of Wiesel's experiences as a Jew during the Second World War, demonstrating one boy's struggle with his faith in a world where God has seemed to abandon him: Does God exist for modern man? The paper relates that, even the writing form - short excerpts, vivid details, almost like dreams and snapshots - emphasizes the emotional charge of the bleak "endless night" of the concentrationcamp experience, which transforms the human individual into an animal being; however, in the incessant lamentation and anger that accompanies Wiesel's theological doubt, there is always an element of faith that springs forth.
Table of Contents
Thesis
Critique
Summary Paragraph
From the Paper "The absence of God crushes Wiesel's soul as much as the horror around him. He feels the need to find God, to explain why God is so silent. The question repeats itself throughout the book: "Where is God now?" It is followed by the more specific: "What are you, my God?...What does your greatness mean?" Unable to reconcile his belief in a caring, merciful God with his real-life experience of a silent, negligent God, Wiesel turns to his father. His deepest concern in life is to remain close to his father, to not be separated by the constant "selection" of the SS officers, to not let his father become physically weak or to die and leave Wiesel alone. When on the way to Buchenwald he thinks that his father has died, he feels a meaninglessness pervade him and says "there was no more reason to live, no more reason to struggle.""
Tags: writing-form, theological-doubt, faith, concentration-camp, boy
Abstract This paper tells the story of Anne Frank, the young girl who hid from the Nazis in an attic in Amsterdam. The writer discusses that she hid for 25 months before being discovered and then was sent to a concentrationcamp along with her sister and parents. The writer tells that Anne, her sister and mother died in the camps. In this paper the writer shows that her father survived and published her diary, which has become known the world over as "The Diary of Anne Frank".
From the Paper "When Adolf Hitler came to power, his anti-Semitic beliefs were put into practice by his Nazi party, which passed anti-Jewish laws and built concentration camps, where millions of Jews were killed or died from the harsh conditions. Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl and her family were forced to hide and Anne began a diary which documented the sufferings of her family. It has become famous as "The Diary of Anne Frank" and has been made into movies, TV specials and plays. The diary ..."
Abstract The paper explores the arguments of five scholars - Robert L. Berger, Benjamin Freedman, Velvl W. Greene, J. Katz and Robert S. Pozos - on whether it is ethical to use data collected from experiments done to prisoners in Nazi concentrationcamps. The paper examines which of the five scholars presents the most convincing argument while also presenting significant moral dilemmas related to the subject.
From the Paper "During the Nazi regime, certain groups of people were targeted, not only for execution, but also for dehumanization. People such as the Jews and the Sinti and Roma were subjected to treatment more brutal than that of animals. In concentration camps such as Dachau and Aushwitz-Birkenau, inmates were forced to play the parts of guinea pigs in horrific experiments. For example, in Dachau, male prisoners became human subjects in experiments that involved a torturous procedure including being submerged in an ice water bath for periods as long as seven hours. The scientists running the tests claimed that the results were going to be applied in the cases of German soldiers suffering from hypothermia. Much of the data from these experiments were recovered and later published raising a bioethical debate concerning whether or not it was appropriate to use such information."
Abstract This paper focuses on the mass murder of the Jews in U.S.S.R. during World War II at the hands of the Nazis. It provides a chronological list of events in the U.S.S.R. from 1939-1945. It describes how the task of dealing with the Jews was entrusted to the shock groups (Einsatzgruppen) that accompanied the army assisted by local groups of collaborationists and how the Germans generally used one of four methods and in some cases, a combination of these methods to exterminate the Jews in the occupied localities in the Soviet Union: mass murders in ravines and quarries, rounding up and immediate extermination, concentrationcamps and ghettos. It concludes by telling the story of ghettoes of Vilna, Minsk, Riga.
From the Paper "A few days later an announcement was made ordering the Jews to register with the Judenrat, on pain of death. After a few more days"or weeks, at the most"the Jews were ordered to report at a certain spot in the town, from which they were going to be sent to a labor camp or ?moved to Palestine.? These announcements usually included a threat that any Jew who failed to report, and any person who helped Jews to hide, would be executed. The Jews were told to take along only a few items, and no food at all, since it would be provided for them by the authorities. The assembled Jews were escorted by Germans and locally recruited armed units who beat them, harassed them, and shot anyone who lagged behind or voiced any kind of protest."
Abstract This paper examines one of the minority groups targeted by Hitler, the "Pink Triangles", or thousands of homosexuals, the vast majority male, who were imprisoned, tortured, and murdered in Hitler's concentrationcamps. In particular, it looks at how they never received the same recognition as the Jews and other groups and how they were never offered apologies or reparations from the West German government.
From the Paper "In addition, gay men were disproportionately chosen for cruel, non-anesthetized medical experiments, including amputation of limbs, abdominal surgery, and experiments to study the effects of phosphorous burns. Also, the most arduous work in the camps was often reserved exclusively for the homosexual prisoners. At Dachau, gays were assigned the job of pushing and pulling a road-impaction roller through the streets from morning to night. At Sachsenhausen, homosexuals made up most of the work force for the Klinker Brickworks, which was known as a "human death mill" (Rector, p. 136)."
Abstract This paper examines the manner in which homosexuals were treated by the Nazis. It explains that while their numbers were much lower than the Jews, they were also a presence in the concentrationcamps.
From the Paper "Sadly, after the eventual defeat of the Nazi Party in 1945, homosexuals were not recognized as victims of its wrath. Many gays who were imprisoned in regular prisons were forced to finish out their sentences. The Nuremberg trials did not address the plight of homosexuals with the same degree of seriousness as they did for other victims, and no one was convicted of crimes against them."
Abstract This paper examines the effects of the "concentrationcamp universe" on Primo Levi's perception of time and on his writing by presenting a close reading of the first full paragraph Chapter 12, "The Events of the Summer."
From the Paper "Chapter 12, "The Events of Summer", deals with the fact that Levi has survived over five months; he is now a veteran of the camp. Levi is fully immersed in the "concentration camp universe." The outside world is all but gone meaning that all confines of the outside world are likewise gone. Levi does not have freedom; he does not have the same attachments to the things that are important outside the camps. Such things as honesty or bathing or everything else that is taken for granted by people not in the position as these men are all but forgotten. Levi no longer identifies with other people. He considers them to be living while he is dead. "
Abstract In this article, using primary sources only, the writer describes the effect of atrocities on American soldiers in World War II. The writer explores the horrors of war witnessed by soldiers who liberated Nazi concentrationcamps in addition to their moral outrage at the genocide. The writer discusses the differences between WWII soldiers and those who served in Vietnam, toward reaction to the horrors of war.
From the Paper While the phrase war is hell has entered the language as a cliche, the statement gains its power from its truth. American soldiers like soldiers from all cultures and in all periods of history have recognized that war is almost invariably accompanied by evil acts that go far beyond the carnage that one would expect from violent conflict between armies. In this report the horrors of war will be explored through primary source documents provided ... "
Abstract This paper looks at the conditions in the Sobibor death camp which was part of the Nazi death machine. It discusses how the conditions might have assisted in the successful escape attempt which occurred in the summer of 1943. An description in the from of a timeline account of the event is included.
From the Paper "The Sobibor death camp was one of the Nazis' best kept secrets. When Toivi Blatt, one of the very few survivors of the camp, approached a "well-known survivor of Auschitz," with a manuscript he had written about his experiences, he was told, "You have a tremendous imagination. I've never heard of Sobibor and especially not of Jews revolting there." The secrecy of the Sobibor death camp was too successful, its victims and survivors were being disbelieved and forgotten.
The Sobibor death camp did exist and a revolt by the Jewish workers did occur. Within this death camp, in operation for only eighteen months, at least 250,000 men, women, and children were murdered. Only 48 Sobibor prisoners survived the war."
