Abstract This paper presents a report to Assistant Secretary of War, John J. McCloy with the aim of evaluating options and recommendation regarding the proposed bombing of Auschwitz. The paper discusses the implications of the discovery of Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in Southern Poland, and devises three possible courses of action and recommendations of the optimal resolution for the situation.
Table of Contents:
Executive Summary
Option I: Use Conventional Bombing: Target Gas Chambers and Crematorium Option II: Use Dive-Bombing: Target Gas Chambers and Crematorium Recommendation: Do not Engage in Bombing Auschwitz
From the Paper "The decision not to bomb Auschwitz will have obvious backlash throughout the free world because by not bombing it seems as though the Allies do not value the lives of the prisoners at Auschwitz enough. Large backlashes can be expected from the Jewish community especially . To make amends the Allies must seek a swift liberation of death camps like Auschwitz, a decisive defeat of the German War Machine, and a post-war world without Nazi ideologies.
"The recommendation of this advisory board is to halt plans of bombing Auschwitz and instead reroute resources and manpower in a way that ensures the fastest possible defeat of the Germany."
Abstract The writer explains that Holocaust deniers feel that the material taught in schools and colleges is propaganda written by Jews to gain sympathy, collect money for the State of Israel and to perpetrate hatred of the Nazi movement. It explains that the Holocaust deniers feel that their opinions should be taught in schools and colleges as part of the curriculum. The writer contends that the Holocaust curriculum taught is accurate and need not include claims made by historical deniers. The paper brings the three main arguments made by Holocaust deniers. The writer states objections to each argument and raises doubts about them. In conclusion, the writer states that Holocaust deniers have no logical arguments when confronted with information that is contrary to their beliefs and that the historical convergence of evidence proving the Holocaust did happen overpowers the illogical thinking of the deniers.
Table of Contents:
Statement
Argument One
Objection
Reply
Argument Two
Objection
Reply
Argument Three
Objection
Reply
Conclusion
From the Paper "Holocaust deniers do not deny that there are gas chambers and that some were even used to murder concentration camp victims. We simply state that they were not used for the mass murder of Jews during the Final Solution. They were there for the delousing of linens and clothing. There is not one shred of written proof that the Jews were ordered to die by gas chambers. As for the crematorium, we also do not argue that conditions in concentration camps were harsh, causing the death of many. Crematoriums were the most efficient way to dispose of the bodies who died naturally at the concentration camps."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the lives of those living in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. The purpose of this paper is to try and show the inhuman brutality of these concentration camps. 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 "Night", by Elie Wiesel, is an autobiographical book about the survival of a young Jew, Wiesel himself, in the utmost degradation of the human soul. This paper dicusses how, in Weisel's book, "Night", the images of night and fire, the themes of brutality against children, the loss of spiritual faith, the idea of death, the inversion of the father-son relationship between the protagonist and his father, Shlomo Wiesel, all substantiate the degradation of the human soul from civilization and faith to savagery and loss in faith.
From the Paper "The recurring image of night itself and fire are significant. Night falls at the most crucial parts of the book: when Shlomo Wiesel, Elie Wiesel's father first announces the news of the "transports" (13), when Eliezer first observes the shocking vision of death by burning in the crematorium, and when the march from Buna commences. There is a gradual increase in the darkness especially before, during, and after the march: "an even darker night was waiting for us on the other side." (84) Eliezer's pain increases with the darkness and is finally numbed when the night becomes pitch-black. Once the procession reaches the barracks in Gleiwitz, the prevalence of death increases as the night grows longer to the point where "the days resembled the nights and the nights left in [our] souls the dregs of their darkness." (100) "
Abstract This paper examines and compares the "Memoir Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account" by Miklos Nyiszli with the film "The Grey Zone" directed by Tim Blake Nelson. The paper argues that the two differ significantly in their portrayal of the reality of the gas chambers and crematoriums of Auschwitz. The writer believes that the essence of the book is a stark portrayal of the brutal, belief-defying reality of Auschwitz, however the film in typical Hollywood style, fails to capture this essence. The writer explains that the film focuses on one act of rebellion that took place in the camp, thus focusing on heroism but glossing over the full reality and horror of the SS death machinery, as well as the mystery of why so many people walked passively to their death. The writer concludes that while "The Grey Zone" is a good film with strong acting from an accomplished cast, it is too trapped in the conventions of Hollywood to do justice to the essence of the book on which it is based.
From the Paper "This is an example of the kind of evil that makes it inadequate to refer to Auschwitz as a moral gray area. Moreover, it should be noted that the detail of the murdered toddler twins is a good example of the way in which the film fails to capture the essence of evil that permeates the book. In the film, there is a very brief scene in which Oberscharfuhrer Eric Muhsfeldt (brilliantly played by Harvey Keitel in what must have been one of the greatest performances of his life) peeks at what looks like the corpse of a young woman on the dissecting table, and remarks that they are usually young. Nyiszli matter of factly explains that it is more usual to find twins together when they are young. This brief exchange does not remotely rise to the level of horror conveyed by Nyiszli's discovery that the twin toddlers have been killed with an injection of chloroform into the heart."
