| Papers [91-105] of 335 :: [Page 7 of 23] | | Go to page : <— 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 —> | |
|
|
Elie Wiesel's "Night", 2004.
Book report on Eli Wiesel's book recalling his horrific experiences in a Nazi concentration camp.
986 words (approx. 3.9 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 35.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper summarizes "Night" by Elie Wiesel and explains how the book is about Wiesel's gradual loss of faith as a result of his experiences in the camps.
From the Paper
"Night by Elie Wiesel was first published in English in 1960 and gave the most chilling and most faithful account of his experiences during the Holocaust. We have heard a lot about concentration camps and how Jews were made to suffer simply because of their religion, however this book gives us something deeper to think about. The book studies the Holocaust experience in the light of Jewish beliefs and the author narrates the gradual loss of his faith in God. The novel begins with a normal description of life in Elie Wiesel's house. This is done to show how devout a Jew he was and how firmly he believed in God before all was taken away by the Holocaust. "I believe profoundly. During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple." (p.13) He was a strong believer in the powers of God and saw Him as an absolutely fair and just Creator. The book opens in the year 1943 when Elie's family and others in his Hungarian town of Sighet had not yet heard of concentration camps or Nazi atrocities. A pious Jew man who had been imparting religious knowledge to Elie tells everyone of his experience during a brief journey when all his fellow Jews were brutally killed by Nazi forces. It is not easy for the villagers to trust his stories but eventually Nazi forces enter their village too and this is when the real journey of faith or should we say, loss of faith begins."
| |
|
The Nazis and the Jews, 2004.
This paper discusses the historical steps by which the Nazis attempted to annihilate the Jews.
910 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 32.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper explains that Hitler believed that to achieve his dream of a pure racial state in Germany, he had to totally eliminate the Jews from the face of the earth. The author points out that the first working session of the Reichszentrale began the process of concentrating all matters concerning Jewish emigration into the hands of the police. The paper relates that in the concentration camps German doctors practiced "medical experiments", known as eugenics, on the Jews in which experiments were made regarding the purity of German blood as opposed to that of the Jews.
From the Paper
"Hitler's first stage of this act toward racial purity and a racial state was aimed at accomplishing two ends-first, Germany had to purge itself of its internal enemies, and second, Germany had to make itself strong. The first step in this process was purgation, which had been achieved with the promulgation of the laws of 1933 and the Nuremberg Laws. At the end of August of 1936, Hitler went to Berchtesgaden, where he prepared his memorandum on the Four Year Plan. A portion of this document provided for the expropriation of all Jews when Germany went to war, for the Reichstag was to pass a law "making the whole of Jewry liable for all damages inflicted by individual specimens . . . upon the German economy and thus upon the German people"."
| |
|
U.S. Response to the Holocaust, 2004.
Critical review of David Wyman's book, "The Abandonment of the Jews".
2,470 words (approx. 9.9 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 75.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper critically reviews Wyman's book about the United States' failure to help the Jews during WWII. The author of the paper argues that Wyman draws incorrect conclusions from the facts gathered and compares Wyman's book to other books on a similar subject, which the author suggests are much more accurate accounts.
From the Paper
"For the past decades, there has been a knee-jerk conviction in the United States that among all of America's many failings was an almost savage and planned program of refusal to help the Jews being slaughtered in Hitler's Germany. It seems a specious argument, at best. Or at least, it begs the question-and one relevant for today, one might add-"Who died and left the U.S. in charge of the good of the entire universe?" It seems likely that the same people who abhor our entrance into Iraq, ostensibly to do two things-root out weapons of mass destruction and save the Iraqis from their own leader-have strong parallels with this continuing, albeit low-key, debate about whether the U.S. should have, could have or would have done more to save the Jews. We are regarded, internationally and at home, as outlaws for our activities in Iraq. Positing that we should have acted in a similar manner might well have evoked the same response in the 1940s. It would be difficult to see where the qualitative difference in 'shredding' a citizen as Saddam Hussein is said to have done to dissidents and members of the other sect of Islam (not his own) and gassing them is very much different. A monster is a monster is a monster...and a victim is a victim is a victim."
| |
|
Review of Book about the Holocaust, 2004.
Introduces, discusses and analyzes the book, "The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War", by Martin Gilbert.
1,029 words (approx. 4.1 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 36.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper contains an analysis of the main arguments and the issues they raise in Martin Gilbert's book about the Holocaust. The paper focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the points made in the book and includes the author's opinion of those arguments as well.
From the Paper
"The author employs a vast number of sources in order to make his book more complete, and to illustrate the suffering going on all over Europe in Jewish communities. He interviews hundreds of Holocaust survivors, who tell compelling and unbelievable stories of violence, hatred, and viciousness so appalling, they tend to run together into a vast cauldron of denial. It is quite clear the author used any avenue available to him to complete his research and find sources for his book. The most compelling sources are those survivors who recount the unspeakable horrors that continued around them until the Jews' liberation in mid-1945. The book is crammed with horrible testimony to the cruelty and inhumanity of the Nazis."
| |
|
Pre-Holocaust and Post-Holocaust Jewish Literature, 2004.
Looks at how the Holocaust has affected Jewish literature by comparing short stories about similar subjects.
2,053 words (approx. 8.2 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 64.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper compares the content and tone of two short stories, "If Not Higher" by I.L. Peretz and ""The Kozshenitser Rebe" by Binyamin Orenshtayn, in an effort to determine if the authors were affected by the Holocaust and the great wars that took place between the time the two stories were written. The paper concludes that the authors were indeed affected by these events, as was Jewish literature in general, and, by comparing the literature, we can see a shift from a religious and faith centered approach to life to a socially motivated and political approach to life.
From the Paper
"The Yiddish short story "If Not Higher" by I.L. Peretz was published in Warsaw in 1900, decades before the holocaust. Fifty years later, the short supposedly true story of "The Kozshenitser Rebe" was published in Yiddish by Orenshtayn in a book of memorials to Jewish leaders. Both stories tell of the behavior of a specific (assumably Hassidic) rebe on an important Jewish holiday. However, apart from this basic similarity, these two stories are radically different. This may be partly a function of having different authors and of coming from different historical areas. However, if the differences between style and content with these two works is indicative not of the personal styles of the authors, then one is left with another option: namely that the striking differences between these two works is a result of the holocaust and the slaughter of the Jewry of Eastern European. If these two works are representative of the short story genre before and after the holocaust, then it appears that this traumatic event may have drastically changed the way that Eastern European Jews view themselves and their culture."
| |
|
Fascism in Nazi Germany, 2004.
An overview of the causes of the rise and spread of Fascism in 1930s Germany.
4,244 words (approx. 17.0 pages), 15 sources, MLA, $ 112.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper examines how many critics and theorists have speculated about the reasons behind fascism and the horror of the holocaust in Nazi Germany before and during the Second World War, how violence was prevalent, and how Hitler used it to alternately intimidate and incite his followers. It attempts to determine the roots of these causes by examining the historical and social context that made Germany so ripe for fascism and dictatorship by 1933.
Outline
Historical Context: The Weimar Republic
World War 1 and Political Upheaval
The Treaty of Versailles
The Economy
Hitler and the Socialist Workers' Party
The Golden Era
The Rise of Hitler and Fascism
Social Context: Functionalism
Structural Functionalism
Function
Structures
Interdependence
Equilibrium
Consensus
Conclusion
From the Paper
"The German political structure in World War I (from 1916) had been subordinate to the military. At this time the country was an Empire, ruled by the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL), or the Supreme Army Command. The Chief of Staff at this time was Paul von Hindenburg. At the end of the War the OHL installed a civil government for the benefit of the remainder of Germany after the war. The 1971 constitution was then amended. The Reich (Empire) had become a parliamentary democracy. The Parliament, or the Reichstag, instead of the Emperor, was now responsible for the political welfare of Germany. Such welfare was almost unattainable however, as the end of war meant returning soldiers. The fact that many of these soldiers were wounded both physically and psychologically brought chaos to the German society."
| |
|
Elie Wiesel's "Night", 2004.
This paper reviews Elie Wiesel's "Night", an accounting of his later childhood in Hungary and how he and his family ended up transported to German concentration camps.
1,420 words (approx. 5.7 pages), 0 sources, $ 47.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper explains that Elie Wiesel's "Night" is emotional and moving, although Wiesel does not use emotional words or phrases. Instead, his simple language and matter-of-fact approach remind the reader of just how ordinary the horrible things he and his family went through were. The author points out that the story reflects Elie Wiesel's personal journey, as well as all the events that take place. The paper reveals that, although most of the story is very unemotional, at one point Elie cannot stay separated from what he's saying; the topic is the death of his father.
From the Paper
"Some time later, however, Moshe returns telling a horrible story. He says they were forced off the train, made to dig a big pit, and then stood at the edge and shot. Moshe' escapes by pretending to be dead. Perhaps the Jews in Singhet would have believed him if his story had not been so awful, but he describes babies thrown up into the air and shot as they fall back to Earth and other awful sights. Elie says, "there was no longer any light in his eyes" (p. 17), but no one believes Moshe's story. In addition, Moshe believes that his life has been saved by divine providence to come back and warn the Jews of Singhet, but Moshe was not a respected member of the community, and people disregard his story and his concerns."
| |
|
"Schindler's List" and "Rosewood", 2004.
This paper critiques and compares the films, Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and John Singleton's "Rosewood".
1,240 words (approx. 5.0 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 42.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper relates that Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List was made superbly, using techniques that enhanced the impact of a powerful storyline. The author points out that the cinematography, the unique camera work, sharp angles, and black-and-white filming contributed to the success of this brilliant film. This paper explains that John Singleton's "Rosewood", another movie that captures the horrors of racial violence, is not as superbly made as Spielberg's film; nonetheless, it does full justice to the issue of violence, especially lynching.
From the Paper
"Based on true events that took place in 1920s, the movie was hailed for its realistic depiction of violence; but it failed to win accolades at the box office because of its not so powerful cinematography and less than unique film techniques. Unlike "Schindler's List" where everything contributed to make the movie successful, the same things did not serve the right purpose in "Rosewood". Singleton's camera work effectively captured fear and terror of racial violence, but it did nothing to accentuate the impact of important scenes. Unique camera work and exceptional editing skills were required to add excitement to an otherwise cliched issue. However, neither Singleton's direction nor Gregory Piorer's script could lift the film to the status of "Schindler's List". In the opening scenes, for example, the contrasts between white and black towns are almost too obvious and are given elementary treatment."
| |
|
"Schindler's List", 2002.
A review and analysis of the historical accuracy of Steven Spielberg's movie, "Schindler's List".
3,022 words (approx. 12.1 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 88.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze the film, "Schindler's List," directed by Stephen Spielberg in 1993. Specifically, it contains an historical analysis and review of that film. "Schindler's List" is the moving story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who took it upon himself to save a "list" of Jews by employing them in his cookware factory, rather than see them sent to the concentration camps. It looks at how critics call the film part docudrama and part fiction, emphasizing the historical aspects of the Jewish ghetto in Krakow and the concentration camp at Auschwitz and how,filmed in black and white except for the end and the girl in the vivid red coat, the film is a stark reminder of the atrocities of the Nazi party, while illustrating there are always people willing to risk their lives for the lives of others.
From the Paper
"Many historians and authors discussing the Holocaust believe only those who managed to survive the horrible conditions of the Nazi concentration camps are in fact qualified to write about what happened during those terrible times. Many writers and directors have attempted to tell the story of those who lived and died, but several maintain that the accounts by survivors are the only ones which accurately depict the ultimate evil of the Nazis and their policies of elimination for Jews, and anyone who did not belong to their blonde and perfect "master race." One of these writers is Michael R. Marrus, who wrote "The Holocaust in History," which discusses in depth the historical aspects of the Holocaust. Since Spielberg also interviewed many survivors of the Holocaust, his film does tend to accurately portray the experiences of Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp, and in the Poland ghetto of Krakow."
| |
|
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 2002.
A look at what might have happened if the Warsaw Ghetto uprising took a different turn.
1,321 words (approx. 5.3 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 44.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper details the events of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and discusses what might have happened had it turned out differently. The writer explores the events and their impact, as well as the idea of it turning out differently, and how that would have impacted the war and the world.
From the Paper
"The Holocaust was arguably the most tragic event of the modern world. It was a time in which one man and his regime wreaked immeasurable pain on millions of individuals and their loved ones. It was a time when entire populations turned to a regime willing to commit mayhem and murder rather than find their way out with a different solution. It was a lesson that will never be forgotten, however, among the anger, emotions and tragedy there is proof of the strength of human hearts and motivation. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is an example of just how strong the human spirit is and its existence provides the world with the knowledge that man will not be defeated regardless of the powers that may try and do so."
| |
|
Hitler's Rise to Power, 2002.
Examines factors in Adolph Hitler's life and personality that contributed to his rise to power as Germany's dictator.
3,414 words (approx. 13.7 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 96.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
Adolph Hitler is undoubtedly one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century. During his reign in Germany as a dictator, he made a tremendous impact on the events that happened on the European continent. His tyrannical rule, which surprisingly, had the support of the majority of the German people, coupled with his imperialistic notions, created a new chapter in European history. The paper shows that the intriguing aspect of Hitler's life is how he managed to rise from, literally, an unknown person to the position of "Fuhrer of Germany". Several historians have been interested in this meteoric rise of Hitler and have studied the sudden transition of his life, offering their own interpretations. The paper explores this aspect of Hitler's life in detail by studying the thoughts of different historians so as to gain a better picture of Hitler's life and the mystery behind his magnetic personality.
From the Paper
"The Great Depression in the early 1930's was one of the main reasons contributing to Hitler's success. The Weimar government was not able to standup to the economic crisis, which left millions of German's without job. People who so far showed little interest in politics were lending their ears to new radical parties in the hope of an economic revival. There was an intense yearning for a leader of the status of 'Kaiser' and the instability of the Weimar republic provided a fertile ground for Hitler and his Nazi party. The policies of the Nazi party attracted the German people who saw it as the only hope in chaotic situation. One of the main points of action promised by the Nazis was the reunion of the German people who were segregated from the mainland due to the implications of the treaty of Versailles."
| |
|
"Ordinary Men", 2002.
Analyzes Christopher R. Browning's history of the German Police Battalion in Nazi Germany, comparing it to Daniel Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners".
757 words (approx. 3.0 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 26.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
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."
| |
|
"Maus", 2002.
Discusses Art Spiegelman's portrayal of the Holocaust through comic panels.
700 words (approx. 2.8 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 24.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper examines Art Spiegelman's "Maus", a digest-sized comic book using mice, cats, pigs and other animals to portray a history of the Holocaust. The story recounts the history of the holocaust through highly detailed drawings and comic panels. The paper shows that "Maus" was designed to translate history into a format that would be readily read by younger generations.
From the Paper
"As we delve into the relationships within the story, including those that we are familiar with from history books, we begin to realize more and more what these relationships did to shape the ideology of a group of people, if not a community. The use of comic-images would, you would think, soften the realizations and accounts of events in the Holocaust, but in actuality they greatly amplify them. They are drawn images of memories, which in some aspects are somewhat more horrifying and true to life, than the photographs of the time were."
| |
|
"Sophie's Choice", 2002.
A review of the novel "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron.
2,560 words (approx. 10.2 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 77.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper discusses how William Styron's novel "Sophie's Choice" presents an almost unimaginably terrible moral dilemma to the reader. It looks at how in the novel, the character Sophie and her two children are taken to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Nazi purge of the Jews and how in order to be spared, Sophie must choose the life of one of her children over the other. It analyzes the several ways that one can ultimately view Sophie's decision to save Jan, her elder boy, such as using a Kantian, a utilitarian, or a relativist moral perspective. It also evaluates how Sophie's decision, for Styron, ultimately serves as a theological proof, a proof that, by extension, serves to show that Styron believes in an inherent meaning to morality very much in the same manner that Kant does.
From the Paper
"From the example of the terrible choice that Sophie is forced to make, one might ultimately conclude that Styron, then, accepts a relativist position on morality. Almost anyone would have to reject Kantian values in this application-by applying the categorical imperative Sophie would have almost certainly lost both of her children, and how could anyone call a mother immoral for being unwilling to sacrifice both of her children to the "higher cause" of an abstract ethical system? Making such a choice would seem terrible, cruel, and inhuman, so we can say of the Kantian analyzing Sophie's situation that, if he is willing call her unethical, he may be "theoretically" correct, but he has no heart. Utilitarianism seems similarly flawed, and Sophie's good faith efforts to save one of her children probably did not work-regardless she is at best uncertain as to her son's survival and doubts of it."
| |
|
"The Pianist", 2002.
A review of Wladyslaw Szpilman's novel "The Pianist".
959 words (approx. 3.8 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 34.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper examines Wladyslaw Szpilman's novel "The Pianist," in which the author details his account of his survival in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and how he managed to make it through the horrors and atrocities that were committed there during the seven years he writes about. It evaluates how there is no question that the life that Szpilman was forced to endure during the period from 1939 to 1945 was painful for him and many others who were there as well, and attempts to explore why
Szpilman managed to survive the terror while many others succumbed to it and lost their lives during that period in history. It analyzes the factors and forces that Szpilman describes when accounting for his survival so that an understanding of his desire to live and the forces both internal and external that spared his life, can be more easily examined and understood.
From the Paper
"Another circumstance that accounted for the survival of Szpilman but was also outside of his influence was the kindness of one officer who discovered Szpilman hiding in Warsaw late in his ordeal. He should have killed Szpilman, but instead he brought him food and a quilt. To say that Szpilman was incredibly lucky on that day would be an understatement of the largest degree. This was probably the only kind officer that Szpilman had ever met, but yet his novel does not reflect bitterness or hatred toward the Nazis (Frank, 2000). He saw the German officer that helped him out during that time as the 'only human being in a German uniform that he ever met', and he tried to find out what happened to the man. He eventually learned that the German had been imprisoned by the Russians for sympathizing with the Jews, and remained a prisoner until his death (Pleszczynski, 1999)."
|
|
|
