|
|
|
Hitler walks to his car on the third anniversary of his chancellorship, after speaking at an SA rally in Berlin Lustgarten. |
The Holocaust definedWhat does Webster's Dictionary define the Holocaust as?
ho·lo·caust
\'hO-l&-"kost, 'hä- also -"kästor'ho-l&-kost\
noun The first two definitions explain the meaning of the word, the third shows that it has become a proper noun in the English language. So is that all there is to it? Of course not.
Beyond the mere definitionThe Holocaust is generally regarded as the systematic slaughter of not only 6 million Jews, (two-thirds of the total European Jewish population), the primary victims, but also 5 million others, approximately 11 million individuals wiped off the Earth by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. It is hard to grasp the idea that it isn't just 11 million deaths, but 11 million people whose lives were cut off because of racism and hate, all in a period of 11 years (1933-1945). There are actually two main phases to the Holocaust, the period between 1933 and 1939, the Nazi rise, and the period between 1939 and 1945, the period of war, or more specifically, World War II. The first concentration camp opened in January 1933, when the Nazis came to power, and continued to run until the end of the war and the Third Reich: May 8, 1945.The idea that the Holocaust represents 11 million lives that abruptly ended is a difficult concept, but this is an important point, and one this site hopes to help bring across. The Holocaust was the extermination of people not for who they were but for what they were. Groups such as handicaps, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, political dissidents and others were persecuted by the Nazis because of their religious/political beliefs, physical defects, or failure to fall into the "Aryan" ideal. The unfortunate truth is that the Holocaust is a subject whose gravity is obvious, but it is easy to become almost numb to it. As Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and famous Holocaust survivor has said, "the essense of this tragedy is that it can never be fully conveyed." When viewing this site, think about the individual people in the images you see. Remember that the Holocaust is something that we should all learn about so that we never let such a terrible crime against mankind happen again. One of the reasons you can listen to survivors is that it helps to show that every one of those 11 million has a story, but they aren't alive to tell it.
A testamentThe Holocaust shows something amazing: the strength of the human spirit. Prisoners survived because of their sheer will to live, unwilling to be broken by the oppression of the Nazis. It is incomprehensible how life truly was for those in the camps, the day in, day out, monotony of horror that grew into weeks, months, and even years. The fact that there were survivors shows that there is something in us that cannot be taken away no matter what, and that is a true testament to the human spirit.Obviously this is a summary description of precisely what the Holocaust is. Entire books could be written on the subject, but we are trying to provide you with a graspable overview to familiarize you with the subject. |
Former Buchenwald prisoners - Elie Wiesel's face is visible on the second row, seventh from the left, by the vertical wooden beam. (The enlargement will shows him better.) |
|
Buchenwald inmates at roll call. |
|
A group of children in the Soviet Union just prior to their execution. |