FREE ESSAY ON HOLOCAUST

HOLOCAUST

The Holocaust is likely one of the most misunderstood historical events of modern times.
There are those that underestimate the extent of world knowledge about the German
atrocities. There are also those whom are ignorant of the way in which the Jews reacted
to their situation. The incredible extent of incorrect information about the Holocaust
which people have been taught is a severe problem that must be corrected immediately. The
only solution is the education of the masses. It is imperative that modern society fully
appreciate the terrors of the Holocaust in order to prevent it's reoccurrence. First and
foremost, we must address the fallacies concerning the world's knowledge of what was
happening.
It is often assumed and taught that the Holocaust portion of World War II was such a well
kept secret that no one knew of it until after the fact, however, this is untrue. There
were various ways that the world was notified of these horrors. Various nations and
various Jewish communities gained knowledge of the barbarity and did nothing.
The powers that be were notified many times of what was going on. On September 29 and 30,
1941 there was a mass killing at Babi Yar, a Russian city near Kiev. Reporters in Kiev
were sending the story to their publishers within three days, it was never printed. A
Swiss-German industrialist, after having been invited to watch a mass killing, sent
photographs to Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, they were ignored. In
February 1942, the Vatican and the Red Cross received confirmed reports of the Holocaust.
After discussing whether to intervene, they concluded that they had to remain silent, so
as not to compromise their neutrality. In July of 1942, news reports of the killings were
aired in London, however, nothing came of it because the reports were in French. Head of
the CIA, Allen Dulles received an account of the camps from two inmates in 1944. Despite
being quote-unquote "profoundly shocked" he remained silent for two years. The worst show
of the world's indifference was in the case of the ship named the St. Louis. From May to
June of 1939, the St. Louis carrying 930 Jewish refugees, 734 of which had permission to
enter America and all of which had Cuban landing certificates went from country to
country requesting asylum. All but 22 who were accepted into Cuba, were refused entry
into America, Paraguay, Chile, Columbia, Argentina, and Cuba. Finally on June 12,
Britain, Holland, Belgium, and France accepted the refugees. The majority of those that
were taken onto continental Europe perished within twelve months, the 287 that went to
Britain survived the war.
In addition to the nation's ignoring the crisis of the Holocaust, the Jews outside of
Europe were relatively inactive. There was very little done by the Jewish communities to
help their brethren, and their feeble attempts were not supported by the nations in which
they lived. Steven Wise, the head rabbi of New York in this time period, received the
minutes of the Wannsee Conference. The Wannsee Conference was the 1942 Reich congress
were the Final Solution, the plan to kill all the Jews, was completed. Wise took the
minutes, which included the "Blueprints for the Extermination" to President Roosevelt.
They did not do anything, thereby allowing more Jews to die. World Jewry negotiated with
the Nazis to buy the lives of 100,000 Jewish children and bring them into British
controlled Palestine. Great Britain refused to allow them into Palestine. In fact, a
British official is quoted as saying, "What are we going to do with 100,000 Jewish
children?" Those children, whom were so useless to Great Britain were murdered by the
Nazis.
It is easy, when faced with all of these facts, to recognize that the image of the world
as having German wool pulled over their eyes is fallacious. This information makes it no
longer possible to claim that the world could do nothing to save the eleven million
people who died, due to ignorance of what was happening. The details related here
disclose a grotesque flaw in historical character, it brings to light the complete
disregard for human life which nations harbored. However, this is not the only delusion
of the Holocaust which I intend to rectify. There is also that of the European Jewry's
reaction to their situation.
Despite their virtual lack of outside support, the European Jews did not go like lambs to
the slaughter as they are often portrayed. In every ghetto and in every concentration
camp there was some resistance, whether it be physical, moral, or spiritual. In virtually
every ghetto there was a physical revolt. The most well noted is that of the Warsaw
Ghetto Uprising in Poland's capital. It took six weeks for German soldiers to defeat the
civilians of the Warsaw Ghetto, two weeks longer than it took them to defeat the entire
Polish Army defensive. There were even escapes from death camps, such as the 1943 revolt
at Sobibor where an unprecedented 60 prisoners escaped. 
In addition to physical rebellion, there was moral and spiritual resistance. Moral
resistance consisted of remaining a mensch, or good person in spite of the hardships to
be combated. Spiritual resistance entailed a persistent fight to maintain your soul and
keep your faith in the face of terrible odds. This was achieved through saying Kaddish (a
very important prayer), celebrating important holidays, establishing libraries, schools,
orphanages and theaters and by maintaining the will to survive.
The Jews of the ghettos and of the camps fought against the odds to survive. They stood
in the face of the most excruciatingly inhuman torture and withstood it. Whether they
survived or not, every Holocaust victim must be looked at with awe. Imagine what there
eyes saw, what there souls felt, and how there hearts burned. Imagine walking towards a
mass grave and singing the Mourner's Prayer for yourself. Imagine watching all those you
loved or cared about killed. Now imagine, after seeing all that, to still be human. That
is an accomplishment that we must not deny those twelve million martyrs, by teaching that
they went like lambs to the slaughter.
The Holocaust is an area that must be taught and understood. It is not enough to make
someone pity those who were killed. The educator must make the student respect the dead
and acknowledge that their deaths were not without purpose. We as a society, must realize
that the Holocaust, as the most infamous and disgraceful time in all history, must
therefore be the most highly studied. It must be taught to the fullest extent so that
every generation to follow has eyes completely open for signs of trouble.