Background
World history is rich in a vast number of different events that, in one way or another, have influenced the development of societies. It is hard to disagree that both negative and positive events and processes make a significant contribution to shaping the future of this world. That is why, no matter how much people sometimes want to erase or change some historical scene, one should appreciate the fact that this is impossible. For example, many persons would like to cancel and erase one of the most horrifying, shocking, and tragic historical processes – World War II.
One of its causes was a monstrous, immoral ideology, and many innocent people died during this war. At the same time, this is an integral part of world history that cannot be forgotten – while recovering from World War II, a number of states managed to improve their processes and economies. One would probably agree that Holocaust was the most terrible and scary component of this war – people were killed or enslaved primarily on the basis of their ethnicity. This research paper aims to review several primary and secondary sources discussing the war and specifically the discrimination faced by the Jews.
Annotated Bibliography
Arad, Yitzhak, Israel Gutman, and Abraham Margaloit, eds. Documents on the Holocaust: Selected Sources on the Destruction of the Jews of Germany and Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2014.
This is an informative collection of primary sources edited by Israeli historians and researchers. Moreover, one of them, namely, Israel Gutman, is a survivor of the Holocaust, which adds credibility to the book. In Documents on the Holocaust, there is an extended number of translated primary sources like diary excerpts, military orders, speeches, and official decrees. Arad, Gutman, and Margaloit make sure that their collection contains truthful and relevant accounts and stories. Their objective was to reflect how the Jews reacted to the Nazi ideology and discuss the latter’s essence. For instance, the authors mention that in Poland, specific orders were issued to “degrade the Jewish population, to stamp them as criminals, to exclude the Jews from the economy and to take over their property.”3 They were hunted for forced labor and not considered to be human beings. It is noticeable that, at first, the Jews chose to defend themselves and oppose the new policies by ignoring and breaking them.
“Holocaust Survivor Testimony: David Aptovitzer.” YouTube video, 4:49:58. Posted by YadVashem. 2019. Web.
Created and sponsored by Yad Vashem, an official memorial devoted to the Holocaust victims and located in Israel, this video is an interview with a Holocaust victim. It is hard to disagree that learning this information from someone who was in the center of these terrible events and managed to survive is very valuable and insightful. For example, Mr. Aptovitzer mentions that, when the war was declared, many Jews were taken to the army, and for numerous months, no one of them could learn anything about their friends and family, even parents: the information was disclosed. He explains that after months or even several years, those who survived the war had to search for their relatives and find any information by asking other people – this was not only an aspect of war itself, but a minor indication of discrimination against the Jews. Mr. Aptovitzer says that the Jews could rarely survive in occupied places because of the Nazi immoral views. This is a great and informative resource to explore the topic.
“Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Natalie Borowski.” YouTube video, 1:03:18. Posted by YadVashem. 2019. Web.
This is another interview with the Holocaust witness and survivor. In her speech, Natalie Borowski recalls the time when together with her family, she had to hide from the Nazis. The value of this primary resource is that it is a video format. Consequently, one can see the real emotions of a woman who had to face the cruelty and immorality of the Nazis but found strength and bravery within herself to survive. Natalie Borowski and her family members used false identities, moved from one place to another, escaped the Nazis, and wore yellow badges because they were Jewish – this is the primary horror of World War II. This is a credible source that allows one to learn about the life of a particular person, as well as learn more about the Holocaust and the inequality the Jews faced.
Patterson, David, Alan L. Berger, and Sarita Cargas, eds. Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2002.
One may probably agree that this book is an exceptional work on the Holocaust and its causes and consequences, as well as the well-being of people who faced it. Patterson, Berger, and Cargas created a collection of valuable and significant literary works of those poets and authors who were to some extent related to the war and the Holocaust. Literature is a unique mirror of truth that reflects events and tells about them to future generations. Consequently, this is one reason why it was so important for the authors to collect the most outstanding literary works, as well as their analyzes, into one encyclopedia of the Holocaust. For example, as noticed in the book, Ilse Aichinger, in her writing, “protests the Nazi use of language as an instrument of destruction” and finds her own way to help liberate the Jews.
Taft, Margaret. From Victim to Survivor: The Emergence and Development of the Holocaust Witness, 1941–1949. Elstree, Vallentine Mitchell, 2013.
In this book, the author addressed the feelings and state of the Jews who managed to survive this terrible war. According to Taft, even after the end of World War II, the pain and horrors that the Jews experienced never disappeared. Not only they confronted an unprecedented threat to their life and well-being, but they also observed how the Nazis justified and then tried to conceal their actions. In other words, this book offers to view the issue from a slightly different perspective.
Thesis Statement
One of the main horrors of World War II was the discrimination and extermination of the Jews, who had to hide, use fake identities, lose their hope, and live in constant fear for their lives because the Nazis did not accept their nationality. However, even after the war finished, the Jews did not manage to free themselves from fears and put an end to the climate of hostility and anti-Semitism.
Research on the Holocaust and the Jews’ Experiences
There are only several unquestionably terrifying events in the history of the world, and the Holocaust is one of them. For many people, it may be impossible to comprehend that some individuals consider themselves so much better that they decide to discriminate and deprive the freedom and life of those who, in their opinion, do not deserve to live. What is more, it is challenging for modern persons to imagine how much pain, fear, despair, and disappointment were experienced by the Jews who survived the war or died during or immediately after the Holocaust. They had to hide, betray their identities and national culture, and beg other people to help them. Those captured by the Nazis experienced horrifying discrimination and had to work to the point of exhaustion. Some survivors like David Aptovitzer and Natalie Borowski still find it almost impossible to recall those events they witnessed but simultaneously find it significant to talk about them.
Bibliography
Arad, Yitzhak, Israel Gutman, and Abraham Margaloit, eds. Documents on the Holocaust: Selected Sources on the Destruction of the Jews of Germany and Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2014.
“Holocaust Survivor Testimony: David Aptovitzer.” YouTube video, 4:49:58. Posted by YadVashem. 2019.
“Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Natalie Borowski.” YouTube video, 1:03:18. Posted by YadVashem. 2019.
Patterson, David, Alan L. Berger, and Sarita Cargas, eds. Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2002.
Taft, Margaret. From Victim to Survivor: The Emergence and Development of the Holocaust Witness, 1941–1949. Elstree, Vallentine Mitchell, 2013.