The Holocaust Essay -- essays research papers

The Holocaust Experience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world that people lived in during the Holocaust is described by the personal experiences of the oppressed throughout the story Jack and Rochelle, written by Jack and Rochelle Sutin, and the memoir by Alexander Donat titled The Holocaust Kingdom. The horrifying mindset of the oppressors, particularly the Nazi`s, is illustrated in both books. The vicious and relentless emotional, physical, and psychological abuse the Nazi`s targeted at their victims is depicted in detail. The unspeakable cruelty received by the Jews dramatically altered their state of mind and how they lived their lives. The emotions of despair, distress, depression, hopelessness, helplessness felt by the Jews eventually turn to hate, anger, hopefulness, faith, and ultimately revenge against all oppressors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Holocaust was a traumatic and tragic time in history to say the least. Those who were victims of the mistreatment were forced to respond. In Jack and Rochelle, both families were used to some form of oppression. Growing up in Poland, Rochelle and her family were used to feeling hated. Here is an example through dialogue of how some of the Poles felt about the Jews and the Germans: â€Å"Just wait! Hitler is coming and he`ll off the heads of all you Jews.† Rochelle: â€Å"What are you so happy about? The Germans might cut off my head, but your independence will be gone. Poland won`t be Poland anymore!† â€Å"They would tell me that it was worth losing their independence just to get rid of the Jews (page 8, Jack and Rochelle).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack also experienced mistreatment even before the Germans came. In the town of Mir, he attended a grade school where he was singled out by the teachers: â€Å"As for school work, if we failed to complete an assignment or to pass a test, we were singled out for special criticism, well beyond what a Polish student would receive. â€Å"What`s the matter Jew?† the teacher would ask us. â€Å"Can`t keep up? (page 14, Jack and Rochelle).† They knew that they could not stay in Poland: â€Å"†¦there was no freedom, no future for us in Poland (page 16, Jack and Rochelle).† The Jews in Poland knew that they were not welcome. Here is an example of how Jack felt from early childhood growing up in Poland: â€Å"Did I have a sense that Jews were hated in Poland? You didn`t need to have a ... ...l, educated people. Finally, in April of 1945 the camps were liberated. After the liberation of the Jews, many of the Jewish inmates of the camps were too weak to move. Many of the Jews being liberated were so delusional from the continuous negligence, torture, unspeakable acts, mass killings, (basically an unrealistic experience), that they were not aware of what was happening. The Jewish prisoners were not restored to health simply by liberation. More painful than their captivity was the awakening from nightmares. When the prisoners began to improve physically, they were then able to feel and think and realize what had really happened to them. Many of the Jewish survivors described themselves as incapable of living their lives to the fullest. They often caught themselves unable to perform tasks that are considered very basic. Some felt that the war and the imprisonment had such a dramatic affect on their life that they had their spark to life that they once had. The traumatic experience of these camps has deeply scarred many of the unfortunate prisoners during the Holocaust. Let us all pray that a time like the Holocaust never comes about again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚