Jauwena 1

Abelhard Moshe Jaime Jauwena

Ms. Hannah Meeuwse
Individuals and Societies 10
6 September 2015
Protection of the Jews Rights During the Holocaust
The Holocaust saw inhumane treatments towards European Jews. Some say that such
actions violate the Jews rights, which, when judged by human conscience, is correct.
However, were the Jews and other victims of the Holocaust actually entitled rights and were
their rights being protected nationally and internationally?
The idea of moral codes of conduct had already originated from religions of the
world Christianity through the Bible, Islam through the Quran, or Hinduism through the
Hindu Vedas based on divine law. Human rights itself is a product of 17th- and 18th
century European thought and is not present in every society; it is not standards or behavior
punishable or required by rules (Rayner, History of Universal). However, up to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there was almost no system that enabled
criticism against mistreatment of people within the border of a government as long as its own
laws allow such actions (Faulkner, The Holocaust and). Therefore, human rights are of a
domestic issue.
With the rise of the Nazi Party to power, legal anti-Jewish policies were formed and
adopted by governments at every level Reich, state, and municipal (Examples of
Antisemitic). These laws were largely based on Nazis racial theory of Aryan supremacy,
which has its roots from the Darwinian evolutionary theory of the survival of the fittest
(Victims of the). Laws such as the Law for Restoration of the Professional Civil Service,
Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor, and the Nuremberg Laws made legal
measures to expel Jews from society and strip them of their rights (Nazi Germany and).

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Anti-Semitic legislation forbade Jews from marrying persons of German or German-related
blood, attending schools and universities, being treated by non-Jewish doctors, and having
other essential rights (Anti-Jewish Legislation in). According to the historian Saul
Friedlnder, the German population, believing in the Nazi Party to save them from political
turmoil, accepted the acts against the Jews. Sympathizing towards Jews would equal to
doubting Hitlers regime (The Nazi rise).
With the deprivation of the Jews rights supported by the German government, the
Jews have no way to stand for themselves. These legislations enabled and allowed the
persecution and massacre of Jews in German-occupied territories during the Holocaust,
which no country can deny or criticize against. However, with the revelation of the Holocaust
through the trials held against Nazi officials post World War II, the world knew the Nazis
terrible actions. Governments then united and formed the UN, which established a
Commission on Human Rights and drafted the UDHR. The UDHR, therefore, is born partly
from the realization of the horrors of extreme mistreatments during the Holocaust. With it, the
way a government treats its citizens becomes an international concern (Flowers, A Short
History).

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Works Cited
Anti-Jewish Legislation in Prewar Germany. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
18 Aug. 2015. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 6 Sep. 2015.
<http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005681>.
Faulkner, Woody. The Holocaust and Human Rights: A Time to Remember. The British
Institute of Human Rights. The British Institute of Human Rights, n.d. Web. 6 Sep.
2015. <https://www.bihr.org.uk/blog/the-holocaust-and-human-rights-a-time-toremember>.
Flowers, Nancy. A Short History of Human Rights. University of Minnesota. University of
Minnesota, 1998. Web. 6 Sep. 2015.
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/hreduseries/hereandnow/Part-1/shorthistory.htm>.
Nazi Germany and the Jews 1933-1939: Rise of the Nazis and Beginning of Persecution.
Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem and The Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance
Authority, n.d. Web. 6 Sep. 2015.
<http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/01/persecution.asp>.
The Nazi rise to power. Holocaust: A Call to Conscience. Projectaladin.org, n.d. Web. 6
Sep. 2015. <http://www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/history-of-the-holocaustshoah/the-nazi-regime.html>.
Rayner, Moira. History of Universal Human Rights Up to WW2. History of Human
Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sep. 2015. <http://www.universalrights.net/main/histof.htm>.
The development of anti-Jewish laws. The Holocaust Explained. London Jewish Cultural
Centre 2011, n.d. Web. 6 Sep. 2015. <http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks4/thenazification-of-germany/impact-of-anti-jewish-policies/the-development-of-antijewish-laws/#.VevBtp2eDGc>.

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Victims of the Nazi Era: Nazi Racial Ideology. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
18 Aug. 2015. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 6 Sep. 2015.
<http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007457>.