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Nick Hancock
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1102-003
25 September 2015
During and After Holocaust Impact Inquiry Proposal
The inquiry topic that I have chosen is Holocaust Testimonies. This topic is completely
about the victims of the holocaust, as they share their stories and life experiences during such a
horrific time in their life. This topic describes in detail the amount of pain and suffering that
these victims suffered through. In addition to the description of horrific events, these victims talk
about what helped them survive, and more importantly overcome such great odds. These victims
really go into detail to paint a vivid picture as to how they were affected by these events in their
life, and how they have used it to better the rest of their life. These victims also use the sharing of
their testimonies to educate those who know very little about the disgusting events that took
place as a part of the holocaust. In addition to this, the victims share their testimonies so that
others can use their stories as motivation for their life in whatever way they chose to do so.
I have chosen the Holocaust Testimonies because I find it very interesting. I believe that
there is so much more that I can learn about the Holocaust by listening to those who were victims
in the holocaust, rather than reading articles written by those who have studied the holocaust and
are considered to be experts of the Holocaust. I thought of this particular topic after watching the
Holocaust Testimony of Reva Kibort. This testimony was so enlightening due to all of the rich
information it presented on the holocaust events. It was also a great message and it really
inspired me in so many different ways and made me think about no longer taking each day for
granted. My strongest interests in this topic are to become more educated on the entire Holocaust

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with the completion of this class (compared to my previous knowledge of the Holocaust). I am
also interested to see how this inquiry really changes me in the sense of not taking life for
granted, and really getting more out of these testimonies then just knowledge on the Holocaust.
My background knowledge of the Holocaust is very little. Prior to the Holocaust
Testimony of Reva Kibort, all I knew was that the Holocaust was a very bad event in history.
After the Holocaust Testimony of Reva Kibort, I now know the amount of pain and suffering that
many of these victims endured. I know that many victims slept together in bunk beds with one
blanket to cover all of their bodies. I know that these victims were woken up at five oclock in
the morning and taken outside in the freezing winter just so that the soldiers could get a count of
the amount of people they were had with them that day. I know that these victims went for many
days without food. I know that families were separated. I know that the pain and suffering turned
family members against each other. I know that people lost hope. I know that it is an experience
in which nobody would ever desire.
Some specific questions I have about the Holocaust Topic are: In what ways were these
people impacted, and what triggered that impact? In this question I am attempting to understand
how these victims were impacted during the holocaust, and more importantlywhat made them
be affected in such a way. Another question that I have is: What did the mental and physical
aspects of the Holocaust consist of during and after the Holocaust? This question is more selfexplanatory, but I am seeking to discover how these people were impacted through their thoughts
and through their health, both during and after the major event.
There are a couple of different ways or angles to look at these questions. One way of
looking at the first question I posed would be to figure out the multitude of ways in which these
victims were impacted, whether that be through experiences such as torture, hunger, being

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separated from their family members or many other horrific experiences in which these victims
faced. Then, after discovering this information, I would seek to find out what the reasoning was
for this experience to occur. One way to look at the second question that I posed would be to
examine the impact of the Holocaust on these victims during and after the Holocaust and try to
paint a picture of what that looked like mentally and physically for these victims. I would convey
how mentally distraught these victims were as well as how physically weak and worn out they
were.
My inquiry question would be: In what ways were the victims of the Holocaust impacted,
what triggered that to happen, and what did these impacts entail, during and after the holocaust,
both mentally and psychically to these victims?
Inquiry Peer Editing Feedback
Due to my partner doing more of a paper than a proposal a lot of the peer editing was
thrown out of order. Even though this was the case, I still gave my feedback on her writing. All
of the formulaic aspects (MLA) were correct. The inquiry topic is the Denial of the Holocaust.
The inquiry question is not clear. The most interesting part to me was when you said many
people denied the holocaust from even happening. During reading, I didnt fully understand
where you were going with everything. Each paragraph to paragraph did not transition smoothly
and/or keep me understanding your meaning behind what you were saying. I became confused in
the paragraph that started with, people report the Holocaust because I felt like you were trying
to bounce around too much and not get straight to your argument. I think all of the examples
need to be more solid and backed up by supporting information as well as analysis of the
examples. Then, from there, re-read your sentences aloud and make sure that they make sense.