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The Holocaust Story Of Gerda and Vladek

Can you imagine what life was like during the Holocaust? Many Jews, especially survivors, had

to go through an alarming experience, and were reminded of rarely subsequent life after the war. Can you

imagine the persons who did end up surviving, how may this affect their life like now? The Holocaust,

also known as the Shoah, was a systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews held under the

Nazi regime during World War II. The Holocaust lasted between the years 1933-1945. An Austrian man,

Aldof Hilter stood with the idea that Germans were racially superior and Jews were inferiors. The

Holocaust took place around two-thirds of Europe, making each survivor have their own experience of the

Holocaust. In the graphic novel, Maus 1, by Art Spieglman, Art indicates a narration of his fathers story,

Vladek Spiegelman, a survivor of the Holocaust. Art provides readers with personal insights of his fathers

life throughout the Holocaust. The United States Memorial Holocaust Museum provides information

about people who also lived throughout the Holocaust. One of these individuals was Gerda Weissman.

Vladek Spiegelman and Gerda Weissman are similar individuals. Both were survivors and victims

of the Holocaust. Both Vladek and Gerda were born in the country Poland, and in cities located in the

Southern of Poland. Gerda and Vladek shared an ideal of the textile industry before the holocaust. During

the Holocaust, like many other Jews, both Gerda and Vladek were sent to ghettos including concentration

camps. Gerda and Vladek both managed to become liberated or escape the Holocaust. In the end of the

Holocaust the two immigrated to the United States in different years.

Not only did Vladek and Gerda share various similarities, but they also had differences from one

another. Vladek Spiegelman was born October 11, 1906 in Czestochowa Poland. In the novel Maus 1, Art

Spiegelman, the second son of Vladek, explores his fathers young adult life insights. In the year 1939,

Vladek was drafted into the army and was sent to trenches, and an inception experience of World War II,

he was then captured after being put on the front lines to fight against Nazis.. Vladek was an individual

that had been living in a stable condition before the Final Solution. Vladek owned a textile factory, got

engaged to Anja in 1937, and along with that he had his first son Richeu. His wife Anja came from a very

wealthy family. The Final Solution had a huge impact on Vladek because according to what he heard
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many people were dying in mass shootings and being sent to gas chambers. Vladek suffered an

unfortunate death of his first born Richeu. Apart from this, Vladek returns home from being held

imprisoned from war, and when he makes a return to Poland he finds out that all his family is being

forced out of their homes and sent into ghettos. While Vladek and Anja tried escaping by hiding with

Hungary smugglers in Sosnowiec, the smugglers end up betraying them and get them caught which sends

them back to Auschwitz. Unlike other people who are sent to Aushchwitz, Vladek is able to survive

because of his mind skills and his surviving abilities. They eventually escape safely out of Eastern Europe

and immigrate to the United States on December 22, 1951.

Despite Vladek Spiegelman, Gerda Weissman was born May 8, 1924 in Bielsko, Poland. Gerda

was a middle class Jew before the ultime Holocaust began. Gerda went to school that was dedicated to the

textile industry. She began her education in Polish. The first encounter she came across Germans was on

September 1st, 1939 when she heard people outside race up the street on motorcycles shouting “Heil

Hilter” holding a swastika flag. In the time of the Holocaust Gerda was moved into Biesklos ghetto but

was deported in 1942 to work on a textile mill in Bolkenhain Silesia. A German supervisor, Mrs. Kugler

saved Gerda's life. Gerda fell ill and ended up going into a camp hospital where Mrs. Kugler knew that

SS men were inspecting the sick to gas them. Gerda was also sent to slave-camps in Marzdorf, Landshut,

and Gruenberg. In 1945 she was liberated by the U.S. Army in May, where she ensued with her future

husband. Which turned out to be one of the troops that liberated her. As a result Gerda immigrated to the

United States in 1946.

As revealed, the Holocaust was a tragedy that impacted millions of individuals. Learning this

topic is still very worthy because it provides an essential of critical thinking, and societal awareness. The

Holocaust was a watershed event in history that could possibly repeat itself if societal norms become

overly too dangerous for certain groups or society itself as a whole. Throughout this essay we learned

about just two individuals who both went through slightly similar and different experiences. Including the

highlighted hatred that Nazi and Adolf Hilter had towards Jews. So if humans don't want history to repeat
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itself, it is important to keep learning about these historical events and to learn about them to build

tolerance for those who are different from ourselves.