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History Question (Holocaust)

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History Question (Holocaust)

Introduction

The Holocaust is one of history's worst moments recorded in the 19th century, which

lasted four years between 1941-45. During this period, the Nazis and their allies killed

approximately six million individuals in what was known as German-occupied Europe. The

Nazis were inspired by antisemitism (Jewish hatred and prejudice) promoted by the party leader

Adolph Hitler and spread throughout Europe. During the Holocaust and World War 2 period,

America had learned of the Germans' plan to murder all the Jews in Europe but was hesitant to

get involved or save them. The economic state and national security in the years leading up to the

war, combined with racism and antisemitism, promoted conditions that did not encourage

American involvement in the Holocaust. The priority of America and its allies was military

victory and not humanitarian conditions, making saving the Jews targeted for extermination by

the Nazis the least of their concern. This essay will elaborate on the Holocaust, America’s

involvement in the Holocaust, and why it is important to remember this historical event.

The Holocaust refers to the European Jewish murder orchestrated by Nazis. While the

Holocaust lasted four years between 1941-45, it is historically believed to have started in 1933

following Hitler’s ascend to power. Most Germans failed to acknowledge their defeat after

World War 1, leading to the development of an antisemitic conspiracy theory, which claimed

that disloyal politicians, primarily communists, and Jews arranged for Germany's surrender

(Choi, 2021). Most Germans hated the Weimer Republic governed Germany when the Versailles

Treaty was signed. Anger over war loss and political strife facing Germany at the time led to

antisemitic ideologies spreading rapidly across Germany (Haward, 2017). Furthermore, the
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instability experienced in Germany during the Weimer Republic reign, economic shocks caused

by the Great Depression, and communism fear all happening simultaneously made Germans

embrace Nazism.

The Nazis did not invent the antisemitic ideologies that were the basis of the Holocaust

because antisemitism dates back to the Middle Ages in an old-rooted belief that the Jews caused

Jesus' death (Haward, 2017). It also continued in early modern Europe, evidenced by Jews being

excluded by Christian Europe from economic, social, and political life, reinforcing an outsider

stereotype against them. Nazis hatred and prejudice against Jews were drawn from the above

elements, although racial antisemitism was prevalent. Racial antisemitism implied that Jews are

an inferior and a separate race (Haward, 2017). The Nazis promoted extreme forms of racial

antisemitism, which was aligned with the party's race-based perception. Germans believed they

were part of the Aryan superior race, whereas the Jewish race was inferior and a social ill that

needed to be exterminated because they risked contaminating the pure German race (Choi,

2021).

Several anti-Jewish policies, varying from place to place, were implemented starting in

1933, including legal discrimination of Jews using antisemitic laws like the Nuremberg Race

Laws; organized violence like in Kristallnacht; physical displacement through expulsion,

ghettoization, resettlement, and forced emigration and internment in concentration camps,

ghettos and forced-labor camps (Choi, 2021). The above policies led to the death of thousands of

Jews, but it was not until 1941 that the Nazis implemented a mass murder plan of all Jews in

Europe, in what they termed the "Final Answer to the Jewish Problem.” This plan involved two

main ways of killing; mass shootings and gassing operations in killing centers.
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Mass shootings targeting civilians were perpetrated at outrageous levels. It started after

Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. While the operations initially targeted Jewish

Military men, they spread to Jewish communities as entire villages were wiped out (Choi, 2021).

The Nazis would round up Jewish civilians in a town, take them to the town’s outskirts, make

them dig mass graves, or take them to already dug graves, after which they would shoot

everyone at sight. More than 2 million Jews lost their lives in the mass shootings. In late 1941,

the Nazis established killing centers (extermination camps) in German-occupied countries like

Poland. These killing centers were built to help murder Jews on a large scale (Haward, 2017). In

the five killing centers operated by the Nazis, the main way of killing was poisonous gas released

into gas vans and chambers. The Nazis, through the help of collaborators and allies, ferried

thousands of Jews across Europe to these extermination camps in the disguise of resettlement

and evacuation. Over 2.7 million Jews were murdered in these camps.

Americans were informed and had access to reliable information regarding the Nazis’

plan to exterminate Jews, although most individuals assumed the idea of mass murder was

impossible. Despite Americans sympathizing with Jews targeted for murder, the sympathy never

translated to the intensive nationwide effort by America to rescue the victims or help refugees.

The economic devastation caused by the Great Depression and America’s commitment to

neutrality and long-held prejudice against immigrants undermined America’s likelihood of

helping the Jews (Kushner, 2018). Furthermore, antisemitic ideas had also spread throughout

America, making it hard for them to aid Jewish immigrants.

In the 1930s and 1940s, America lacked a refugee policy, and thus refugees seeking

political asylum had to undergo complex immigration procedures. Both the US Congress and
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt failed to adjust the immigration process characterized by quotas

limiting the number of immigrants allowed into the country to help aid the hundreds of

thousands of Jewish immigrants fleeing Europe (Kushner, 2018). Instead, the American State

Department rolled out new restrictive policies that made it more complicated for immigrants to

enter the United States. Nonetheless, even though America issued fewer visas than it could have,

it aided more refugees from Europe between 1933-45 than all countries globally (KUSHNER,

2016).

At the start of World War 2 in 1939, American citizens still hoped their country would

maintain its neutrality stand. In the following two years after the beginning of the war, America

started showing slow support for Allied powers in the ongoing debate between interventionists

and isolationists (KUSHNER, 2016). According to interventionists, America needed to

proactively help Great Britain, even if it implied joining the battle directly. Isolationists, on the

other hand, argued that America did not need to join the battle; instead, it needed to concentrate

on defending the Western Hemisphere.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan in December 1941 ended the debate as America

was forced to intervene and join the war by retaliating against Japan for the attack. Resultantly,

Germany responded by declaring war on America. America joined the war on the side of the

Allied powers to fight against the Axis power: Japan, Italy, and Germany (Kushner, 2018).

America's intent in joining the war was to defend democracy and not rescue Jewish victims

targeted by the Nazis. It was not until January 1944 that America established the War Refugee

Board, tasked with trying to rescue and offer aid to Jews and other affected groups. America’s

rescue efforts helped save tens of thousands of Jewish victims in the war's final year.
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The Holocaust is still significant in history because learning about it helps demonstrate

the fragile nature of society and institutions tasked with protecting our security and rights. The

event depicts how quickly these institutions can turn against a segment of society, thereby

emphasizing the need for individuals in power to advocate for humanistic values that will ensure

free and just societies are protected. The event also illuminates the dangers of discrimination,

dehumanization, and prejudice, which are not limited to antisemitism promoted by the Holocaust

but includes other forms like racism, intolerance, and systemic oppression. Lastly, the event

illustrates a human behavior aspect affecting society: the potential for individuals to engage in

extreme violence, the possibility of power abuse, and how extremist ideologies help fuel

propaganda.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Holocaust was a devastating historical event that led to the murder of

over six million Jews in an attempt to cleanse Europe of an inferior race. The Nazis were

responsible for the Holocaust and were inspired by prejudice and hatred for Jewish communities

because they believed Jews were the cause of Germany's socioeconomic and political strife.

German authorities implemented discriminatory laws, enforced organized violence, and

promoted intermittent as a strategy to kill Jews. Mass shootings and gassing in extermination

chambers were also implemented as part of the final answer to the Jewish problem. Despite

America being informed of the Nazis' plan to wipe out Jews, they were reluctant to get involved

in the conflict, maintained a neutral stand, and implemented policies that undermined political

asylum.
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References

Choi, S.-C. (2021). Holocaust Literature as the New Cultural History: Holocaust Memoirs of

Viktor Frankl, Jean Améry, Ruth Klüger. The Korean Society for German History, 46,

107–151. https://doi.org/10.17995/kjgs.2021.2.46.107

Haward, T. (2017). The Holocaust: history and memory. Holocaust Studies, 23(4), 519–523.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2017.1289003

KUSHNER, T. (2016). “The Western Allies and the Holocaust.” Holocaust and Genocide

Studies, 5(4), 381–402. https://doi.org/10.1093/hgs/5.4.381

Kushner, T. (2018). Britain, America and the Holocaust: Past, Present, and Future

Historiographies. Holocaust Studies, 18(2-3), 35–48.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2012.11087305