Holocaust Survivors

"It was once said that not remembering the Holocaust means to side with the executioners against its victims; not to remember means to kill the victims a second time; not to remember means to become an accomplice of the enemy.  On the other hand, to remember means to feel compassion for the victims of all persecutions." 

(H.E.A.R.T.)

      350,000, that is the number of Holocaust survivors.  That number seems large but compared to the 11,000,000 that already were persecuted; it is not.  Jews were stripped naked and shot, but they were not just stripped of their clothes; they were stripped of their dignity.  After camps were liberated, many children were alone, without a single family member to look to for help.  Most of the survivors tried to return to Poland, but they were shot there too.  Bystanders felt extremely guilty for allowing all these events to take place.  Well, if they knew it was wrong, why didn't they help?  After the Holocaust survivors suffered because they lost loved ones, had to care for themselves, and were haunted by their memories.

  Plugin error: That plugin is not available.

Difficulties of the Holocaust 

     Someone once stated "Without suffering there would be no compassion."  In response to that statement a person replied, "Well, tell that to those who suffer."  It is important to have compassion and sympathy for the men, women, and children of the Holocaust.  Most of us cannot even begin to imagine what these people went through.  The Jewish community was stripped naked and shot, and sometimes they were forced to watch as their loved ones were shot before being shot themselves (H.E.A.R.T). Holocaust means "Destruction by fire", after the people were shot they were put in an oven and burned. After liberation, survivors were confronted with several obstacles (Yeatts 16). Survivor's Syndrome was a common obstacle most survivors faced (Yeatts 16).  This syndrome could cause anxiety, depression, insomnia, nightmares, isolation, and personality changes (Yeatts 16).  One survivor explained, "We have been freed from the regime and all its terrors.  But who will ever release us from the pain in our hearts, from the loneliness, from our memories of orphans gazing out from every street corner, from the echoes of cries that call out to us from every piece of earth." (Downing 23).

     While these poor folks were suffering, ignorance erupted throughout their hometowns.  Neighbors and other community members robbed Jewish homes without a concern or worry for the victims (Downing 6).  Nowadays, bystanders, such as Christians, feel guilty for not helping out the captured Jewish community (Downing 7).  Bystanders knew about the camps, and the torture their neighbors were facing; yet their selfish conflict interrupted even a thought of helping this community (Yeatts 7).  Sadly, those who do not believe the Holocaust existed, to this day, have no compassion for those who suffered.

~Dead Bodies Piled Up After Being Shot to Death. Some People in that Pile Could Still Be Alive.~ 

Survivor's Perspective

     Survivors of the Holocaust have suffered tremendously.  They went years without a bed or a bathroom.  Some Jews in the camps prayed for liberation.  Others prayed for death because they suffered so much and had no hope in getting out of the camp.  Rivka Yosselevska was one of the survivors who prayed for death (H.E.A.R.T).  She was shot but not killed (H.E.A.R.T).  To get out from under the pile of dead bodies, another survivor had to pull herself out using most of her strength (H.E.A.R.T).  The Jews were brought to these camps in trucks, and if they did not all fit in the truck; they had to run(H.E.A.R.T).  Yosselevska explains, "We ran all the way.  There were those who fell - we were not allowed to help them rise.  They were shot- right there- wherever they fell." (H.E.A.R.T).  It is upsetting to imagine something like this actually took place.

     After liberation, survivors were relieved and happy (Yeatts 34).  They were extremely eager to get out of the concentration camps, but they feared that the Nazis would come for them again (Yeatts 34). Sadly, several survivors felt guilty for surviving, which is depressing. Years later, several survivors blame the Germans for their suffering and wish they would have apologized for their cruelty, but now it is too late to apologize because most of those associated with the Holocaust are dead (Cash).

                                    ~Freed Prisoner After Liberation~                                                                      ~A Family being Marched Out of Community~

Actions of Families

     During the Holocaust, parents would attempt anything to save their children.  Many families abandoned their homes with only the hope that they would not get caught (Teacher's Guide).  It was extremely dangerous for a Jewish family to hide or run away.  They had to try and get a Christian family to hide them (Teacher'S Guide).  But the consequences of hiding were that their death would be more brutal than it originally would have been. This means they would be shot right away. Some parents would try and help children by telling them to hide in orphanages, convents, forests, haylofts, and basements (Greenfield 7).  After liberation, several children were orphans because their parents were killed in the camps (Downing 7).  Within the first year of liberation, Jews who returned to Poland were murdered for the same reason why people were killed in camps (Downing 9).  They were Jewish and Hitler had convinced everyone that these people were evil, so people tried to make extinct this "evil" religion.  One son, trying to save his father, stated, "You must follow my route.  It is the only one for the Jewish people." (Downing 10).  

     Since violence against Jews had broken out in Poland, many decided to move to Palestine or what they now call Zion (Yeatts 72).  They chose Palestine because it was the birth place of Judaism, and they thought of it as a holy place where nothing could harm them (Yeatts 72).  

~Children Celebrate Liberation~

Location

     Jewish people who were living in Europe were taken to different types of camps.  These camps were very difficult to survive (Teacher's Guide).  The horrors these people faced are unbelievable (Teacher's Guide).  Camps served three different purposes (Greenfield 12).  One type was the prison camps, which just held some of the Jewish community (Greenfield 12).  A second type was camps for the physical or emotionally handicapped, homosexuals, and the Rom or Gypsies (Greenfield 12).  The last time of camp were the labor camps (Greenfield 12).  The ones who got to work in the labor camps were considered lucky (Greenfield 12).

     There were several different locations where people could hide.  They were not the safest places to hide, but they were the best they could do.  Jeannine Burk reflects back on hiding, "I couldn't be seen so they made me hide in the outhouse.  And I remember I was petrified.  I wasn't quite sure of what it was, but I was petrified.  And as long as I live I will never forget how they marched and the noise they make.  To this day I cringe." (Cash)  After liberation, concentration camps turned into Displace Persons camps which were run by the Allied Powers and United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association (Yeatts 26).  If it were not for the Allied power and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association who knows what could have happened, but most people are glad we never found out.

~Camp After American Soldiers Invaded~ 

References:

"Bodies of Nazi Concentration Camp Victims, 1945." Photo. 1945. IRC. United Streaming. Peters Township. 14 April 2009 <player.discoveryeducation.com>.

Cash, Dave. Holocaust Survivors. 1999. 13 April 2009. <www.holocaustsurvivors.org>.

Downing, David. Aftermath and Remembrance. World Almanac Library, 2006.

Greenfield, Howard. After the Holocaust. New York: Harpercollins Publishers, 2001.

"Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team." H.E.A.R.T. 2009. H.E.A.R.T. 31 March 2009. <www.holocaustresearch project.org>

"Holocaust Papers After the War." Photo. April 1946. AP. AP Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009 <apimages.ap.org>.

"Holocaust Papers After the War." Photo. US Army. AP Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009. <apimages.ap.org>.

"The Holocaust Papers Anne Frank's List." Photo. AP. AP Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009. <apimages.ap.org>.

"Nazi Camp Survivor Bergen." Photo. AP. AP Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009. <apimages.ap.org>.

"Nordhausen Concentration Camp." Photo. AP. AP Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009. <apimages.ap.org>.

"One of the First Freed from a Concentraton Camp." Photo. IRC. United Streaming. Peters Township. 14 April 2009 <player.discoveryeducation.com>.

"Poland Auschwitz Liberated Persons." Photo. AP. AP  Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009 <apimages.ap.org>.

Pringle, Jim. "WWII Nazi Camp Liberation." Photo. 1 May 1945. AP. AP Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009 <apimages.ap.org>.\

A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. 2005. 1 April 2009. www.fcit.usf.edu

"Warsaw Jews Herded into Ghetto." Photo. IRC. United Streaming. Peters Township. 14 April 2009 <player.discoveryeducation.com>.

"WWII Holocaust Victims." Photo. AP. AP Images. Peters Township. 18 April 2009 <apimages.ap.org>.

Yeatts, Tabatha. The Holocaust Survivors. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1998.

Back to Front Page

Created By: Cinderella