The accounts depict the Nazis for the sadistic group they truly were.  They talk about the beatings they endured, the pain they suffered, but above all else, how they survived.

I find they found their strength to go on in their knowledge that the Nazis cannot break them.  The Nazis took the Jewish people bodies, but what’s inside, what truly counts is their sole which no one can take away.  The Jewish people know this and so they press on.

Then the happy ending, the people survive, and they get their old lives back.  They do the only thing they can, suppress the horrible memories, and try to forget the horrifying saga they have just been through.

The thing that we cannot forget when we read powerful stories like these is the difference between these people and those who lost their lives, and have no happy ending to write about.

I know personally that these accounts have been another life changing experience in this book.  These accounts are something that I will take with me always, and will remind me that there is hope in standing up for people even if many times you fail, the times when success is archive pay for all the sacrifice.  facts about holocaust

Hitler an the Nazis believed that the Jewish people were a weaker race then the Arians, and that they were holding Germany back from achieving its full potential. He said that they were parasites preying on the good will of the Germans, and that the Germans actually had to stand up to them.

Hitler also said that the Jewish people were a plague. Fearing this plague required extermination for the survival of their families. If a group of people were endangering the life of my family I think I would respond the same way as the everyday German people.

“The Jewish people are plotting behind our backs” was another excuse why the elimination of the Jewish people was necessary. “They are out to ruin us.” The Germans actually thought that the Jewish people were out to get them for no reason.

The final reason Hitler gave for the extermination of the Jewish people was that they forced Germany to go to war. No one really wanted to go to war and if your husbands, brothers, sons and friends were being killed because of something someone else did I would too be enraged.

All of the reasons come down to one; the Germans were scared of the Jewish people. That’s how all racism starts, it is with fear. Fear of being different. Fear of being an outcast. Fear of losing everything. When people get theses fears they have a need and a tendency to pass that blame on to someone weaker then themselves and try to justify it. holocaust timeline

When it all comes down to it the Jewish people did nothing wrong than be different and follow their beliefs, but Hitler and the Nazis used propaganda to its full capability and made it seem like the Jewish people had wronged the Germans.

People are all different. It’s the common bonds that we have that make us truly unique though. A smart white male, is completely different that a smart black male. They are so different yet so the same.

Hitler’s weakened state also hurt the Nazi morale.  He was always considered the backbone of the party, after all ha made it what it was.  Hitler knew that he could not let on that anything was wrong though.  No, he had to keep a tough face on and show that he was still going strong. 

We are particularly shown the state of the party with the attempt on Hitler life.  Some of his Generals planted a bomb in Hitler’s conference room; although the attack fails it certainly must have had a somewhat detrimental effect on Hitler’s health.  We can also see here just why the Nazis have begun to lose the war.  When you cant kill one person with a bomb there’s something wrong.  Hitler must have been doing all the thinking himself.

With the Americans growing more and more heavily involved, Britton’s air force pounding German cities, and the Russians tightening their stranglehold on Stalingrad.  The final blow came to the Nazis at the hour of Hitler’s death.  Without Hitler to lead and keep the party going the Generals surrendered.  The great Nazi party had fallen, and yet again the feeling after the defeat in World War I must have been present. facts about holocaust

One gust of wind can topple an entire house of cards.  Thanks God for miscalculation and human error.  Some people make the biggest mistakes because they are looking for such small problems.

Hitler knew that all he needed to do to conquer Europe is take England, the only real power at the time. He knew also that they would join the war almost immediately. He didn’t want to divide his forces by fighting on two fronts so he aligned himself with Stalin and Russia to protect his back. Once he conquered the weaker European countries he planned on mobilizing against France and once he had taken that he would move on England. Finally his last real adversary in Europe was Russia, who he didn’t expect to hold out for very long. He then would have conquered all of Europe, and effectively the entire world.

To his enemies he showed no mercy and gave them no quarter. Since he had the complete loyalty of his troops there was really no threat from within, although his paranoia often kicked in and he felt the need to have a commanding officer shot.

The real loss to Hitler’s reign came in two parts. First his loss to the Allies came in Great Britain when his air force was decimated, giving the Allies the new advantage in the air, but he still have the most powerful army in the war. His second and probably most foolish loss was to the “weak” Soviets. He miscalculated terribly and sent his troops into Russia not realizing that they had a great advantage, the winter. Hitler’s men froze to death, food was scarce, and morale was low. After these events the war was not looking so good for the Germans, so Hitler did what he has always done best pass the blame. He blamed the Jewish people and foreigners for the loss and went after them with a renewed passion.

Smart people do dumb things. Napoleon did it as did Hitler. One miscalculation can holocaust concentration camps throw off the whole picture no matter how clear it is. History also does repeat itself. Like a caring mother, it keeps telling us things until we learn.