The Holocaust Memorial Report, Research Paper Example

Section I

The Holocaust is one of the most historic acts of crime against humanity that shaped the course of history and the World War II. During this time, the German state sponsored the murder and persecution of over 6 million Jews. These acts were perpetrated by the Nazis, who came into power in January 1933, converting the German states into an ideology that would see the loss of countless lives (Megargee). The Nazis pegged their philosophy on the ideal that the German people were superior to the Jews. The Jews were perceived as an inferior, weak and soiled race that threatened to contaminate the social fabric of the sovereign German nation. However, the Jews were not the only victims of the Holocaust. Slavic individuals and Gypsies (Roma) were also persecuted on account of their “racial inferiority” (Berenbaum).

During the World War II, the Jewish population in all of Europe was approximately 9 million. These Jews resided in nations where the Germans would either invade or influence in the course of the World War II. To purge the world of the inferior races, the Germans begun collecting, torturing and executing Jews at will (Megargee). Soviet prisoners of war were persecuted and ended up dying of maltreatment, disease or starvation. The Germans had developed a strict code of social norms that was used as a scheme to determine who lives and who dies. These crimes against humanity were committed by the Nazi regime led by Adolf Hitler.

Section II

The images on the camps were particularly touching. The picture manages to capture the emotion of the victims in the moment. The faces of the inmates at the camps shows despondency on their faces. Worry and grief is etched at the brows as wrinkles fill their foreheads from left to right. The images depict women and girls in their section waiting for instructions. Women hold crying babies as they look on with despair and anguish.

The images depicting the men and boys in the camps is quite saddening. The image of old and young men being whipped as they work in the cold at night is quite graphic. The men and boys clearly appear malnourished, deprived of anything to eat as they toil in the cold. The environment clearly wreaks of death as the men appear to be hanging on to dear life.

Another image of the gun range where mass killings would take place is quite disturbing. The picture appears to have been taken right after a mass shooting of prisoners. The bodies are scattered, some piled up on each other as the soldiers look on with smiles in their faces. The soldiers appear to enjoy what they do and their faces have no sign of remorse. This depicts how political ideology can influence a great number of people to even commit crimes against humanity. By giving the Germans a sense of belief and purpose, the Nazi regime convinced the Germans that they were a superior race that had to eliminate the impure races to ensure their survival and success.

In conclusion, the Holocaust in World War II shaped history and the political landscape in modern day Europe. The Germans, under the Nazi regime committed gruesome acts of crimes against humanity against certain races that they perceived inferior. The Germans sought to cleanse the world of these impure and inferior races. They resorted to the mass killing and torture of these perceived inferior races.

Works Cited

Berenbaum, Michael. The world must know : the history of the Holocaust as told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Boston: Little, Brown, 1993. Print.

Megargee, Geoffrey P. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum encyclopedia of camps and ghettos, 1933-1945. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. Print.