THE HOLOCAUST: CONGREGATION AHAVATH ISRAEL HEBREW SCHOOL

When I first learned about the Holocaust, it was a shock to me that millions of Jewish people were killed all over Europe just for being Jewish. I think it is very important for everyone to learn about the Holocaust. I feel that way not only because I am Jewish, but because learning about such tragedies will prevent them from happening in the future.

The Holocaust was an important event in history. The goal of the Nazi Holocaust was the extermination of all the Jews in Europe. This purpose was nearly fulfilled. About six million Jews were killed.

Adolf Hitler's persecution of Jews began as soon as the Nazis came to power in 1933. Jewish businesses were boycotted and vandalized. Jews were driven from their jobs in government and universities. By the Nuremberg laws of 1935 they lost their citizenship and were forbidden to intermarry with other Germans. Many fled to other European nations or to the United States. Most stayed behind, convinced that as German citizens they were safe.

Nazi intentions became clear on November 9, 1938, the Night of Broken Glass, when nearly every synagogue in Germany was destroyed along with many other Jewish institutions. Thousands of Jews were then rounded up to be imprisoned in concentration camps. As the war continued, the rounding up of Jews spread to Russia, Poland, Hungary and other European countries. All Jews were to be sent to camps in Eastern Europe. Many would be killed right away, while others would do slave labor and be tortured until they died. Before or after they were killed, they were stripped of every valuable possession.

The killings were done by mobile death squads and in concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec, and Majdanek. The Nazis' most effective method of killing people was in specially constructed gas chambers, into which the Jews were packed wall to wall. After gassing the bodies they were burned. When the war ended, the news of the Holocaust had a shocking effect upon the world. Pictures of the camps were sometimes too gruesome to be published. The damage suffered by the Jews of Europe could never be repaired.

After learning about the Holocaust, I realized how important it is not to discriminate against people of different religions. It should not matter whether the person is Christian, Jewish or Muslim as long as we all respect each other and our differences. I think that if we all learn to live peacefully together, the world will become a better place.