Could A Holcaust Happen Today?

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The Holocaust is a history of overwhelming horror and enduring sorrow. The holocaust was the effort of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany to exterminate Jews and other people that they consider to be inferior. The main people involved were: Adolf Hitler, Germany, Poland, the Soviet Union, Jews, Catholics, Poles, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, handicapped, and the Gypsies. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi targeted many groups for persecution and about 1,500,000 Jews and others were murdered.

The Nazi philosophy permeated all aspects of life in Nazi Germany until there was no one left to protest the Holocaust. Otto Ohlendorf, an SS officer who commanded a group which murdered Jews, thought that the Holocaust was not a necessary result of the Nazi philosophy. The Germans did not speak out very much. After awhile the German people all started to accept Hitler's message. They believed that his method of extermination was right.

The United States believed that there was very little that could have been done to prevent the Holocaust. They thought the only way to stop the Holocaust would be to defeat Nazi Germany as quick as possible.

The idea of the Holocaust to be prevented does not seem all that possible. Nothing seemed to be going right and chances of it not happening were very slim. The only way I think the Holocaust could have possibly been prevented would have been if Hitler would have never came into power. I believe that he caused the whole Holocaust and if it wasn't for him, none of this would have ever happened.

Yes, I think it is possible for a Holocaust to happen today. There is a lot of prejudice going on in the world still today. Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion formed against a person or group based on race, gender, religion, and nationalists. With all of the people who hate each other today, it is very likely for something along the lines of a Holocaust to happen today.

Many people were harmed and hurt during this time. Not only the people that were being targeted, but everyone. The main starting point of the Holocaust was when the Nazi burnt the Reichstag building. They did this to create a crisis atmosphere. Well, like they planned, it worked. The Reichstag building was where the government body of Germany worked. There were many camps that different people were sent to. It was just total chaos, and everyone suffered. After all of this got started, Jews started to be eliminated from many places, and they were not allowed to have many things. On May 17, 1934 the Jews were no longer allowed to have national health insurance. Then, on July 22, 1934 Jews were prohibited from getting legal qualifications. On May 21, 1935 the Nazi banned Jews from serving in the military. Then, on September 27, 1938 Jews were prohibited from all legal practices. In the end there turned out to be more than 2 million Jews killed. It was horrible.

Yet, there were some acts of courage and kindness during the Holocaust which can offer us some hope for our past and for our future.

Bibliography Trapped in Hitler's Hell Worldbook Encyclopedia - H - 1998 www.historyplace.com www.historyplace/timeline.com www.holocaust.com www.holocaust-history.org www.holocasutforgotten.com www.ushmm.org/education/history.html