The Holocaust was the almost complete destruction of Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II, which lasted between1939 and 1945.
We can learn much from this event and ways to prevent similar events from happening again. However, it can be compared to today’s Arab Israeli Conflict, which is the cause of a dispute over the land of Palestine. The Holocaust was the worst genocide in history. The Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler wanted to eliminate all Jews as part of his plan for world power. Jews were not the only victims of the Nazis during W. W.
II. The Nazis also killed millions of other people whom Hitler regarded as racially lower or politically dangerous. After World War II began in 1939, Germany’s powerful war machine conquered country after country in Europe. Millions more Jews came under German control.
The Nazis killed many of them and sent others to concentration camps. The Nazis also moved many Jews from towns and villages into city ghettos. They later sent these people, too, to concentration camps. Although many Jews thought the ghettos would last, the Nazis saw ghetto imprisonment as only a temporary measure. Sometime in early 1941, the Nazi leadership finalized the details of a policy decision labeled “The Final Solution of the Jewish Question. ” This policy called for the murder of every Jew (man, woman, and child) under German rule.
The first Nazi concentration camps were organized shortly after Hitler came to power. These facilities held tens of thousands of political prisoners arrested by the Nazis. Later on (around 1940’s), several new camps were established, with specially constructed gas chambers disguised as showers. When the Jews arrived at a camp, a physician singled out the young and healthy while the others were sent directly to the gas chambers.
For identification, camp personnel tattooed a number on the arm of each person. The prisoners were forced to work long hours under cruel conditions. When they were too weak to work any longer, they too were killed or left to die. During the Holocaust, the Nazis kept their actions as secret as possible, and they misled their victims in many ways to prevent resistance. Initially, the Jews in the ghettos either were not aware of the slaughter planned for them or simply could not believe it was happening. The Arab – Israeli Conflict is similar in a way like the Holocaust.
This conflict is between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East over the land of historic Palestine. The conflict has led to several wars, beginning in 1948, among Arab nations, Palestinian refugees, and the state of Israel. In the conflict are many terrorist organizations connected to both the Israelis (such as the Martyrs of al-Aqsa) and the Palestinians (for example the Hamas). Israel stands at the forefront of this modern clash of civilizations as the only country that represents the Western world in the Middle East. In contrast to World War II times, now the Jewish people are not just the victims but also the frontline fighters against these evil forces that threaten the human civilization. Brutal killings of civilians by Arab suicide bombers, and terrorists in Israel are nowadays almost a daily occurrence.
However, Arabs also become victims at times since the US supports Israel with their efforts, often supplying their army with weapons. Up to today, the Israeli army has increased its restrictions on the Palestinian population and stepped up its military tactics, therefore, making peace harder to complete. With mounting pressure from both Palestinian and Israeli extremist groups, there is much negativity and bitterness on both sides of the conflict. There have been many developments that have stalled the peace process and delayed negotiations on the final status of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the land of Palestine.
There are several things that we can learn from the Holocaust. One thing that we should do is to keep alive the memories of this tragic event, so that future generations will know about it and see the horrible effects of hatred, ignorance, propaganda, and prejudice. I think that the bottom line has to be that we have to keep reminding the world that inhumane things can happen to people if others just stand by and let them happen. In conclusion, the Holocaust was a tragic event that we should prevent from happening ever again.
As a result of the Holocaust over 7 million people died. In addition, we could learn much from the Holocaust such as the effects of what hatred brings in the world and toward people. Today’s Arab – Israeli conflict is something that must be resolved, before the violence and hate from both sides of the conflict escalate.
