In Memory Of Millions

14 Pages 3622 Words

In Memory of Millions
The Holocaust is said to have been “the worst genocide in history” (“Holocaust”). Even though the extreme acts of violence were during the Holocaust, discrimination against Jews had started much earlier history. From the violent riots, due to disagreement in religion, to the death camps of the Holocaust, hatred against Jews was slowly rising. The Holocaust was the result of all of this hatred. The Holocaust did not start so intense, but it soon escalated to millions of Jews being murdered. Even with all the obvious evidence of what was happening to the Jews during World War II, there were never many who really tried to stop what was going on. Millions of Jews had to die before anyone decided something had to change.
The Holocaust occurred during World War II, which lasted from 1939-1945. By the end of the Holocaust, 5.6 million to 5.9 million Jews were dead. Jews were not the only ones being murdered during World War II. Those who did not agree or support what was going on in Germany were also killed. The Nazis even killed Germans who were disabled either physically or mentally, homosexuals, and captured Soviet soldiers (“Holocaust”).
Germans were not the first group to discriminate against Jews though. Many Christians in Europe felt prejudice against Jews. This feeling was also known as anti-Semitism. The Christians prejudice against the Jews all started because of religion. They thought Jews were the ones to blame for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was believed by the Christians that Jews were not actual humans. There was a suspicion “about the magical power of human blood, sorcery, and perversity, giving rise to the blood libel—the false accusation that Jews used the blood of Christian children in their rituals” (“Holocaust”). All of these rumors started the major anti-Jewish violence. Jews started to have many rules and regulations set for them. Some being that Jew...