People were screaming at the soldiers that were taking them out of their homes. Little boys and girls were alarmed and shed tears. Mothers of children were holding them tight, while wondering where their husbands were. People were trying to keep their families safe, while others just stood there and watched as the streets that were once silent begin filling up with screams. They witnessed people getting beat up because they were trying to stay away from the monsters.
The years were 1933-1945 when the most horrible and terrifying event happened. It is called the Holocaust. The word Holocaust itself casts a dark shadow. The destruction and murder of six million Jews is what it means.
The Holocaust happened in so many different countries and cities. It started in Germany. Nazis would march into towns doing the Hitler salute. They would draw their Nazi symbol all over property that wasn’t theirs. The Germans made rules for the Jewish people. They told them they couldn’t go to concerts and other fun activities. Children who were Jewish had to go to different schools than other boys and girls. Over time cities were getting less and less populous because they were taking people to the ghettos or camps.
The reaction of the German citizens was difficult for me to comprehend.  In all of the stories I’ve heard and read, they just watched the Jews and other innocent people get taken away. On the other hand, when I really think about it, they were all filled with something. They were all filled with fear. All of them were scared that if they spoke up they would get killed or taken into a concentration camp.
Adolf Hitler was so cruel that he would send Jews to places called concentration camps. There, they would make them work hard each day. There are also places called death camps. People that couldn’t work anymore, or if they were old or too young, would get taken there. German soldiers would take groups of people to either a gas chamber, or an oven. Those were the places that they would murder all of the Jews. Jewish men would pound on the doors of the chamber trying to get out. Little boys would look at them like they were crazy and just go along with it, because they had no idea. Women and little girls were separate from the men and boys. Eventually everyone would realize they couldn’t do anything about it and give up. I hate the sound of all this horrible treatment.  Nazis had no right to treat their people this way. Everyone says they can never imagine living in these countries infected with Nazi soldiers.
My grandma was a little girl and lived in Germany when the Holocaust was occurring. She was not a Jew, but she did experience it. I had a brief talk with her about how she dealt with it: “I was scared. I was little but I remember we had to be quiet and keep our mouths shut and go along with the Germans. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was part of the war, so I had to deal with it.”
After talking with my grandma I understood why all the regular citizens didn’t help out the people getting hurt. Everyone was trying to save themselves. Nobody wanted to become the Jewish people at that time. The reason all this really happened was because of Hitler and his philosophy. He was responsible for all these camps and events in the Holocaust. I think he was pure evil because he didn’t even care about the lives of the innocent people.
Six million Jews is equivalent to the whole city of Chicago. It’s terrible to think about. A lot of people ask why the U.S.A. didn’t help protect the people and put a stop to the Holocaust. They never knew about it until the war was over. American soldiers found the killing and concentration camps. They saved as many people as they could, but not many people were alive. Even though that’s disappointing, they did as much as they could.
I could never imagine being Jewish at that time and place. Knowing that I would probably die because of the camps, having no hope that I could escape, being so hungry that I wouldn’t even want to look at my ribs popping out of my body, getting beat up by all of the scary men that I couldn’t look at in the eye, crying till I fall asleep, just wanting to go home and be loved by my friends and family. Life would be a terrifying rollercoaster that never stopped until you had to jump off. The Holocaust was truly the worst thing that has ever happened.
These are all true facts and stories. Nothing was made up. So, the question is now for you. How would you feel if you were a Jew in the Holocaust? Can you even imagine the way you would feel?