The Holocaust and Auschwitz

            I want to talk about one of the most horrific examples of human depravity and hate that happening within the last century, The Holocaust. In the Auschwitz, here in Poland, this concentration camp and many others were putting into effect Hitler’s “final” solution, in which they systematically try to exterminate the Jewish people and other “undesirables” during World War II. I choice this topic because I want to help in the effort for us to learn from history. Many things are going on that we need to take a serious look at our past, and address issues going on today. In this essay, I want to discuss this photo what was the context of it and how it affects me personally. Second, I want to talk about why I choose this photo and what I want to give other people from it.

I think the photographer’s intentions was to show the world one of the most horrific scenes in history; he had to travel with the red army through enemy territory to see the thousands starving holocaust survivors, hundreds of dead bodies, and piles of personal items that the Nazi didn’t have the time to burn. As I mention, this was taken near the end of WWII in Auschwitz, Poland. The Nazis were losing the war and they where desperately trying to destroy the evidence of what they did, and in a sense finish the eradication of the people in their camps. The Russians already liberated Warsaw and were pushing towards Auschwitz, eventually the Nazi had to leave the facility. When the Russian liberated Auschwitz they bore witness to the tragedy that took place there. The photograph can be seen all over the internet and at several Holocaust museums. The mood of the photo is tragic, the image at all the discard items of the people who where slaughtered at the camp is heart breaking. Coming from where I come from (Modern day United States as a citizen) I couldn’t image the horror and absolute depravity that happen at that camp. The photos empresses the horror that went on in the camp, showing the horrible outcome of Fascism and Racism taking to it full extension. It shows what the power of an idea of dominations and superiority can do to someone to make them be ok with this. The picture setting is in one of the storerooms that the Nazis couldn’t burn in time; the only people who where left were the survivors of the camp and Russians. I am drawn to the giant piles of shoes and clothes. You got to image that each of these things were worn by someone who was systematics murdered, experimented on, or starved nearly or to death. It is really eye opening. While sadly, the photos of the Holocaust where quite old and we really can’t see how horrible these people had it or how bad the situation was with the things we got. The photos where clears as they could be and where probably taking with a simple camera. In my opinion, it was shocking at the time but today could be taking as “old” and could go over people’s head and not have the same effect it had on people during that time.

I choose this topic because learning about our past is very important for me. As the saying goes those who do not learn from their past are doomed to repeat it. Many of us think things like Auschwitz and Nazi Germany died with the 20^th century, and that with all the issue we have today nothing can compare to what happen back then. Sadly, today genocide and mass murder are very common. For example, after a five year trial, Ratko Mladic, the general of the Bosnian Serb Army during the Bosnian civil war in the ‘90s, was convicted of war crimes including genocide (Kranz 1) He was found responsible for the 1995 massacre of over 8,000 Muslim Bosnia men and boys. This is the worse atrocity committed in Europe since World War II. Other noteworthy genocides going on are the massacre of the Rhingyaian people in Myanmar, Christians and Yazidis in Iraq and Syria, and the Darfuis in Sudan. These are some of the most note worthy genocides with plenty of more that are not as well known. Additionally, many ideas are going around the United States that put people in the us vs. them category. In the United States, the idea of Latino Americans being “in the way” is very popular among some parts of the American population. Additionally, the conditions of the border in the US is abominable, unusual, and cruel. We need to look at the past and learn form it and confront issue like this, and fundamentally fix them.

In conclusion, I would have to say it again and again the main point of this essay is to look at the past and see what we can learn form it. In my horrifying photo, we see a ocean of personal items the Nazis took from the people within the camp before systematically murdering them. The death toll of the Holocaust is over 6 million people with many other being starved and worked nearly to death. In this essay, we learned that fascism and totalitarianism didn’t die with the Nazis, in fact, it is still prevalent today. With the dozen other genocides going on in the world and the rise of hatred today minorities it is no wonder why it is very important to learn about the past now. In my opinion, the horrible thing about history is where the most can be learned from. The depravity of the Nazis in WWII will and must be remembered. Another thing I want to bring up is the fact that the Nazis tried to destroy the knowledge of the Holocaust when they were losing the war. They released what they where doing was to a extend wrong. That is the most horrifying thing about the holocaust is morally normal people were convinced to do such a terrible thing.

Cited Work

Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan, and Matt Mullen. “Soviets Liberate Auschwitz.” HISTORY.COM. November 5, 2009.

Kranz, Michal. “5 Genocides That Are Still Going on Today.” Businessinsider.com. November 22, 2017.