The End of EVIL
Once the concentration camps were uncovered, many civilians were bewildered by the on goings that were hidden. Some remember the smell the wafted through the air and the remember seeing the bellowing smoke coming from a far off distance. The lies were covered by propaganda. Propaganda was used to convince the German people that loss of the war would be so vastly devastating to the people and the government that their minds were solely focused on following Hitler and the Nazi Regime in order to make sure their lives stayed normal and no drastic changes occurred. “Until the very end of the war, Nazi propagandists kept public attention focused on what would happen to Germany in event of defeat.” (DeceivingThePeople) When the horrifying run of the Holocaust came to an end, those who survived had a hard time trying to go home. In many cases, they would not return to their home because the loss of family, stability, and cold shoulders from neighbors who were not Jewish was too much to take in after enduring such hardships and brutality in the concentration camps before. “As a result, the late 1940s saw an unprecedented number of refugees, POWs and other displaced populations moving across Europe.” (Holocaust) For years and years to come, the Jewish people found their lives being put back together piece by piece. “Beginning in 1953, the German government made payments to individual Jews and to the Jewish people as a way of acknowledging the German people’s responsibility for the crimes committed in their name.” (Holocaust)
Reflection: Civilians were, for the most part, unaware that concentration camps even existed. It seems almost impossible that people could have never known that millions of people were being executed in the woods, miles from their homes.
Reflection: Civilians were, for the most part, unaware that concentration camps even existed. It seems almost impossible that people could have never known that millions of people were being executed in the woods, miles from their homes.
The Nuremberg Trials
To make sure the people who were behind The Holocaust were brought to justice, the Allies came together and conducted The Nuremberg Trials. From 1945 to 1946, the happenings of the concentration camps and the personal accounts of the tragedies that occurred within the gates of the camps was brought to the surface and “Nazi party members, high ranking military officials, doctors, lawyers were all indicted and charged with crimes against peace and humanity throughout the series of thirteen trials.” (Nuremberg) Adolf Hitler committed suicide when the fall of the Nazi party commenced and never made it to the trials. Along with Hitler, “two of his top associates, Heinrich Himmler (1900-45) and Joseph Goebbels (1897-45), had each committed suicide in the spring of 1945 before they could be brought to trial.” (Nuremberg) Ten of the thirteen men tried for the crimes were executed by hanging and the rest were sentenced to prison for a minimum of ten years.
Reflection: Justice was served to the people who headed the entire operation of The Holocaust. For all of the wrong doings done to innocent people, I don't believe there can ever be enough done to fix history, and make it a;; "better". Executions and prison sentences were a good start, but too much irreversible damage had already been done.
Reflection: Justice was served to the people who headed the entire operation of The Holocaust. For all of the wrong doings done to innocent people, I don't believe there can ever be enough done to fix history, and make it a;; "better". Executions and prison sentences were a good start, but too much irreversible damage had already been done.
Nuremberg Trials
An Image of an execution after the Nuremberg Trials