A mere twenty-one years after the utter devastation of World War I, Nazi Germans invaded Poland, breaking their non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, and plunging the world into yet another global conflict. The carnage of World War II (WWII) was much more widespread than its predecessor, as the war was fought not only throughout Europe, but also in various locations of the Pacific Ocean. Prior to the Nazi occupation of Poland, at the end of World War I, the winning nations had devised a peace treaty, called the Treaty of Versailles, which forced Germany to take responsibility for the war, and punished the country as such. Germany lost land, was forced to pay $6.6 billion in reparations, and lost a majority of their military. These changes devastated the German …show more content…
Hitler’s mass genocide of European Jews is now known as the Holocaust, which resulted in the death of over six million Jews as well as other ethnic and religious minorities and political opponents of his political party, the Nazis. The autobiography Night by Elie Wiesel is a first-hand account of the conditions inside one of Hitler’s extermination camps. The story focuses on a fifteen year-old boy, Eliezer Wiesel, and his father as they suffer through time in both Auschwitz and Buchenwald, two of the most notorious Nazi death camps. Eliezer experiences unimaginably horrific events, such as the hanging of a young boy and people being burned alive in ditches filled with flames.Although many people were aware that these appalling acts were occurring, very few chose to make an effort to save those affected. However, some people, such as Irene Gut Opdyke, who is written about in the novel In My Hands by Jennifer Armstrong, chose to risk their lives to protect others. Although Irene does manage to save both herself and 11 Jewish people, in order to do so, she is forced to sexually exploit