Dbq Essay On The Holocaust

The choices made by individuals, groups, and institutions during the Holocaust all varied on what they ultimately aimed to do. Some had chosen to become a bystander where they were passive during present events either out of fear or to survive, while others aimed to become upstanders where they stood up for what they believed was right and wrong and intervened as best to their abilities. Despite this, some had chosen to become perpetrators who sided with the Nazis to wipe out the Jewish community and other minority groups due to their anti-semitic beliefs and government propaganda which had manipulated their beliefs. The choices they had made had reflected on what they believed in and the overall outcome.

A group who had acted as perpetrators

When the Nazi Party won the election, this is when the number of SS had increased to 52,000 and their task from the start had always been to remove and eliminate racial enemies by any means, especially brute force to unify Germany under one empire, one people and one leader. As seen in source A, an image of a Nazi is depicted as destroying the home of a Jewish person on the night of broken glass, or Kristallnacht, an anti-semitic act which was the beginning of the end for all the Jewish community. On the 15th of September 1935 cruel, inhuman acts were allowed to make the elimination process for the Nazis easier due to the Nuremberg Laws which were laws in place used to ostracize and completely segregate Jews from the rest of Europe. Kristallnacht had acted as a catalyst where those who wanted to become perpetrators could do as they pleased without any legal consequences. Source B highlights the propaganda poster where it is justifying the Nuremberg laws and prohibiting interracial relationships between a Jewish person and a Non-Jewish person as it is made illegal due to

An example of an upstander who had remained to their morals was William Hosenfield. Hosenfield had served in World War 1 and shortly became a teacher after that, he was stationed again in Poland where he climbed the ranks from sergeant to captain and became a Nazi in 1935. After watching the discrimination and hatred towards minority groups, he was repulsed by the terrifying acts committed and had a moral obligation to save them as he believed it was inhumane. Although this could put his life at risk as a consequence to helping the Jews, Hosenfeld made the choice to rescue those who needed it as that is what he believed in, this was evident in source C that states “Hosenfeld not only expressed his deep revulsion in words, but also actively helped the victims." This was written about Wilhelm’s contributions where he was actively helping the victims to try and make amends for the horrible treatment they had been faced with. A victim he had saved was called Leon Warm who had escaped on a train in 1942 and Hosenfeld who had provided him with a new identity, a job, and a fresh start because of his moral responsibility that had aided in his decisions. The second person he had saved was Szpilman, who was on the brink of death, William had chosen to by his side and at his aide until liberation as he could not stand to leave anyone to die as he believed that