Examine The Challenges Faced By Jewish People During Ww2

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Examine the challenges faced by Jewish people in hiding as well as those who hid them during WWII

During WWII, Hitler, and the Nazi party started persecuting the Jews because of Hitler’s anti-Semitic views as well as because of being blamed as a scapegoat for Germany’s loss during WWI. These Anti-Semitic views, which created an anti-Semitic Germany, forced many Jews into hiding. Some of the Jewish people went into hiding themselves but some needed help from others. These people and organisations aided the Jewish throughout the Holocaust. These brave heroes risked being punished by imprisonment or death to save those in need.

During the beginning of the war, the Nazis enacted many tactics to force Jewish people into hiding. These

The Enabling Act was a piece of legislation that essentially allowed Hitler to implement his own laws. This is what helped Hitler establish the Nazi government. The second way the Nazis helped force the Jews into hiding was through the Nuremberg race laws. The Nuremberg race laws were first announced at a parade by the Nazis in Nuremberg. The Nuremberg race laws were to prohibit breeding with Jewish people to breed them out. This was one of the least severe of the ways the Nazis were trying to eradicate the Jews. This law was the start of one of the largest mass genocides in history. The Nazis also tried to eradicate Jewish people by destroying their businesses. The boycotting of Jewish businesses started on Saturday, April 1, 1933. The Nazis displayed anti jew propaganda as well as graffitiing “JUDE” on their windows (fig 1.),

When the Nazi party started persecuting the Jewish population, there were people who risked their lives to protect the lives of the persecuted Jewish citizens. Zegota was a group of Jewish and Polish people in Nazi-occupied Poland. Władysław Bartoszewski formed Zegota. Władysław Bartoszewski (1922– 2015) was one of the co-founders of Zegota. Soon after the Nazi occupation, he was sent to Auschwitz. After being freed, he set up Zegota. Another key figure in the resistance against the Nazis and a member of Zegota and the smuggling of Jewish people was Irena Sendler. Irena Sendler (1910–2008) – Irena Sendler was a member of Zegota. She was a social worker in Warsaw. She was put into a ghetto during the war. She used people she knew to smuggle to money, food, false identities, and medical supplies to those in need. Under a new name, she smuggled children out of the ghettos. She did this under the veil of medical examinations. At first, Sendler just supplied resources, however, she soon realised that the Jews needed to be smuggled out of the Ghettos. After the Jews were transported to concentration camps, Sendler continued to smuggle Jews out. She came in contact with Zegota, who supplied her money through post boxes. The owner of a laundry which was a Zegota mailbox gave the SS her name. She was captured by the SS and tortured, however, never revealed anything. She was freed by a bribe to the SS by a colleague on the