Essay On Overcoming Obstacles Of The Holocaust

763 Words4 Pages

Three people, close friends, inseparable, are gathered together. One wakes up the next morning to find the other two dead. This is Europe’s Jewish population during the Holocaust, an obstacle of the highest order. The Holocaust may seem like it’s in the distant past, but a brief look at Europe’s Jewish population before and after the event makes it abundantly clear that it still matters today. Every day people overcome obstacles, but every Jew, Slav, Romano, homosexual, and disabled person in those ghettos and camps who survived overcame the obstacle to end all obstacles. For every unfortunate soul sent to a concentration camp, such as in Eva’s Story, every hour, waking or otherwise, was a grand obstacle of its own. The obstacles started with …show more content…

When Liesel Meminger’s brother died and she was sent to a foster home(Zusak 7), there were emotional problems for years, which likely continued after the book’s conclusion. Specifically, a higher amount of anger and resentment, which occasionally manifested in sudden outbursts(Zusak 426). Being separated from family is one of the most emotionally scarring things that can happen to a person. Her family was also hiding a Jew in their basement for most of the book(Zusak 202). Indeed, the obstacles of the Holocaust extend far beyond those that were …show more content…

In the children’s book The Whispering Town, the people of the Danish town guide the Jews through the town to neutral Sweden(Elvgren Picture of town). This was a great way to help the Jews overcome their obstacles, but the townspeople made one for themselves in doing so. If they were caught, they could face imprisonment, torture, or even execution. The Danes were the best German-occupied nation at helping the jews escape, but they were not unique, as many European nations had undergrounds for a similar purpose. The obstacle in doing this is the same as in The Whispering Town: if caught, the punishment would be dire. You didn’t have to be Jewish, Slavic, or Romano to be presented with these obstacles. No enemies of the Nazi agenda were spared