“In the end, we remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King Jr. During the Holocaust, the Jews felt helpless. People either hated them or felt sympathy for them. However, no one did anything to save them. Every prisoner at these concentration camps suffered from torture, starvation, hypothermia, and they were forced to work, which soon led to death. In Holocaust survivor Eliezer Wiesel’s novel, Night, he gives you insight about what life was like as a prisoner during World War II was really like. In his eyes, he saw that it was an injustice that no one came to save him and the other prisoners. Wiesel believes that it was difficult for a Jew to help another but he cannot understand why a citizen …show more content…
Some people feared of imprisonment because if someone did something that was seen as a threat or tried to save the thing they were exterminating, they would be taken to jail. ‘From this moment, you come under the authority of the German army. Those of you who still have gold, silver, or watches in your possession must give them up now. Anyone who is later found to have kept anything will be shot on the spot. Secondly, anyone who feels ill may go to the hospital car. That’s all.’ (21) The quote above shows how strict and demanding the officers were. Any citizen would have been mad if they even thought of going against their orders. Some people did not know of the horrific things being done to the Jews. Part of this had to do with the propaganda displayed everywhere. Hitler would brainwash many people into thinking that what he was doing would make Germany a stronger country. He showed them how “amazing” Germany would be if they got rid of the Jews and people believed him. Some citizens knew exactly what was being done in the concentration camps and would even mock the prisoners. They found it amusing to watch the Jews struggle for …show more content…
The Jews were experimented on to test cures for diseases so many countries did not want this disease to spread to their country. “It was here at Auschwitz One that the notorious Dr. Joseph Mengele, known as the “angel of death” conducted sadistic medical experiments on prisoners. Infecting them with diseases, rubbing chemicals into their skin and performing crude sterilization experiments in his quest to eliminate the Jewish race by any means possible.” (Winfrey) Other countries would have a new disease to worry about. Some countries were not as technologically advanced as Germany so they would be easily defeated and they would lose a lot of soldiers. Germany had more access to technology because they had invaded many countries. For example, they used poison gas which was forbidden after the Treaty of Versailles passed. Some countries supported Hitler’s “final solution” which was to exterminate all of the Jews. Allied countries, like Italy, helped Germany run concentration camps. Mussolini helped Hitler become the dictator of Germany. Many countries felt sympathy for the Jews, some were ignorant, and few were