Nazi Germany's Euthanasia Program
The Nazis called this the Euthanasia Program. Euthanasia translates to good death. The Nazis sold this to the public as a way of putting the disabled to rest, and giving them a “way out” of a pain filled death, but the Nazis saw it as a clandestine murder program. They would kill people who were mentally and physically disabled. The Nazis targeted all the disabled, not just the elderly or the middle-aged people with disabilities.
The first dehumanizing act the Nazis perpetrate on the Jews is removing the normality from their everyday life. In Spring 1941, “German Army vehicles made their appearance” (Wiesel 9) on the streets of Sighet, yet the Jews showed no anguish. However, the harmony is short-lived; “the race toward death had begun” (Wiesel 10). The Nazis enforce rules that strip the Jews of their humanity: “jews were prohibited from
In 1933, the ‘Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring’ was passed, ordering forced sterilization of those who were considered to be Disabled. These people included those with deafness, blindness, physical deformities, epilepsy, schizophrenia, etcetera. (“Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases”). Hitler backdated his order to September 1st, 1939, the day World War II began, to make it appear as if this was a wartime measure. The individuals were taken to supposed “Eugenics Court” where doctors and lawyers loyal to Hitler reviewed the cases.
I learned that Nazi Germany were so heartless that they would separate their own families to even make the matter worse. “All the skilled workers had already been sent to other camps”(46). This made me realize that the strong, Jews, were more likely to live than the weak ones. The weak, old Jews didn’t have a choice, but to die. “On the other hand, the dentist seemed more conscientious: he asked me to open my mouth wide.
In the short novel, Night by Elie Wiesel, the author discusses an event of tremendous scarring effect to him and all those unfortunate to be caught in it’s scourge, The Holocaust. From the new age diaspora, death marches, cremation, and many other tyrannical actions from the German Reich that left all witnesses traumatized. These horrendous acts brought out a primal version of self preservation in the prisoners. The prisoners self preservation is displayed through their fight for rations of bread, their relentless labor to avoid the path to death that is tested by Dr. Mengele, leading the prisoners ultimately to the crematorium.
The war and immigration played the largest role on the emergence of eugenics. In 1927, the supreme court ruled in favor of the sexual sterilization of a young woman named Carrie Buck. This paper discusses
The thematic development of the theme, freedom and confinement was highly predominant in the novel, “Night”, by Elie Wiesel. It was portrayed through the conflict of character vs. character; also, through inner battles like character vs. self. Elie was either trapped mentally or physically, and abused by the people he thought were good in the world. Elie tells us that he was confined in very claustrophobic areas with no way out (physically), that he had all his rights taken away from him and treated like property (physically), and his lost of liberty to think and feel what he wished too; unless thy wanted death to be executed. Hitler and his followers purloined everyone’s freedom and just the simple one that was given to us by some spectacular force, to live in human peace.
Nazis did not just attack the Jews physically, but through acts of negative psychology that, by the end of the war, destroyed not only their bodies but their minds. The attacks on the Jews by the Nazis during the World War II era relates to Elie Wiesel's memoir “Night” through dehumanization, desensitization, and survival of the fittest. The use of dehumanization by Nazis turned the once peaceful and empathetic Jews into savage, ruthless, and apathetic animals. “The idea of dying, ceasing to be, began to fascinate me. To no longer exist, to no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot to no longer feel anything, neither fatigue nor cold, nothing.
The Nazi medical experiments are a series of experiments conducted by Nazi doctors to test specific medical needs of humans. These experiments took place in all German concentration camps, mainly Auschwitz, Ravensbrück and Dachau. These experiments are cruel and done without consent from the person being experimented on. The most famous Nazi doctor of the Holocaust was Dr. Josef Mengele who worked at Auschwitz. He is often called the “Angel of Death” because he determined the fates of those who arrived at Auschwitz.
Once the Jewish people reached the concentration camps, they were typically immediately separated by gender. Women and girls were almost always immediately executed, and boys and men would then go through a “selection” process, where the old, sick, and disabled–those who would be unable to work–were separated from their peers (“Auschwitz”). Wiesel had left his mother and sisters soon after arriving in Auschwitz “in a fraction of a second” with “no time to think” and continued onward with his father in disarray and confusion (29). Those selected to be unfit for work would be killed by being gassed, shot, or thrown into a crematorium to be burned. After witnessing human beings, notably babies, being sent to the crematorium, Wiesel “felt anger rising within”
Unspoken Victims of The Holocaust Of the countless victims of Adolf Hitler’s brutal genocide none were persecuted more than the Jews, however, among the large death toll many others were mercilessly punished for their race, beliefs, or occupation. A major target for Hitler’s “Final Solution” was the mentally and physically disabled. In their article on the mentally and physically handicapped the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum wrote “The Law for the Prevention of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases, proclaimed July 14, 1933, forced the sterilization of all persons who suffered from diseases considered hereditary, such as mental illness (schizophrenia and manic depression), retardation (congenital feeble-mindedness), physical deformity,
In the spring of 1939 public health authorities encouraged parents with children of disabilities to send their children to a pediatric clinic. What they didn't know was that there young children were actually being sent to a children's killing wards. These children were killed by deadly overdoses of medication, gassing or by starvation. At first, only infants and toddlers were sent in the operation after a while children up to 17 years of age were being sent to these operations (Euthanasia
An estimated six million Jews died during this period of time. He sent these Jews and other minorities to their deaths in labor camps for able-bodied men and death camps for those who could not work, such as women, children and the elderly (Allen Holocaust 7). Two years before the Holocaust, the Nazis went to hospitals and preyed on disabled patients, especially children (Euthanasia). The Holocaust is a time in history when millions of people were
The Third Reich, referring to Hitler’s reign and Germany being under Nazi rule between the years 1933-1945, is often referred to as a totalitarian state. A totalitarian state is a system of government in which all power is centralized and does not allow any rival authorities, and the state controls every corner of individual lives with absolute power. Nazi Germany has been referred to as an excellent example of this type of government. This essay will analyse five aspects of Nazi Germany to determine whether it truly exhibited the totalitarian style of government.
During World War II, multiple tragedies occurred, such as the medical experiment that Jews and other cultures witnessed. The holocaust is truly an insult to humanity. (remember.org) Freezing, Burning, Injections, Surgeries, are just some of the many experiments that took place. This concept was definitely hard to believe that something like that would actually happen. Surgery during this time was thought to be insane, and unthought of.
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