Extermination–HolocaustJoin now to read essay Extermination–HolocaustExterminationThe Holocaust was the worst genocide in history. The Nazis, who carried out this vicious unjust act, created the plan to round up and kill millions of people. Art Spiegelman illustrated in Maus, the Holocaust, and Adolf Hitler’s plan to destroy the Jews in his quest for an Aryan nation.
Jews were not the only victims of the Holocaust. There were other victims such as: Roma (Gypsies), the mentally impaired or physically disabled, Slavic people (Poles, Russians), Communists, socialists, Jehovah’s witnesses, and homosexuals. All were captured by the SS. Over nine million Jews populated Europe and most resided in countries during World War II that the Third Reich would occupy or influence. (“United” 1, 2). This general hatred was also directed towards other ethnic minorities.
In the Russian Empire, anti-Semitism became an official policy of the government, which in 1881 and 1882 encouraged anti-Jewish mob attacks. It was ordered by the leadership of Germany’s Nazi party to exterminate approximately six million Jews either by the dreadful underground gas chambers (Zyklon B), hard labor leading to death, the crematoria, and starvation or just by shooting them with automatic weapons. Adolf Hitler, Nazis’ leader, claimed that the Jews had carried out economic dominance and the ability to rule and manipulate the mass media to their own advantage. He ordered the extermination of the Jews to annihilate their powerful economic position, even if it meant death. “The killings were to be conducted by four mobile SS units called Einsatzgruppen (action squads) each consisting of some one thousand men. In addition, there were other SS and other units ordered to shoot Jews who were to be gathered in front of mass graves dug by the Jews themselves.” There were about thirty thousand Germans involved in the shootings (Encarta Bankier par.31)
During this time, concentration camps were in operation. The name of the city of Oswiecim was changed to Auschwitz, which became the name of the camp. In October of 1941, the construction of the first division of Birkenau Concentration camp begins. This camp was surrounded by a watchtower and barbed wires ( II: 65). Between the years of 1941-1944, Farben Werk Auschwitz was built near Dwory. It later became the Polish Oswiecim chemical plant. In 1942, Auschwitz III-Monowitz concentration camp was established. Auschwitz became the largest camp built by the Nazis in 1940 (“United” 1). By the autumn of 1944, other camps were built as well: prisoner’s camp, special camp, neutral camp, star camp, and Hungarian camp.
Not only did the Jews occupy these camps, Poles were sent there by the German authorities. These people were considered dangerous because of their status: The elite, political, and spiritual leaders and members of the intelligentsia, cultural and scientific figures, and also members of the resistance movement. Over time, approximately four hundred thousand people were stationed in the camp and sub-camps. Two hundred thousand were Jews, more than one hundred forty thousand were Poles, and twenty thousand were gypsies from different parts of the country; over ten thousand Soviet prisoners of war, and over ten thousand prisoners of other nationalities (“History 1). Jewish men, women and children were killed in the Birkenau gas chambers. Towards the end of the war, the SS knew that such crimes must be covered. By doing so, they began to destroy documentations, dismantle gas chambers and the crematoria, and burn other buildings which were involved in this extermination act (Holocaust History par. 9). In 1946, Poland founded a museum at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in remembrance of its victims. According to Encarta encyclopedia by 1944, about twenty-two million visitors had passed through the iron gates that bear the motto Arbeit Macht Frei- work makes one free.
In Art Spiegelman’s illustration of Maus, he writes about the challenges his family and other Jews faced during the Holocaust. In his book, the cats represent the (Nazis) the mice (Jews), pigs (Poles) and the dog (African American). As Artie’s father, Vladek, reminisce about his life as a prisoner, he explains how the Jews were gathered together in one place and segregated. The people who had experience in working and who were young to work were sent to the right. Those who were old in age and had lots of children were sent to the left. Vladek knew something terrible was going to happen. Many families were separated, including Vladek’s family ( I: 91). While Artie tries to record his father’s story, frustration was apparent in his actions. For example, when Artie and his wife, Francoise, were visiting Vladek, he asked them to help prepare bank papers. During this process, Vladek told them their
s of how important the family would be. “I could not afford to work in this situation. My father lived in one small family and he did an extremely bad job as a teacher and as a lawyer.” After the work ended, Artie and his wife began to discuss their work. While discussing their work in the house it became clear that Vladek was very poor and would not get to work until three days before Christmas. He also knew that his wife would be able to cover some of her expenses. With the help of his wife he was able to save up enough to purchase a house and send their two children to school. Vladek was able to help Francoise get a job as an assistant teacher. During this work, the family came to Germany. Vladek would work for a month in Hamburg, getting paid to perform the children`s schoolwork such as this: «The job will be a one-to-one fight between Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom»! Vladek knew that his wife and child and they could not wait to end their lives together. In March 1933, the Nazis invaded Germany and in its first battle it was seen that the Jews were finally eliminated from the national government. This Nazi occupation led to large numbers of refugees. More than 40 million people fled to Russia, where they had been stranded for a long time. The number of immigrants increased and in March 1933, Vladek made a request «to Germany, to be freed». The Nazis demanded that Vladek be executed.
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Museum of Modern Art, London. I have no photographic evidence that shows how Vladek felt about Vladek’s request, but you can find that piece in the exhibition ‘Vladek: The Great Art of 1940.’ Vladek was very open about his experiences of working at an art conservatory, noting that he was too weak to survive the Nazi raids. “A lot of what happens in these experiments, when you work so hard, comes with consequences,” he recalled. Even though he worked closely with his family, he knew he was not at all happy at their work. “These people were in charge of the animals, and they were really responsible for the work which was done,” he added. Vladek also emphasized the importance of respect for other people. For example, he said that the work they created at the time was a tribute to the people who took part in the experiments, while another idea was to celebrate the end of the occupation. In 1941, he explained, ‘I learned that the Germans were killing our friends in their wars. Therefore I asked them not to use me.’ ” He concluded: “This experiment was an example that they wanted to commemorate with their names their experiences of these things. I don’t want to talk about other victims or their achievements. We’re all brothers. You all had such a hard day. We were just like that, not like that.” Artie also recalled how he was the first man out of that concentration camp to be able to visit relatives. He recalled vividly how he came to his wife and said: “I should have been in a little higher spirits, but my father told me that I was so weak that I fell down while my sister was in tears. She has fallen down