Alan Burkhart
Enc1102
Tues. 6-8:00
Holacaust
and It’s Effects
During
World War II, Adolf Hitler thought of himself and his race as superior to
others. This mind set caused him to assentially dominate and attempt to wipe
the Jewish race off the face of the Earth. In this event over six million Jews
were killed via gas chambers, mal nutrition, and even some were killed by
soldiers in lines being shot to death. Although he was wrong, Hilter believed
all he was doing was for the good of the planet. Even after the near six and a
half million deaths, there were numerous survivers that still live today. “It
is not so easy to do this interview. Last night I did not have a minute's
sleep. When I sleep, I dream, I dream, I dream. We did not know who was going
to be left alive. "Don't forget, tell the world" was the last thing
our friends said before they were taken to their deaths. You cannot keep it
inside.” Joseph Sher, a survivor of a loabor camp in the Holocaust remebers the
final words of friends and family just before they were taken away by German
soldiers and SS associates. Born in the little Polish town of Krzepice, Joseph
was raised by his moher with his two brothers and three sisters. His mother was
in today’s terms a stay at home mom, while his father was a well educated
tailor. He met his wife through his beautiful sister Freida. While dating his
future wife, they heard of safety in Russia. The two got married and headed for
the border. Once they reached Russia, they were denied entrance. They returned
to their town and tried to live as happily as they could. Joseph was taken to a
labor camp for nine months where he was beaten and antaginized brutally in that
period of time. In that time, the men ranging from the age of 20-80, were
expected to work with minimal food and water, diseased conditions, and freezing
tempertures. With no plumbing, they were expected to deficate in a ditch where
they might have been shot by German soldiers using their guns as toys to mess
with the men working. Joseph had two friends, a doctor and a professor. The two
men did all in their power to get joseph out of the camp. After being their for
nine months they were able to get him back home. Upon his arrival home, he
became ill and was put behind a wall made to hide him unitl he was better.
After his illness passed, he was taken with his brother and cousin along with
eight others to a factory owned by the chief of the Gestapo. They were there
for 10 weeks before the factory was no longer in need of that many people. When
they returned, Joseph learned that his mother and sisters were killed because
they were of no use. Joseph found his wofe a few days later and moved in with
another couple. They were in a small room with a bucket to use the bathroom. One
morning before work, they were surrounded by soldiers and taken to Treblinka.
They spent the remainder of the war from 1943 to 1945 in a slave labor camp.
The couple was lucky in this time of turmoil; Joseph was a tailor for the
German officers while his wife carried boxes of ammunition to the trucks. His
wife Rachel, had a better fate than most women whose job was to reload shells
for the German army. These women turnd yellow from breathing in all the lead;
once yellow from disease, they were taken away and never to be seen again. All
the people knew where they were taken. The diseased women were taken to the
cemetary, shot and burried as they were of no use to the Nazis anymore. Certain
Jews were selected to be the policemen ion the ghettos only after they bribed
the Nazis with gold and other valuble items. One day as Jospeh was working, he
saw almost fifty men brought into a room one by one and struck on the head with
a sledge hammer. Their bodies were toted to the cemetary where they were
burried along with all the other bodies of Jews in that labor camp. By 1949
they had their first child and came to New Orleans to be with Rachels aunt.
They came across by ship as some of the first few survivors. As their children
grew, they feared that their past might affect the lives of the kids. Now every
time he hears the words “God Bless America”, he thinks back to his past and
utters the phrase to himself truly thankful for the oppurtunity to get out of
Nazi Germany with his life and family. The holocasut affected millions of
people during its time and has still been affecting people today.
Sources
Sher, Joseph,
Mr. Survivor Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013
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