Essay/Term paper: The holocaust

Essay, term paper, research paper:  History

"If we were not an eternal people before, we are an eternal



people after the Holocaust, in both its very positive and very



negative sense. We have not only survived, we have revived



ourselves. In a very real way, we have won. We were



victorious. But in a very real way, we have lost. We'll never



recover what was lost. We can't assess what was lost. Who



knows what beauty and grandeur six million could have



contributed to the world? Who can measure it up? What



standard do you use? How do you count it? How do you



estimate it...? We lost. The world lost, whether they know it or



admit it. It doesn't make any difference. And yet we won,



we're going on." This quote is from the testimony of Fania



Fenelon. The signs and symptoms that are among the Jews



because of the Holocaust definitely characterize abnormality.



These abnormalities include the physical effects, the spiritual



effects, and the second generation.



The physical effects were enormous among the Jews. The



conditions of the camps defy description. The nutrition was



worse than inadequate and the results being the well-known



"musselmen": skeletons covered by skin. After the Jews in



prison camps were freed, their diseases were treated as well as



could be treated. Premature aging was one of the most



prominent disabling effects of survivors. Digestive tract



diseases were also very common because of the emotional



disturbances and inadequate diet during their incarceration. The



experience also placed them at risk of coronary diseases,



cerebrovascular diseases, and arteriosclerosis. All of this was



consistent with the premature aging and the atrophy of the heart



muscle due to the extreme undernourishment during captivity.



Spiritual concerns also followed the survivors of the



Holocaust. The Jews had to face up to one of the most painful



realities of all...What it means to be a Jew. They had to decide



whether or not to remain a Jew. The Holocaust had threatened



the Jewish people near extinction. A anger directed towards the



Non-Jewish world was intense because they had been persecuted



by Gentiles. The Holocaust had caused an apparently



irreversible rupture in the Jewish-Christian relations. Jews felt



and still feel enraged because their expectations of a decent



world were shattered into pieces by the most, supposedly,



civilized people in the world. "Where was God?" wrote Elie



Wiesel, a question asked many times among the Jews. They felt



that God had deserted his very own people. Faith, after the



Holocaust, became more of an individual decision and every Jew



had to face the problem and let his conscience be his guide.



Never before had there been such anger toward any question



raised by Jewish suffering.



The second generation had brought a whole new group of



issues to deal with among the Jews. Great emotions surrounded



the birth of each second generation child of a survivor. Jewish



women feared that they would not be able to bear children



because of what they had experienced. Not having children



would have been a sign of defeat. Once born, the children were



almost certain to be special. Not only would it be evidence of



one's own survival but also the survival of the Jewish people. A



child represented the ultimate defeat of Nazism, a life created



against overwhelming odds, and for some, a precious gift of



God. The experiences of the Holocaust resulted in parents with



difficulties in responding correctly to their growing children.



The children were expected to be a reincarnation of those that



were lost, and many were not allowed to live their own



existence. The constant presence of the past, the images of the



concentration camps, the evidence of suffering by their parents:



all made the child relive his parents' nightmare.



There can be no doubt that the Holocaust changed the lives



of the Jewish people forever. The physical effects, the spiritual



effects, and the healthy survival of the second generation have



continued to plague the Jewish people. As Elie Wiesel wrote



"The world today must learn never to be neutral, never to be



silent when other's lives or dignity are at stake." The Jewish



people of today are the generation with the responsibility of



insuring that the Holocaust will be remembered. The world as it



was must be remembered by this and future generations.