wwii emily rizzo. living in amsterdam timeline august 23, 1939: nazi-soviet nonaggression agreement...
TRANSCRIPT
TIMELINE
August 23, 1939: Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Agreement
September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe
September 17, 1939: The Soviet Union occupies Poland from the east
July 6, 1941: Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) shoot nearly 3,000 Jews at the Seventh
Fort, one of the 19th-century fortifications surrounding Kovno
November 30, 1941: Einsatzgruppen shoot 10,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto in the Rumbula
Forest
December 11, 1941: Nazi Germany declares war on the United States
January 16, 1942: Germans begin the mass deportation of more than 65,000 Jews from Lodz to
the Chelmno killing center
May 15, 1944: Germans begin the mass deportation of about 440,000 Jews from Hungary
January 18, 1945: Death march of nearly 60,000 prisoners from the Auschwitz camp system in
southern Poland
January 25, 1945: Death march of nearly 50,000 prisoners from the Stutthof camp system in
northern Poland
April 29, 1945: American forces liberate the Dachau concentration camp
April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide
May 9, 1945: Germany surrenders to the Soviets
M Y J O U R N E Y T H R O U G H W O R L D WA R T W O
Being Jewish during this time, was terrifying. This star
represented our faith, our past and our future. Having this
star on us separated us from the “good” and “bad” people.
WHEN IT BEGAN
Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves.
The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars
to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they're sending all the
Jews....If it's that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and
uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most
of them are being murdered. The English radio says they're being gassed.“
- October 9, 1942
Deportation was very scary. We didn’t know
What to expect, where we were going or why
This was happening.
MAP OF THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS
Life in the camps were petrifying. We never knew if we
would make it to tomorrow. All the work you do for noting.
These camps were everywhere. There was no stopping Hitler.
GETTING SENT TO THE CAMPS
After getting out of the camps, I remember seeing newspaper articles about
other peoples experiences in the camps. Yet, I always thought those articles
gave us no justice as to what we went through.
L A B E L I N G
These numbers caused us lots of pain. Not just physical,
but emotional pain. They made us feel like labeled
animals. After this point, our lives were forever changed.
DAILY LIFE
Our lives were filled with constant work, little food and
multiple deaths a day. We had no enjoyment, nothing to strive
for. We were separated from our families, friends and truly,
life.
LIFE AFTER THE CAMPS
The day had finally arrived. We got to leave the concentration camps.
However, at this time I really had nothing to live for. My family had been
killed and so had my friends. I had no where to go and I was brutally scared
from the torturous camps. After a long time of depression, I decided to move
somewhere completely new. The United States!
WORKS CITED
"Diary Excerpts." The Anne Frank Center USA. N.p., n.d. Web.
Gregory, Derek "Holocaust." The Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 9 April 2014.
"Holocaust Reparations." CQ Researcher by CQ Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr.
2014.
"The Aftermath of the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013.
Web. 07 Apr. 2014.