The effects of concentration camps during the Holocaust on the people Essay

The effects of concentration camps during the Holocaust on the people who lived in them - Essay Example Age, gender and other supporting factors determined where you were selected to go. Millions of Jews were enslaved, exploited for scientific experiments, murdered and subjected to a number of atrocities. This â€Å"widespread destruction of the Jews† has been recorded in history as the Holocaust. However, while the Jews were subjected to the greater number of atrocities, other nationalities and ethnic groups received comparable treatment by virtue of the Nazi’s concentration camps. The concentration (labour) camps in particular were established in German conquered and occupied areas and thus included the Poles, French, Czechs, Dutch, Yugoslavians, Belgians and any other nationalities in the conquered and occupied countries. The majority of prisoners however were Jews and Gypsies who were primarily destined for the extermination camps. Once the Second World War ended, many healthcare professionals came into contact with the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. Accou nts of the effects of the concentration camps during the holocaust and the people who lived in them began to emerge. German camps were divided into three types: extermination, concentration and labour camps. Extermination camps were designed to murder masses of human beings primarily through gas chambers. Auschwitz-Birkenau served a dual purpose in that healthy Jews were put to work and only temporarily spared the gas chambers. All others were murdered. ... For example the death rate at Dachau camp in Germany was 4% in 1938. But by 1942 the death rate increased to 36%.7 The work was characterized by â€Å"victimization and terror†.8 Victims were forced to work to the point of â€Å"exhaustion† and were not provided with basic working equipment.9 Through the constant inflow of prisoners, the camps became unbearably overcrowded so that living conditions were subhuman.10 A report by one survivor reflects the magnitude of the victims’ struggle to survive in Nazi concentration camps. Elie Cohan, a Jewish physician from the Netherlands, whose parents had been killed in Auschwitz, was sent along with his wife and children to camps in Amersfort and then to Westerbork. Cohen’s life was spared because he was a doctor and the Nazis needed his services. When his wife offended a German Jew, Cohen and his family were immediately transported to Auschwitz where his family was put to death in the gas chambers immediately afte r arrival. Cohen however was not accorded time to grieve and had to work immediately with little food and water. When he was liberated he weighed less than 80 pounds and was described as â€Å"someone on the threshold of death†.11 The effects of living in a concentration camp regardless of whether it was a death camp or a labour camp appear to be entirely the same for all inhabitants.12 Inmates were shaved, dressed in standard inmate attire and forced to wear a tattoo for identification. This forced the people living in the concentration camps to lose all identity and essentially dehumanized them. Even when the Second World War came to an end and the concentration camps were forced to close because of the approaching allied forces, the taste of freedom was also bitter and just as horrifying as incarceration.13The

Growth and world's cities Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Growth and world's cities - Assignment Example The city was founded in 1565 after the French flee the region. Currently, the city rests over a flat yet narrow plain situated between the foothills which lay between the Atlantic Ocean and the Highlands of Brazil, right over the shore residing on the Guanabara Bay. Though the public policy regarding urban planning in Brazil isn`t quite impressive, yet the city reflects considerable urban development which makes it one of the most anticipated tourist resorts. A few communities in Rio exhibit remarkable projects undertaken by private investors like their own waste collection and sewerage systems, gay care centers, considerably higher literacy rate, support centers for the elders, nutrition, recreational and sports centers, metropolitan hotels and other similar urban hubs. Yet, a few other areas seem to be lagging behind in terms of urban development. Rio de Janeiro grew over time to become what it is now. In the first few decades of the 20th century, Rio saw a drastic increase in its population to around 2 million. In 1927, when Antionio Prado was heading the state, the Agache Plan was incorporated into public policy regarding urban development which boosted the growth of the city in the context (Vojnovik 2013) . Thus, during the late 1920`s, th e city saw its golden age which continued till the 1950`s where high profile hotels like Copacabana Palace and the Hotel Gloria were built. Also, the city was turned into a destination for hollywood celebrities and other high profile people from all around the world. Thus, private investment flew in and urban resorts like the Copabana beach and the Santos Dumont airport was inaugurated, further giving the urban touch to the city. After the 1950`s, transportation infrastructure was the focus of the government along with industrial development, which further paved way for the development of advanced housing communities for the blue