JEWISH VICTIMS
(WHY JEWS? AND SURVIVOR
STORIES)
Yasmine Kerkiz
Before The Holocaust




In the year 1933, about 9.5 million Jews lived in
Europe
The largest Jewish population was in Germany
There were Jewish communities where they could
have religious practices
The Jews put in effort to integrate into German
society (1)
Before The Holocaust
Three generations of a Jewish family pose for a group photograph (1)
The beginning of Anti-Semitism




In European societies where majority of the
population was Christian, Jews found it hard to fit in
For a while, the Church taught that the Jews were
responsible for Jesus’ death (2)
When the Nazis came to power, the lives of
German Jews changed
April 1, 1933, the Nazis carried a boycott of Jewish
businesses
The beginning of Anti-Semitism
Three Jewish businessmen are forced to march down a crowded
Leipzig street while carrying signs reading: "Don't buy from Jews.
Shop in German businesses!“ (3)
Why Jews?



There’s really no specific reason
Hitler had the Germans convinced that the Jews
were the cause of all the problems in their country
The Nazis believed that they were racially superior,
and that the Jews were the total opposite (4)
The Victims



The Germans kept record of some of the Jews sent
to the concentration camps
Jews sent to extermination camps were sent to their
deaths without documenting their arrival
The estimated number of Jewish deaths is usually
between 5.1 and 6 million victims
 Keep
in mind that not all victims of the Holocaust were
registered so the numbers could be even higher (4)
The Victims
A Soviet soldier walks through a mound of victims' shoes piled outside a warehouse
in Majdanek soon after the liberation.
(4)
The story of Joseph Moses Lang (5)



On June 7, 1944, Joseph’s17th birthday, him and his family
were transported to Auschwitz. They separated males and
females, so him and his older brother were on their own
He wrote: “Every time I returned to camp from a work detail, I
was sprayed with some supposedly bug poison, which I believed
resulted in my suffering from skin cancer for most of my life after
the Holocaust.”
“Living conditions at Allach were not good. Several times I was
beaten very badly. On one occasion, I was accused of not lining
up on time and I was sent to the “dentist” who then yanked out
my wisdom teeth with a chisel and hammer. Though this caused
me to bleed severely, I still had to report for work the following
day.”
The story of Joseph Moses Lang (5)



“On another occasion, the Nazi in charge of my work
detail made me run four laps around the barrack's yard
while being chased by one of the Nazi's German
shepherd dogs. I tripped and fell during the third lap
and the dog bit me on my neck, removing a chunk of skin.
To this day, I continue to have the scar on my neck from
this incident. After the dog bit me, I still had to get up
and run the final lap; even though I was badly hurt.”
After the liberation of the camp, his older brother was
taken to the infirmary. When he went to check in on him,
he was nowhere to be found
They reunited many years later in Israel
The story of Joseph Moses Lang
(5)
Bibliography





(1) : "Holocaust History." Jewish Population of Europe in 1933:
Population Data by Country. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.
(2) : "The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students." Antisemitism.
N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.
(3) : "The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students." The Boycott
of Jewish Businesses. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.
(4) : "Holocaust History." Introduction to the Holocaust. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Mar. 2013.
(5) : "Holocaust History." Behind Every Name a Story: Joseph
Moses Lang. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.