Human Rights Violation: The Holocaust

The Holocaust was one of the worst and most horrific events that took place in world history, the largest attempted genocide ever. The Jewish Holocaust has to be one of the largest events that has ever violated human rights. The Holocaust began in 1933 with Adolf Hitler leading the anti-Jew campaign which ultimately led to the torture and murder of over six million Jews in Germany. Hitler’s campaign not only affected the Jews but others would be labeled as “undesirable” as well. Gypsies and homosexuals as well as political and religious opposition would also be eliminated. The Holocaust is taught as a mass genocide of the Jews, but more than five million others would undergo
During dinner one night, there was a knock at the door, and the home was invaded by the police. At this time, Wiesel’s family had to hand over all of their valuables to the Nazis (Wiesel 20). This was not the only time that the right to freedom was violated. The Nazis forced the Jews out of their homes and deportation to concentration camps had begun (Resnick 53-54). The author of Night experienced this and uses very vivid details of the day that he and his family faced deportation from the ghetto. “The Hungarian police struck out with truncheons and rifle butts, without reason, their blows falling upon old men and women, children and invalids alike. One by one the houses were emptied, and the street filled with people. The heat was intense. Sweat streamed from faces and bodies. Children cried for water.” (Wiesel 25). The right of freedom was certainly gone for this family and the Jewish population. Elie Wiesel’s father wept as he marched alongside his wife, son, and daughter as they did not know what still lie ahead for them. The next stop on this long journey was the concentration camp, but first the Jews would have to face torture and inhumane treatment along the way.

Torture and inhumane treatment was another violation of human rights that the Jews suffered during the Holocaust. The definition of torture is that of causing severe physical and mental pain as a means of punishment. The Germans succeeded in this