The holocaust is one of the most critical eventualities that took place in the 20th century. Indeed, it is one of those happenings that changed the world forever and become a defining moment for how the Jews and the world would handle a conflict. As such, it has become one of the most analyzed political instigation of all time. Based on this historical importance, this paper seeks to understand the nature of the Holocaust. It pays particular interest on the events and motivations that led to this deadly instigation. Importantly, the paper also explores these motivations in relation to how they are depicted in Maus.
Shoah refers to the mass persecution and execution of the Jews located in Europe by the Nazi during Hitler’s regime. It is estimated to have taken place between 1933 and 1945 where over 5.5 million people were murdered. The death process is said to have occurred as a result of a series of activities that were carried out. To begin with was the rise of the Nazi ideologies that were mostly racist, political and religiously discriminatory. Propaganda suggesting that the Jews were the primary cause of the German’s economic crisis was the beginning of the rivalry between Germans and Jews. The occurrences of the Holocaust have been documented by different people through various ways. The first graphical novel to give the account is referred to as Maus. The novel has applied different styles of narration, and a lot of metaphors have also been used. The Author of the book used different animals to represent diverse groups of people. The mice were used to symbolize the Jews, while the Germans were the cats. The Americans that contributed to sending help to the Jews were expressed by the dogs.
The graphic novel being referred to by this research study (Maus) has its central focus on one man who gives his account of the Holocaust. The story is firmly rooted in historical dates and facts that illustrate the statistical and detailed account of the stages that marked the progression of the Holocaust. Various authors have given a historical account, while classifying the Holocaust in several stages (Totten 120). This research will elaborate the steps involved in the Holocaust as they were narrated by Vladek, who is Art Spiegelman's father in the novel Maus. The novel has comprehensively covered the process of German’s invasion of Poland and the changes that followed. Restrictions were put in various towns and people were asked to relocate. The relocation was closely followed by what is referred to as the concentration as the people were put in the common regions where they were expected to work for the Germans. The weak and elderly who were not able to work were convinced of deportation that eventually led to the mass genocide. The final stage of the Holocaust has been the healing process of the victims and how well they recovered from their experiences.
The historical context is discussed broadly in the book, and it is vital to creating awareness of the past and present changes that affect the victims. The narrative does not only give the historical perspective, but also focuses on Artie’s struggle to understand himself and his origin. The generational conflict that has existed among the Jewish community on the trauma and shame they suffered was not well dealt with, and thus, it is a center of focus (James 667). Accounts of the pre-Shoah situation of the Spiegelman’s family have been narrated, and they develop into the Holocaust and post-Shoah situation. At the beginning of his narration, Vladek tells of how he met his wife Anja; the delivery of their first born son and later on how she suffered depression. It was on a journey they took to the hospital that Vladek realized the spread of Nazism. Although they were located further from the central Europe regions, Vladek says that they were among the Jews who were under German’s control in the expansion period due to their location in Poland (Spiegelman 16).
Poland came under German’s control, thus hindering all efforts of the people who wanted to escape the genocide. The author’s father always had a dream to travel to America, but this dream could not have been achieved during the invasion period. However, later on in the books, Art gives an account of how his parents first escaped to Sweden then to the United States. In the pre- Holocaust time dating in 1939, Jews were known to have occupied Europe. The treaty that was signed to mark the end of World War 1 was the beginning of trouble for German. The agreement obligated German to take full responsibility for the onset of the war and to pay for the damages that resulted. In 1925, Hitler published an article in the widely read Mein Kampf political manifesto suggesting that he knew the right way to save German from the humiliation it suffered.
According to him, there was the need to ‘purify’ the country by eliminating all the Jews. His political influence was so great that his ideas were accepted, and he was chosen to be a chancellor in 1933. Following Hitler’s appointment, a unified one-party state was formed, and the Nazi was ordered to begin its operations. The first action against the Jews involved boycotting their shops and businesses. This activity was only carried out for one day, but it marked the beginning of the Jewish oppressions. In 1935, all Jewish citizens were revoked off their German citizenship following the enactment of the Nuremberg Race Laws (Yad 17). It was due to this law that most Jews have pushed away from the public eyes into concentration camps (Stackelberg 348).
The next stage that followed in the historical occurrence of the Holocaust is known as the concentration. In 1941, some flyers were spread all over announcing that all the Jews were required to relocate by the following year (Spiegelman 82). Following this announcement, Vladek’s and other eleven households were transferred to smaller rooms in the secluded community area and thus formed a ghetto. During this time, the Jews were given freedom to move to other parts of town, although they were required to be in their homes by nightfall. However, as time went by, the freedom becomes increasingly restricted and the living environment harsh and not fit for survival. Now, the use of open rhetoric and tactics that geared hatred among the people in Germany led to the escalation of the emotional conflict among people in this society back then. Importantly, the use of psychological warfare such as this played an important role to validate the actions that would have come to pass after the Hitler evoked the military action against the Jews. In other words, the citizens would of course approve of his actions because they had been hyped to work against the existence of the Jews in the land.
Living in the concentration camps was characterized by diseases and starvation. Compared to the large population of Jews, the space at the camps was tiny and crowded; unsanitary conditions that were experienced caused a health hazard. The people were occasionally tortured, and others killed within the camps. In Western Europe, transit camps were used to hold the Jews who were transported to death camps. The concentration camps were used as prisons for the Jews where they were severely mishandled. In the Eastern Europe, there were no transit camps and prisoners were transported to death camps using cattle vehicles that had no ventilation. This mishandling also escalated the way to the deadly holocaust. This is based on the fact that it portrayed the Jews as people without values. It made them look as if they were intruders rather than rightful citizens in Germany and the entire Europe. With this perception having been created, the holocaust was by all means unavoidable.
The stage that followed the concentration is the deportations period and the death camps (Totten 120). These two historical stages were systematically accomplished; by involving the old and elderly who were chosen as the first group. Spiegleman (86) narrates that notices indicating a better place for Jews who were over seventy years were spread, and the message was warmly received. The flyers that were delivered to the ghettos gave hope of a better life for the elderly generation. The over seventy years old elderly men and women were to be relocated to a place known as ‘Theresienstadt’ that was believed to be a place where they would be given better care. The impression created by the Nazi was that relocation would help enhance the Jewish livelihoods. Contrary to these expectations Vladek says that Anja’s grandparents were not sent to ‘Theresienstadt’ but instead, they were taken to Auschwitz or the gas chamber (Spiegleman 87). The first trip to Auschwitz was the beginning of the mass death of most Jews located at Sosnowiec as their number tremendously decreased. Separation of people that include the old, and those who did not have work cards was done and in the spring over one thousand individuals were relocated to the gas chambers in Auschwitz (Spiegleman 108). The gas chambers were designed in a way that increased the efficiency of killing, and they were located in six death camps. Auschwitz death camp was made up of over forty-five sub-camps, and that made it the largest field of the six death camps.
Einsatzgruppen was the name given to the death squad that was formed for the specific purpose of killing the Jewish community. The crew accomplished its mission through the shooting of masses, and it is approximated that over one million Jews died in this manner. Additionally, over two point five million Jews are also estimated to have been killed in the death camps, and this resulted in a reduced population at the ghettos. The narrative Maus elaborates on how Anja’s sister committed suicide so as to avoid the deportation. A mixture of emotions and reactions can be felt in the author’s tone as he tells of his pain and struggles to come to terms with his past. Vladek was apparently separated from his wife and taken to Auschwitz, where his skills saved his life. Being a shoemaker, he was able to work and secured a barter trade that allowed for his wife to join him. The spread of the genocide insight the idea of running away to the Swiss border, but unfortunately the German Soldiers arrested them.
Saved by the American soldiers, Vladek and his friend Shivek were able to secure a hiding place where they stayed until the American’s had taken over the town. It was after this narrow escape that Vladek was able to go back to Sosnowiec where he reunited with his wife, and together they migrated to Sweden then to America for a new start. In his second book, Art brings out the indifference and the internal conflict that he has to deal with following his narration of the Holocaust. For him, the trauma that his parents went through had been passed down to him (Bloxham 238).
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