Blog Overview

In my blog you will be reading about a few very influential people during WWII.  You'll be viewing and analyzing political cartoons, along with a few pictures you may find disturbing, and learning about a very crucial event, the Holocaust.  I really enjoyed doing the blog and I feel that I covered the points I wanted to effectively.  The Holocaust is my favorite topic in history and you will definitely be able to see that I am passionate about it.

Viewer Discretion is Advised

Chapter 16 Summary

In Chapter 16, we learned a lot about what happened during WWII in Germany and in the US.  Hitler was a very prominent leader at this time.  He signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union.  While Hitler is gaining power, Japan bombs American soil at Pearl Harbor, causing the US to enter the war.  We, then, attacked them with two nuclear bombs, thus, ending the war.
Back in Germany, Hitler is gathering up Jews, along with Gypsies, mentally ill, and the handicap.  Mass killings of the people, or genocide was the result of Hitler believing he and his people were the superior race. The reason for this was that Hitler believed that Jews were to blame for their defeat in WWI.  Only four million European Jews survived.

Four Important People

Hitler-  Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party) commanding Germany's forces during WWII.  Hitler turned Germany into into a totalitarian fascist state.  He urged to make German larger by demanding some land from Czechoslovakia.  The leaders of Great Britain and France met with Hitler to discuss his demands, and instead of fighting him about it, they granted him control of the land.  Hitler then invaded Poland, thus beginning the Holocaust.

Stalin- General Secretary of the USSR, until his death in 1953.  During World War II, Stalin requested immediate assistance of the Allied nations before the worst of the war with Germany.  Stalin unfortunately knew that they would lose without help.  President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed to cooperate with Stalin.  In return, Stalin promised to give aid in the war between the US and Japan, once this controversy was over.

Churchill-  Prime Minister of Great Britain, whom led against Nazi Germany.  Churchill hoped to join America in building a post war order that limited Stalin's access to dominate European affairs.  Britain declared war on Nazi Germany when they invaded Poland.  The Soviet Union also invaded Poland around the same time, but Great Britain did not declare war on them.  Churchill figured he had enough on his plate already dealing with Hitler, whom has superior power.

Roosevelt/Truman-  President Franklin D. Roosevelt had gotten America through the Great Depression alone with WWII (besides the last four months of war, due to death).  Roosevelt led America into war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  After Roosevelt's death, Harry Truman took over.  Truman had very little education (high school) and had only served as Vice President for 82 days before FDR's death.  Since Truman served as president, he also served as the Commander and Chief of the US military.  Under Truman's command, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, ultimately ending WWII.

Political Cartoons of WWII

This political cartoon is showing America, confused, trying to figure out how to conduct themselves in this time of war, while other countries are already "wanting" the US to engage in war.  America needs to step up.

This political cartoon is showing that America can't really do anything on behalf of the Holocaust, and most likely that Nazi Germany hates the US because we don't have a problem with Jews.

This political cartoon is showing how Poland was not only surprised with being invaded by one country, (Germany) but by two! (Soviet Union)

Specific Event and Reaction

The Holocaust was a horrific time in Germany, where Furher Hitler took all Jews of Germany and Poland into custody.  Hitler had his own police force (SS) to round up the Jewish peoples.  Once you were figured out, you were forced to wear a yellow star on all of your clothing.  That wasn't enough for Hitler, he built concentration, or death camps to hold the Jews.  He never built them in Germany, instead they were mainly set up in Poland.  The SS officers had a process of elimination on who to send into the gas chambers or to burn, and for those who would live.  At these concentration camps you would literally be forced to work yourself to death, you got very little food, and if you did something wrong, you would be sentenced to the gas chambers.  A common way they would expose of Jews would be to make them undress then go into the showers, where the SS officers would release cyanide gas.  One other way was that they would burn the bodies in a massive oven.  Can you imagine the smell of burning flesh?

This event was just extremely inhumane and morally wrong.  How could one person believe that he and his people were superior to the Jewish people?  Most importantly, how could anyone let one person get so much power?  Enough power to control millions, and then get rid of millions in such a gruesome way.  I could go on and on about the Holocaust and how horrible it was, and don't even get me started on Hitler, he was just an idiot.  That's why he committed suicide, he couldn't live up to what he did.

Connection Across Time

    World War II, and especially the Holocaust can be connected to today.  We just learned how a 93 year old SS officer was convicted of taking part in these horrible hate crimes.  They're still looking for 50 other officers.  We also, sadly, see genocide in today's world.  It really s amazing how sick people are.  On the topic of Japan and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, we haven't gone to war with them again because they know that we'll win, because that's what Americans do.