Holocaust vs Japanese Internment Camps Essay

In comparison between the two events of that of the Holocaust and of the Japanese Internment camps, I believe that the Holocaust was by far the worst of the two circumstances for the following three main reasons: the process and the steps taken, the deaths and how they occurred, and the mental trauma inflicted and forever engraved into the minds of that of the prisoners of the death camps. Throughout the entire tragic and horrendous ordeal of the Holocaust, every single category of the prisoners were belittled and had been inflicted upon by the public and the Nazi soldiers. They were first forced to pin on certain specified ‘badges’ that stated which category of the prisoners they were, for example, homosexuals, Jews, gypsies, Jehovah witnesses’, etc. The main targets of all the prejudice and stereotypes were the Jews, as they were thought to be the reason they underwent a Great Depression of their own and the reason of which they did not succeed in winning in World War I. Soon after they had been placed the specified ‘badges’ that indicated to the Nazis of which of the main groups they belonged to, they were forced onto packed trains, where they would be transported to move into the crowded, packed houses in the Ghettos. The process of moving all the prisoners by force and separating them by physical means from their homes and families was even more terrible than just being taken off guard without being able to react. This process let the prisoners know that they had no choice but to be submissive, it made them realize that there was literally nothing left for them to do but to cooperate and wish for this ordeal to be over and done with. The number of deaths itself would be enough to explain how horrible the camps were, but the way they were handled was far more extreme and horrendous. There were many ways they could die: in the gas chambers, crematoriums, disease, starvation, hangings, dehydration, beatings, electrocution, gun shot,etc.- some of which were suicide attempts, a desperate need of escape and a way to end it all by their own doings. The entire time, you would be able to witness your family, friends, and neighbors being killed, knowing that soon you would be next. There were even some prisoners that were employed as the ones who were in charge of the killing process as a way to confuse prisoners and give them a false sense of security. Many of those employed were forced to kill their own family members and have that guilt with them for the remainder of their lives. The worst part of it all was the mental trauma the entire situation caused onto each and every of its prisoners and of that of the remaining survivors. Imagine witnessing hundreds of deaths each week, standing in line with the other prisoners during selection, receiving the smallest of crumbs and fighting over the scraps. Imagine witnessing your family being separated from you, knowing that you will never see them again, hoping your fate will not be as bad as theirs. Nothing you could ever imagine would ever even come close to how that prisoners felt. Only the survivors of the camps would be haunted by all these nightmares they have lived through and witnessed each and every day they’ve spent at the camp. Only they would be able to tell you of the true nature of the horrors that have occurred behind the barbed-wired fences. Each day, they would have to live, remembering and reliving the traumatic experiences they’ve had first hand forever for the remainder of their live s. Some of these survivors could no longer take the mindset of it all, and despite finally being free after all those years locked away, they have taken their own lives, just to keep away those thoughts that would sneak their way through. In conclusion, I find that, despite the two being both horrible and inhumane treatment, I find that the Holocaust is and always will be by far more worse than the Japanese internment camps ever will be.