Here is a video that I found on youtube with Hitler giving a speech. There are English subtitles of course.
I've always heard in my history classes and what not that Hitler was a great speaker and that is one of the main reasons he has come into power but after watching this videos and a few other I have come to realize that he has a more powerful and commanding voice, and not necessarily a good speaker. I have no knowledge of the German language yet it seems to me that he is not necessarily articulate or that the content of his speeches are amazing but he is very forceful and commands an audience very well. I personally think a good speaker must include great content and not just how it is presented. This could be just the translation, but Hitler's speeches seem to lack much complexity. Well, once again, solely my biased opinion.
When watching this video I think it is ironic that he points out that his party is not seen as German and that it seems like Hitler completely forgot he is not German born at all and that he claims to be German.
Also reading much of the comments of the Hitler youtube videos it made me more aware that people are knowledgeable about Hitler and much of his history and made me quite compelled to learn more about him and this topic.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Auschwitz
Auschwitz is a home to the Nazi’s largest concentration camp. It was initially was established by Germans in 1940, in the suburbs of Oswiecim, a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis. Oswiecim’s name was later changed to Auschwitz. Initially set up because the mass arrests of the Poles and local prisons were overflowing. At its peak in the summer of 1944, Auschwitz covered about 40 sq. km. in the core area, and more than 40 branch camps dispersed within a radius of several hundred kilometers.
Living conditions at the camp were horrible to say the least. Initially Auschwitz Concentration Camp opened in former Polish army barracks in June 1940. Twenty brick buildings were adapted, of which 6 were two-story and 14 were single-story. At the end of 1940, prisoners began adding second stories to the single-story blocks. The following spring, they started erecting 8 new blocks. This work reached completion in the first half of 1942. The result was a complex of 28 two-story blocks, the overwhelming majority of which were used to house prisoners. As a rule, there were two large rooms upstairs and a number of smaller rooms downstairs. The blocks were designed to hold about 700 prisoners each after the second stories were added, but in practice they housed up to 1,200. For the first several months of the camp there were no beds but instead straw stuffed mattresses. The amenities throughout the camp were very primitive and initially the prisoners drew water from wells and relieved themselves in an outdoor latrine. Eventually the barracks were revamped with indoor toilets and urinals and such, yet it is not to say that their lives improved. The barracks were over capacity and conditions were horrid. With regards to food they received 3 meager meals a day usually consisting of a morning half a liter of “coffee,” or rather boiled water with a grain-based coffee substitute added, or “tea”—a herbal brew. These beverages were usually unsweetened. The noon meal consisted of about a liter of soup, the main ingredients of which were potatoes, rutabaga, and small amounts of groats, rye flour, and Avo food extract. The soup was unappetizing, and newly arrived prisoners were often unable to eat it, or could do so only in disgust. Supper consisted of about 300 grams of black bread, served with about 25 grams of sausage, or margarine, or a tablespoon of marmalade or cheese. With their lack of nutritious food they were expected to go out and perform laborious tasks within and outside the camp.
By the end of the Second World War there were approximately 1.1 million Jews killed at Auschwitz and about 200,000 others including Poles, Gypsies, and Soviet POWs were also murdered. It is apparent that punishments throughout the camp were harsh and to indicate here is a picture of a punishment report.
The punishment was for picking an apple and it that warranted five nights of standing in the cell. Punishments were completely arbitrary and the most common offense was seeking more food. The harshest punishment of course was death which did not necessarily have to do anything to receive and many were condemned death by simply arriving to the camp. They types of exterminations practiced were shooting, gassing, hanging, and starvation.
Throughout my research it becomes more and more appalling what has happened to many innocent people simply because of their religion and/or beliefs.
Sources:
http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/h/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.answers.com/topic/auschwitz
Living conditions at the camp were horrible to say the least. Initially Auschwitz Concentration Camp opened in former Polish army barracks in June 1940. Twenty brick buildings were adapted, of which 6 were two-story and 14 were single-story. At the end of 1940, prisoners began adding second stories to the single-story blocks. The following spring, they started erecting 8 new blocks. This work reached completion in the first half of 1942. The result was a complex of 28 two-story blocks, the overwhelming majority of which were used to house prisoners. As a rule, there were two large rooms upstairs and a number of smaller rooms downstairs. The blocks were designed to hold about 700 prisoners each after the second stories were added, but in practice they housed up to 1,200. For the first several months of the camp there were no beds but instead straw stuffed mattresses. The amenities throughout the camp were very primitive and initially the prisoners drew water from wells and relieved themselves in an outdoor latrine. Eventually the barracks were revamped with indoor toilets and urinals and such, yet it is not to say that their lives improved. The barracks were over capacity and conditions were horrid. With regards to food they received 3 meager meals a day usually consisting of a morning half a liter of “coffee,” or rather boiled water with a grain-based coffee substitute added, or “tea”—a herbal brew. These beverages were usually unsweetened. The noon meal consisted of about a liter of soup, the main ingredients of which were potatoes, rutabaga, and small amounts of groats, rye flour, and Avo food extract. The soup was unappetizing, and newly arrived prisoners were often unable to eat it, or could do so only in disgust. Supper consisted of about 300 grams of black bread, served with about 25 grams of sausage, or margarine, or a tablespoon of marmalade or cheese. With their lack of nutritious food they were expected to go out and perform laborious tasks within and outside the camp.
By the end of the Second World War there were approximately 1.1 million Jews killed at Auschwitz and about 200,000 others including Poles, Gypsies, and Soviet POWs were also murdered. It is apparent that punishments throughout the camp were harsh and to indicate here is a picture of a punishment report.
The punishment was for picking an apple and it that warranted five nights of standing in the cell. Punishments were completely arbitrary and the most common offense was seeking more food. The harshest punishment of course was death which did not necessarily have to do anything to receive and many were condemned death by simply arriving to the camp. They types of exterminations practiced were shooting, gassing, hanging, and starvation.
Throughout my research it becomes more and more appalling what has happened to many innocent people simply because of their religion and/or beliefs.
Sources:
http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/h/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.answers.com/topic/auschwitz
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