Auschwitz. There are few places on earth that conjure up more images of death, horror, and pure agony than the Nazi's most infamous concentration camp. We learn that it was a place where the so-called "undesirables" were sent — usually to die. But it was worse than you ever learned in high school, because there are some places history classes just won't go.
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Auschwitz. There are few places on earth that conjure up more images of death, horror, and pure agony than the Nazi's most infamous concentration camp. We learn that it was a place where the so-called "undesirables" were sent — usually to die. But it was worse than you ever learned in high school, because there are some places history classes just won't go.
Among all of the atrocities and tragedies of World War II, the Holocaust stands out as particularly heinous and horrifying. According to History, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis murdered approximately 11 million people during the Holocaust, roughly 6 million of them Jews. Many of them were killed in extermination camps located in occupied-Poland, including the infamous death factories of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, and Sobibor.
Born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany, Anne Frank was truly one of the most inspiring and important people in modern history. Frank grew up during the reign of Adolf Hitler and his sadistic Nazi government, and she was forced to live most of the final years of her life tucked away in an attic in Amsterdam, hiding with her family. They stayed there for over two years until the Nazis discovered them in August 1944.
Among those trying to make sure that what happened to the world's Jewish population isn't forgotten are many of the survivors themselves: Famously, survivor Simon Wiesenthal made it his mission to make sure the Nazis who escaped justice were held accountable. Other survivors include some very famous people who grew up in the most unimaginable horror and went on to change the world in their own ways.
The gamut of those influenced by their surviving family runs from famous musicians to directors to actors to politicians. It is hard to separate these celebrities from their history and what inspired them to be the remarkable people they are today and the legacy they continue to leave. For the punk scene, there is a theory that punk was inspired by the undealt-with emotions of the Holocaust. For directors, the remnants of that time is expressed in their aesthetic. Actors find joy in their gratitude for the life they get to live because of their family. And politicians are able to have a point of view others might not have — the ability to see how words and hate can lead to dangerous consequences.
Allow us to be your guide to everything World War II. We fully explore it's history and repercussions.
