WWII Emily Rizzo

LIVING IN AMSTERDAM

TIMELINE  August 23, 1939: Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Agreement  September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe  September 17, 1939: The Soviet Union occupies Poland from the east  July 6, 1941: Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) shoot nearly 3,000 Jews at the Seventh Fort, one of the 19th-century fortifications surrounding Kovno  November 30, 1941: Einsatzgruppen shoot 10,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto in the Rumbula Forest  December 11, 1941: Nazi Germany declares war on the United States  January 16, 1942: Germans begin the mass deportation of more than 65,000 Jews from Lodz to the Chelmno killing center  May 15, 1944: Germans begin the mass deportation of about 440,000 Jews from Hungary  January 18, 1945: Death march of nearly 60,000 prisoners from the Auschwitz camp system in southern Poland  January 25, 1945: Death march of nearly 50,000 prisoners from the Stutthof camp system in northern Poland  April 29, 1945: American forces liberate the Dachau concentration camp  April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide  May 9, 1945: Germany surrenders to the Soviets

MY JOURNEY THROUGH WORLD WAR TWO  Being Jewish during this time, was terrifying. This star represented our faith, our past and our future. Having this star on us separated us from the “good” and “bad” people.

WHEN IT BEGAN  Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves. The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they're sending all the Jews....If it's that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most of them are being murdered. The English radio says they're being gassed.“  - October 9, 1942  Deportation was very scary. We didn’t know What to expect, where we were going or why This was happening.

MAP OF THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS  Life in the camps were petrifying. We never knew if we would make it to tomorrow. All the work you do for noting. These camps were everywhere. There was no stopping Hitler.

GETTING SENT TO THE CAMPS  After getting out of the camps, I remember seeing newspaper articles about other peoples experiences in the camps. Yet, I always thought those articles gave us no justice as to what we went through.

LABELING  These numbers caused us lots of pain. Not just physical, but emotional pain. They made us feel like labeled animals. After this point, our lives were forever changed.

DAILY LIFE  Our lives were filled with constant work, little food and multiple deaths a day. We had no enjoyment, nothing to strive for. We were separated from our families, friends and truly, life.

LIFE AFTER THE CAMPS  The day had finally arrived. We got to leave the concentration camps. However, at this time I really had nothing to live for. My family had been killed and so had my friends. I had no where to go and I was brutally scared from the torturous camps. After a long time of depression, I decided to move somewhere completely new. The United States!

WORKS CITED  "Diary Excerpts." The Anne Frank Center USA. N.p., n.d. Web.  Gregory, Derek "Holocaust." The Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Credo Reference. Web. 9 April  "Holocaust Reparations." CQ Researcher by CQ Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr  "The Aftermath of the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June Web. 07 Apr