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Allison Eichelberger
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1102-003
30 August 2015
Weekly Writing 1 Assignment
My previous education on the Holocaust is limited to the main facts. At my high
school we were required to take World History I and World History II. During those
courses, I do remember studying and covering information about the Holocaust. History
has never been one of my strongest subjects, but I do find it very interesting. There are
some specific books that I read in school and for enjoyment that were about the
Holocaust. Some examples, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Diary of Anne Frank
and Night are some books I remember reading throughout my years of education. I live
right outside of Washington D.C and I get the privilege of being close to many amazing
museums. I got to take a tour of the Holocaust museum, which was a very eye-opening
experience for me.
The basic information I know is that the Holocaust began in January 1933 and
lasted till around 1945. The holocaust was a horrific event that occurred during World
War II when Hitler was the leader of Germany. There were millions of adults and
children murdered during the Holocaust. Jews were often sent to concentration camps
or labor camps, where they either worked or starved to death. Jews were also forced to
live in ghettos after the beginning of World War II. I also remember studying about The
Final Solution, which was the Nazi plan for murdering all of the Jewish.

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My freshman year of high school we read The Diary of Anne Frank and Night.
Anne Frank was a teenage writer who went into hiding during the Holocaust and kept a
journal about her experiences. She lived in Amsterdam with her family during World Wat
II. Anne Frank and her family went into hiding for a few years during the fleeing Nazi
persecution of Jews. Her family was found and got sent to concentration camps when
she was only fifteen years old. While at the concentration camps, she dies. Now, her
diary has been read by millions of people. I found this book interesting to read because
it gave me a better understanding about teenagers experiences of lives during this time
period. Night was not one of my favorite books because it was depressing and had a
very serious and somber tone throughout the book. Night is a nonfiction memoir about
Nazi concentration camps. Another event that gave me some knowledge on the
Holocaust was visiting the Holocaust museum. One day my family and I were in
Washington D.C and we decided to take a tour through the Holocaust museum. At first, I
had no interest going into the museum thinking it was pointless, however, that quickly
went away after the first few minutes of walking through the museum. This museum had
many artifacts, videos, paintings and much more that gave you, what felt like, a real
experience of what people went through. It was defiantly a depressing experience, but I
felt like it gave me more information on the Holocaust.
Before writing this paper I did not think I knew a lot about the Holocaust, but after
sitting down and thinking about my past education, I came to realize I know more about
it than I initially thought. I am excited that this course is going to be based around the
Holocaust. I am interested to explore more about the subject and get a better
understanding of what happened during this time period.