The term Holocaust is defined as mass destruction or slaughter killings, especially caused by fire or
nuclear war. In other words, the Holocaust means a Jewish sacrificial offering that was burnt completely
on an altar. Therefore, historically the term Holocaust also known as Shoah, refers to the genocide that
involved Jewish Mass killing in Europe during the Second World War. Over six million Jews were
murdered across Europe by Nazi Germany and its collaborators led by Adolf Hitler of Germany. The six
million Jews murdered between 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War accounted for two-thirds of
the total Jewish population in Europe. The essay will focus on the definition of the term Holocaust as
expressed by several authors and as depicted in the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” as well.
Firstly, a website article entitled ‘The Holocaust’ defines the term Holocaust as the “Nazi Germany’s
deliberate, organized, state-sponsored persecution and machinelike murder of approximately six million
European Jews” (The Holocaust, np). When the Nazi regime overthrew the ruling government and took
power in Germany, it viewed the Jewish race as inferior and did not deserve to live. Jews were
considered as Aliens who were not welcome in Europe. Hitler began a campaign that involved stripping
Jews of their jobs and property. The Jews were expelled from their jobs in military, judicial, and all civil
service sectors in all the Germany controlled land. The Jews' synagogues were burned down and
destroyed; they were also deprived of their Citizenship and were referred to as unwelcomed aliens in
Europe. As a result, Jews became to blame for every negative thing that had faced Germany in the past
years, for example, punitive Versailles treaty, economic depression, and the defeat during the First
World War. When Hitler rose to power with the Nazi Regime, he authorized the sweeping of all Jews
from the face of Europe. As a result, the Holocaust began, which the Nazis referred to as the final
solution to the Jewish problem (Mayer, 2). Deportation of Jews all over Europe began, and many Jews
were deported to concentration camps equipped with gassing facilities. On arrival to the concentration
camps, the Jews were gassed with poisonous gases such as chlorine, and their bodies completely burnt
in alters. The other was taken to execution camps in the forest where they were brutally murdered. As a
result, the Holocaust involved the Jewish mass killing and burning in alters true to its definition.
Secondly, the term holocaust is also expressed in the novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ through the
story of a boy named Bruno. Bruno was the son of a Nazi German army Commander, during the Second
World War. Bruno’s family is forced to evacuate from Berlin and move to their new home in Out-with
(Boyne, 5). On arrival at their new home in Out-with, the area is desolate and boring to Bruno. Earlier
along in Berlin, Bruno loved exploring, and as a result of one day in his new home, he walks along the
fence despite being forbidden, and in the process, meets with a Jewish boy named Shmuel. Bruno
recognizes the Striped Pajamas Shmuel was wearing as the one he usually sees through the window. The
two boys become great friends despite their differences, such that Bruno sneaked through the fence to
visit Shmuel. Shmuel tells Bruno how he was abducted by soldiers and ended up in the camp. One day
Bruno's mother convinced their father to go back to Berlin. This action saddens Bruno since he was not
willing to leave his friend. As a result, the next day, Bruno dresses striped pajamas as his friend and
sneaks into Shmuel’s camp to explore and assist his friend to search his father he has not seen for
several days (Boyne, 88). The soldiers' round-up prison match arrives before Bruno could sneak back to
their side, and as a result, the two boys end up in a dark room, and Bruno is never heard again. Later
Bruno’s boot and clothes are found at the fence, and his father realizes what had happened to his son.
As a result, the novel shows the differences between the Nazis and Jews and the suffering Jews were
subjected to by the Nazis. Definitely, Bruno died together with other Jews during the prison match up, a
clear indication of Jewish persecution and mass-murdering by the Nazis as defined by the term
Holocaust.
Lastly, the article entitled ‘Holocaust: untold reality’ expresses the term Holocaust similarly by referring
it as the Jews mass killing during the Second World War. The articles focus on the Jews' mass killing in
the concentration camps by the Nazis. The Jews were executed in the concentration camps by bullet
firing in the death pits, or by carbon monoxide in the combustion chambers. The Auschwitz and
Treblinka execution camps were refereed to as death factories where many Jewish were killed, and their
bodies burned in the combustion chambers by the Nazi regime. The Jews' bodies were completely
burned in alters and oven after being killed by the poisonous gas in the gas chamber. The Jews were also
starved to death in the concentration camps by heavy forced manual labor and lack of food. The article
depicts that “Belarus was both the epicenter of European mass killing and the base of operations of anti-
Nazi partisans who actually contributed to the victory of the Allies” (Snyder, 7). As a result, the term
Holocaust refers to the deliberate mass killing of people, especially by fire, for example, the Jewish
people mass killing in Europe during Germany’s Nazi regime.
Works cited
The Holocaust. Retrieved from
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/holocaust.
Mayer, Matt A. "History and the Holocaust." (2007).
Boyne, John. The boy in the striped pajamas: A fable. Ember, 2007.
Snyder, Timothy. "Holocaust: The ignored reality." The New York Review of Books 56.12 (2009): 14-16.
