The discrimination began, as Jews were not allowed in certain stores. Signs were posted banning them from a variety of places. Later stores owned by Jews were shut down. Soon, a nationwide boycott was established, and Jews lost nearly all of their rights. Shops were destroyed and Jewish fortunes were plundered. Due to the Nuremberg Laws and "Emergency Constitutional Clauses" this all became legal. From this point on, the Jews were defined as a race, and were treated as an inferior one. With this grouping it was easy to blame anything on the Jews. During Hitler's rise to power, he pointed out the Jews as destroyers of society and the reason for Germany's losses in World War I.

As things progressed, Jews were moved into ghettos and the yellow star policy was invoked. Every Jew was forced to wear a yellow star of David; this way Nazi SS were able tell them apart from "normal" citizens. The yellow star was worn in Poland much before its arrival to Germany. Eventually, Jews were shipped by the trainload into concentration camps. This was the last step of Hitler's "Final Solution" to Germany's problems"(USHMM site.)

The Nazis formed in 1919. Hitler joined

Catholic-Jewish relations have long been shaky. People hoped that this history of discrimination between Catholics and Jews would finally end. Despite the efforts by Pope Pius XII, Jews complain that much killing could have been stopped if the Catholics had not remained silent (Kloehn, no page # given.)

Four million people died at Auschwitz, but only 2.25 million were Jews. 1.5 million Christians were also executed in the gas chambers (Lampomarda, www.) Really anyone not satisfying the Aryan ideal was eligible for persecution. Hundreds of thousands of gypsies, mulattos, and developmentally impaired were also killed. Even children faced execution, just because their parents were Jewish. Hitler decided that the solution to the world's problems was to kill off anyone he considered less than perfect.

Not only Jews were killed, but also anyone with handicaps: physical or mental. The sick or elderly were also persecuted. The majority of injustices of the Holocaust were done to promote the perverted Aryan ideal. The Aryan was a blond-haired, blue-eyed German with a perfect family. This was the pinnacle of Hitler's philosophy (USHMM site.)

Pius XII was commended for his personal efforts to preserve Rome and his policy of refuge for Jews in the Vatican State. The official papal stance was against the Holocaust but no direct statement was made about the organized killing of Jews. Also, I found an article on five Catholic heroes of the Second World War, but when it came to catholic protests and mass marches I found nothing. This is the strikingly hypocritical side of this issue.

The fact is that as Catholics we should have done something. I believe that a true Catholic is committed to social justice. Just like Trudi, we should have done what was in our power to prevent this tragedy. One way would've been to follow the Advocacy process. The first step would be to find a strong leader. I read about several priests who made their own efforts to help the Jews out. Any of these men could have stepped up to the plate and been a leader for a movement. Armed with what we know now, I don't think the killing would have gone as far, but during the war information was a problem. Through the rumor mill most Catholics knew what was going on. The second step would be a set of organized protests. This may have made the difference. A persistent strategy would have been necessary. At least for the initial portion of such a movement, blood would have been spilled. With the control the Nazis had over the country, a tremendous amount of courage would be required. The third step is to bring communication to a new level. Communication of the problem would be the ke

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jews Fundraising, Germany Nazis, Germany January, Catholic Church, World War, Holocaust Business, Jewish Catholic, Solution Germany's, Mein Kampf, Jews Jewish, yellow star, catholic church, german people, jewish leaders, pius xii, world war, kloehn page #, jewish catholic, papal statement, pope pius, nazi party, holocaust memorial museum, pope pius xii, united holocaust memorial,
Approximate Word count = 1811
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)