History paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

History paper - Essay Example On the other hand, Bulgarians acted in a manner preserving the lives of the Jews. They persecuted, tortured and harassed the Jews living in Bulgaria, but they never killed them. There are various testimonies recorded that portray the brutality of the Polish community. On 5th April 1945, Wasersztajn recorded a testimony before the Jewish History Commission reporting on the war against the Jews living in Jedwabne (Zimmermann 70). According to Wesersztajn, about 1,600 Jew lived in Jedwabne before the war. After the war, only about seven Jews survived because they were saved by a Polish woman who resided in the vicinity. According to Wesersztajn, the Germans entered Jedwabne on the 23rd June, 1941. Two days later, local bandits, composed of Polish population started an anti-Jew pogrom. The following day, the local priest requested the Polish population to stop the pogrom as the German fight against the Jews was not for the Polish population. Although this stopped the pogrom, the local Po les did not sell foodstuffs to the Jews. On 10th July 1941, the Germans issued an order for the destruction of the Jews (Zimmermann 71). However, although the Germans gave the order, the Polish hooligans carried out this order using horrifying methods. On the same day, a meeting was held to deliberate on how the Jews would be murdered. With the support of the mayor Karolak, they decided to destroy all the Jews in Jadwabne. According to other witnesses, the war begun on the 10th of July, following the convocation of the adult Polish males in Jedwabne town hall. Mayor Karolak and Sabuta ordered the Jews along with the Poles to gather at the town hall for some cleaning duty (Zimmermann 73). Although she did not gather with the other Jews at the town hall, she had screams of a young boy who was beaten to death. The Poles gathered with clubs, knifes and other tools of war while Jewish took brooms and other tools used for cleaning. In addition, the Polish vigilant groups ensured that the Jews were not able to escape from Jadwabne. On the other hand, Bulgarians were not willing to bend to the evils of the Nazi Germans. Majority of the Jews living in Bulgaria survived as the Bulgarians refused to surrender the Jews to the German Death camps. However, they lost property and many of the Jews were imprisoned. In the Bulgarian labor camps, the Jews were tortured, maimed, persecuted and harassed. Despite this hostility, the Bulgarians did not murder the Jews. However, in 1941 the Bulgarian parliament passed a bill that had numerous restrictions on the Jews living in Bulgaria. They were not allowed to vie for any office in parliament, serve in the military, work in government offices, own rural land and marry or cohabit with Bulgarians. In addition, they had limited access to education and medical facilities. In spite of these, the Bulgarians did not participate in the killings of the Jews. Before the war against the Jews, the Jewish community significantly dominated variou s regions in terms of religion, culture and economic welfare. A majority of the Polish population supported the Nazi Germans on their hatred towards the Jews. The Germans ordered for the preservation of one family member in the Jewish family (Zimmermann 73). However, the Poles decided to kill all the Jews that lived in Poland. Although the Bulgarians looked at the Jews with suspicion, they did not fully support the Germans on the issue concerning the Jews. Therefore, the Jews in Poland were persecuted and killed while those in