A Holocaust Survivors Story

Years of War
A weekly look back in time to the events that changed our world.
Volume V, Issue VI
4 October, 2012
From Then to Now-
Price: free!
By Lexi Snodgrass
A Holocaust Survivors Story
“I was thinking day by day, I want to live.
A person has to hold on to his own will, hold on
to that to the last minute.” This is a quote from
Solomon Radasky. Reading Solomon Radasky’s
story about surviving the Holocaust changed the
way I will think forever. His story makes me want
to do something to change the world around me
every day. Whether that is to just stop a bully, or
not permit injustice to happen. I want to change
the world, stop this from even becoming a threat
of happening again.
The main part in Solomon’s story that
caused me to react in this
way is when he talked
about watching German
soldiers
throw
living
children
into
a
crematorium. They would
grab these children by an
arm and a leg and throw
them in. Just imagining
this gruesome thing even
happening is enough to
make anyone sick. So
many people died without
even a say, they were
just murdered without a
cause. Solomon said
“Out of the 78 people in
my family, I am the only
one to survive.” This is just a small reality of what
actually happened, how many people died, how
many didn’t even have a chance to live, to have
kids, to even have a chance at happiness.
Solomon also said that one of the Germans who
accompanied them to work every day as their
supervisor got mad at them because someone
smoked. So the German official was going to
hang 10 of the Jews or as they called them,
“dogs”. Solomon was one of these 10. Lucky for
him though, he was saved. He was being sent
to Auschwitz. Similar stories happened to
Solomon about every day.
This was pure injustice happening to
these innocent people. It was discrimination on a
mass scale. As the Jews would walk to work
they would have to be barefoot and walk on an
extremely rocky road. Their feet would be bloody
and if they collapsed they
would be shot. This was so
frightening just to think
about.
Imagine
being
transferred
from
death
camp to death camp never
knowing when you would
die. Getting weaker day by
day. This happened to
Solomon
four
different
times. Some people even
reached the point of
desperation where one of
them said, “I don’t want to
live. What is the difference?
I don’t give a damn.” I can’t
even start to think about
just giving up on living,
wishing you would just die already. So many
people were at this point though in the
Holocaust. After hearing these terrible, horrific
stories I am surprised I can even sleep at night.
Today we wouldn’t even think twice if we
saw someone getting picked on I class, but let’s
make sure tomorrow we do. The bullying we
witness everyday leads to suicides across the
US every day. Just like the death marches in the
Holocaust you just keep going until you can’t
take it anymore and you die. Bullying is just like
this. The bully keeps picking on you pushing
farther and farther into despair. Until one day you
can’t take it any more you have to escape. The
only way out you can find is death, so you take it.
You kill yourself, like so many others already
have. Let’s stop this now! Our world of war and
fighting has to end or there won’t be a single
peaceful person left on this Earth. If we keep
doing what we are doing nothing will change and
eventually another Hitler will arise and turn the
whole world against Mexicans, French,
Christians, Catholics, homosexuals. Who knows
who it would be next?
“First they came for the Socialists,
and I did not speak out- Because I
was not a Socialist. Then they came
for the Trade Unionists and I did not
speak out- Because I was not a Trade
Unionist. Then they came for the
Jews, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Jew. Then they
came for me- and there was no one
left speak for me.”- Martin Niemoller.
So let’s not even let that have a chance to
happen let’s stop bullies today! Are you ready?
Because I am.
Motorcycles Used in WWII
By Isaac Nelson
During my experiences riding dirt bikes and motorcycles, I found that they’re easy to ride
and comfortable. In WWII, the seats on those bikes were like rock. They used the 45” WL Line
Harley Davidson. These bikes had little
suspension as well. So when I go over a jump on
my dirt bike and land, it’s a smooth landing. On
a 45” WL Line, your rear end would hurt after
you go off a big jump. Plus Harley’s were heavy
motorcycles. The Army used these motorcycles
to get around faster and easier than driving a
jeep or tank. Another model that they used was
the XA, which Harley Davidson copied the
design from the Germans’ BMW
R 71.
Some of the sidecars that
were used in WWII had machine
guns on them so the passenger
could shoot at whoever was
shooting at them. The US didn’t
use this type of motorcycle
though. The Germans’ adapted
this use of the sidecar. The US
never used the sidecar for military
use.
Nearly 90,000 Harley
Davidson bikes were made for the
US military. In addition, 30,000
bikes were sent to Russia. The
bikes went 65 MPH and weighed 540 pounds.
Harley Davidson got two Army-Navy awards
for excellence in production, one in 1943 and 1945.
The Army used the motorcycle for secret missions.
They used these bikes for delivering medical
supplies as well. The Army used the motorcycle a
lot in the western theatre more than in the eastern
theatre. They didn’t use the bikes in the war against
Japan because of the low amount of land. Thus the
war brought out the versatility of the motorcycle and
its usefulness in the Army.
Airsoft to War
by Josh Gladish
From airsoft to real war there very similar
and very different in many ways. Differences
ranging from get shot by an airsoft pellet in an
airsoft war to a soldier getting hit by shrapnel in
Iraq, or from a car bomb or grenade.
Some people may be playing airsoft with
friends right now while soldiers in Iraq are being
shot or blown up by car bombs. In airsoft you could
get shot by an airsoft pellet and you’re out- but in
real war you get shot your either seriously injured
or dead.
Say you’re playing airsoft and you’re hiding
behind a tree or bush. All of a sudden, zing- a
plastic B-B flies by, and you think, “Oh no I’m going
to get shot by my friend’s airsoft gun.” But for a
soldier, if he has a bullet hit the ground beside him
sending dust up all around him, he is probably
thinking at that moment that he might die.
There’s big difference from airsoft and war, and
it makes you think why people fight each other and
why countries fight other countries in wars. In these
wars against countries, thousands sometimes millions
of people die.
Some people may say that we can’t help it about
us fighting because it’s the “Human nature” and it is.
But there are many types of war political wars, debates,
voting wars, and maybe even protests but they don’t
compare as anything to real war.
Years of War
Is written, edited, and designed by students in the Selah
School District, Washington State.
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The Battle of Little Bighorn
-by Brodie Trapp
The battle took place in
1876 when Lt. Colonel George
Armstrong Custer was going to
force back a large Indian army
back to the reservation when he
found Sioux village. The soldiers
were divided up into 3 orderly
columns to attack in orderly
fashion. Then Custer found a
group of 40 Indian warriors and
went on to attack without any
order. What Custer did not know
that there was 3 times the
amount of Indian warriors then
there was of his troops but he did
not know that at the time. He had
the groups split up so that the
warriors could not escape through the surrounding area of the river.
Custer was planning to attack from the north and the south at the same time but he did not know that
he would have to travel across challenging terrain like ravines and bluffs. Then Reno’s 175 soldiers attacked
quickly from the south but they had almost no chance living against the attack. When the Indians were driving
the remaining soldiers out they ran into 210 of Custer’s men who were coming to give Reno’s men help.
Then Cheyenne and Hunkpapa Sioux men hit the attacking soldiers. Then a large force of mostly Oglala
Sioux commanded from Crazy Horse moved downstream then doubling back in an arc which pinched Custer’s
men then there was a downpour of arrows and bullets. As the Indian Soldiers men moved in Custer gave
orders to his men to kill their horses and use them to create a barrier. The barriers could not withstand the
barrage of gunfire. Within an hour the Custer and all of his soldiers were killed and that was the largest
military massacre ever. The next day Reno and Benteen forces had fled while they were emerged together.
After the battle the Indians had mutilated and stripped the bodies but left Custer body alone because he was
dressed in buckskins so they did not know he was a soldier.
The body’s got mutilated because they thought that mutilated
bodies will have to walk Earth for eternity and not be
assessed to Heaven. The battle was also called “Custer’s Last
Stand.”
Trail of Tears
by Kaleana Welcome
The Indian Removal Act was a law that stated that
Indians had to leave their homes to go to unorganized
territory west of Mississippi because the common man did
not get along with Indians and they wanted their land. The
Supreme Court tried to stop the Indian Removal Act by
pronouncing it unconstitutional, to no avail. Checks and balances both did and did not work. Checks and balances did
work because when President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act as a law the judicial branch checked his
power by declaring the law unconstitutional. Checks and balances did not work because Jackson displayed more power
by paying no attention to the judicial branch’s decision and the legislative branch agreed with him so he was not
impeached.
The Indian Removal Act was a law that was signed by President Andrew Jackson. This law signified that Indians
had to leave their homeland because the common man did not get along with them. The Trail of Tears was the pathway
the soldiers took to escort the Indians from their homes in Georgia to unorganized territories west of Mississippi. Many
people are able to make art- poems, pictures, songs, etc.- because that was a very depressing, emotional time and it was
a dreadful mark on history that you can easily imagine and out into words and pictures your of own interpretation of
what happened. The song mentioned that the Indians were that the children who walked the trail of tears and all that
were born afterwards would not learn the Great Spirit’s ways meaning that the children grow up only knowing how they
were thrown out of their homeland and their culture dies is being lost every mile they step. The song also mentions that
the numbers of the people grow fewer every mile which means that because they are walking to unknown territory in
the winter with nothing but the cloths on their back with no covering whatsoever people would die almost every mile
they walk (Denver) The poem mentions that how the Indians were prodded with bayonets when they were deemed to
move too slow. This is amazing how a man known for having such a outrageous party that he had to sneak out the back
door could be so unconcerned about the Indians welfare and such a people pleaser as to send them on a journey that
would kill 1/8 of all the Indians that were moved not including the Indians that were killed while fighting for their very
homes. (Jones) The Supreme Court was the only group of people that fought for the Indians, and even when
pronounced unconstitutional Jackson still continued the move with nothing that could get in his way to stop him.
The Supreme Court dealt with the Indian Removal Act in Worcester vs. Georgia. President Andrew Jackson
pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress. This Supreme Court declared the Removal Act Unconstitutional.
Jackson’s response was to not enforce the decision and continued forcing the Indians to leave Georgia to unorganized
territories west of Mississippi. While 15,000 Indians moved during the winter only 11,000 lived to see spring. Most of the
natives agreed that Jackson was equivalent to Hitler. (Andrew) not even the powerful system of checks and balances
could prevent Jackson for the moving of the Indians.
Checks and balances is a system of allowing other branches to check each other’s power when making a
decision. The executive branch then signed the Indian Removal Act bill, forcing
the Indians to leave their homes and everything else they’ve ever known. The
executive branch also signed the license in Indian Territory bill. Next the Judicial
branch, the case Worcester vs. Georgia, declared the Indian Removal Act
unconstitutional, stating that Indians had the right to their own lands and the
right to govern themselves.(Hakim, 131) The executive branch then disregarded
the Supreme Court’s decision and kept on forcing the Indians to leave. The
legislative branch did not impeach Jackson but supported him in his’ decisions.
In this case the checks and balances did work because the judicial ruled the laws
unconstitutional but also did not work because Jackson refused to enforce the
Supreme Court’s decision and the legislative branch supported him.
Checks and balances both did and did not work. Andrew Jackson did
things his own way instead of listening to the Supreme Court’s decision
concerning the Indian removal act during Worcester vs. Georgia. Checks and
balances could have worked if Jackson realized he only has a certain amount of
power for a reason. If this happened again the consequences could be
devastating. The U.S would most likely go in complete anarchy without a
government or turn out like China in a super power hungry government, forcing
control and authority.
Battle Analysis
Fort Sumter
-By Bailey Treat
In 1861, Fort Sumter, was the first battle. It was a big part in the Civil War. There were many events that led up to
this particular battle a part. Some of them were because of the Missouri Compromise and a lot had to do with Slavery. In
1960, Lincoln was elected as president. He was a northerner and they did not like him at all. Fort Sumter was the battle that
started the American Civil War.
There were a few key leaders of each side of this battle. One of them is Brigadier General Beauregard. He was in
charge of the Confederate forces in Charleston, SC. Another one is Major Anderson. He is the leader of the Union soldiers.
Brigadier General Beauregard of the Confederacy had a contentious personality, which brought him in to the
conflict with the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. He had a Creole appearance and style, though he was
considered an ardent Southerner. General Beauregard was born on
May 28, 1818 and died on February 20, 1893. He was 74 years old
when he died. He was 43 years old during the American Civil War.
Beauregard was the first prominent Confederate general. He
commanded the defenses of Charleston during the Battle of Fort
Sumter on April 12, 1861. Three months later he was the victor at the
First Battle of Bull Run. When he was in school he attended New
Orleans first and then transferred to a “French School” in New York
City. During the Mexican-American War, Beauregard served as an
engineer under General Winfield Scott. General Beauregard
originally spoke French but when he came to New York when he was
12 he learned how to speak English. Before he came to New York and attended New Orleans private school.
While the officers of both sides had experience fighting, and were very well educated, the enlisted men were
volunteers who had very little education. These men in the ranks had never heard a shot in anger, and were inexperienced
in war.
Major Anderson was born on June 14th 1805in Louisville Kentucky and died on October 26 1871. He died in France
at age 66. He was an American military leader. He served as a Union Army officer in the American Civil War. HE is often
referred to as Major Robert Anderson. Major Robert graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1825. He
received a commission as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of Artillery. Then he returned to the Army as a first
lieutenant in 1833. He was an assistant adjutant general on the staff of Windfield Scott. On October 5th 1857, he received a
permanent promotion to major of the 1st regiment of Artillery in the Regular Army. Major Anderson went to Belhaven
College. He got his Bachelor of Science and Business Administration. Major Anderson also was involved in the Belhaven
Baseball.
Fort Sumter used all kinds of armaments in this battle. They had about 20 different kinds of weapons used. Some
of them were cannons, 38- inchers and many more ground and sea weapons. If any weapons were introduced in this battle
it would be hard for them because they had to learn how to use them before they could use them in the war. What the
everyday soldiers had was they had single shot rifles.
There were many people involved in the Fort Sumter attack. They were the South’s and the North’s. The
Southerners were called the Confederacy and the North was called the union. What happened? Well a lot had happened.
Major Robert Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie and secretly relocated his two companies of the 1st U.S.
Artillery to Fort Sumter. He thought that providing a stronger defense would delay a rebel attack. The Fort was not yet
complete at the time and fewer than half of the cannons that should have been there were available due to military
downsizing by James Buchanan. Over the next few months, repeated calls for Union surrender from Confederate Brigadier
General P.G.T. Beauregard were ignored, and Union attempts to resupply and reinforce the garrison were rebuffed. On
April 12, 1861 at 4:30 am, Confederate batteries opened fire. They fired for 34 straight hours on the fort. One soldier died
and another was mortally wounded during the 27th shot of a 100 shot salute. This battle took place in Charleston Harbor in
South Carolina. This began on April 12th, 1861.
After all, The Confederates won under the command of PGT Beauregard, who defeated General Robert
Anderson’s Union forces. But the next day the Civil War began.
This battle had a big effect on the overall conflict. The big conflict was that when Fort Sumter war was done then
the Civil War started against the North and South. The war lasted from 1861 to 1865.