How about Nazi medical experimentation on human beings and the “ethics” of that?

Have you seen Defiance? That was based on a story I had never heard before.

The Nazis also put gays, lesbians and the mentally ill in concentration camps, not just the Jews.

You could do something from outside the death camps. The Ghetto’s or the people hiding from the NAZI’s for years in attics or hidden basements are often overshadowed by their much more gruesomely interesting camp cousins.

You could explore the Nazi persecution of the clergy and the church.

@tinyfaery Yes…?

These all sound like great research topics, but I’m not sure how my opinion would come into play. I don’t think “The Holocaust was bad. Hitler was a dick.” is going to cut it.

Here’s one thing my professor brought up: Why is the Holocaust important? We learn about it over and over and over and over and it never seems to go away. Why? It’s not like it’s the only mass extermination that has occurred throughout history. So, if there are other events like these, and some with arguably bigger death tolls than the Holocaust, in other parts of the world, why is this the one we’re continuously bringing up?

The obvious answer is that it was the only genocide that was extremely well documented. We have videos, diaries, and other accounts of the Holocaust that simply don’t exist in the same numbers with the others. But is that the only reason it’s so important to us? Or is it because it shows us what to look out for so it doesn’t happen again? Or does it simply prove how awful human beings can be to each other? Or is it all human interest?

See what I mean about the opinion aspect? I mean, I could write on that topic, but I can’t see getting three pages out of it.

I’m a research kind of girl. Give me a research topic and I’ll do great. But I’m currently in this course and a Philosophy course that is just kicking my butt. I have an opinion, just like everyone else, but 3–5 pages worth on one specific topic/question? It’s just going to take some getting used to…

@livelaughlove21 That’s why I like Defiance – I always wondered why more people didn’t fight back. Some did, we just don’t tend to hear about it. That gives you plenty of room to write about your opinion of why so many went so quietly.

@livelaughlove21 _I don’t think “The Holocaust was bad. Hitler was a dick.” is going to cut it. _

That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.

Why don’t you play off of what your professor told you. It was not the only mass extermination in the history of our planet or species… so why was it so important? Maybe because it was the first time a mass extermination of its kind was “broadcast” or seen by the whole world, for all of its evil?

How about the growing cult of people who deny it even happened despite it still being in living memory (for the time being).

I found stories like the one of Sgt. Anton Schmid to be compelling in how some Germans and soldiers no less risked and gave their lives for their fellow man.

I would look into the antisemitic laws in all of Europe circa 1915–1932 and how they bolstered a culture and mindset throughout many religions, cultures and nationalities and how that enabled a relatively small group to have the ability to carry out such atrocious acts. Not straight opinion more conclusion and conjecture based upon factual occurrences

I would be – and have always been – interested in the complicity of “the common man” around the camps. They certainly knew what was going on.

I’d be especially interested in the brave individuals among them who went against their government, the armed camp guards and murderers and even most of their fellow citizens and tried to do the humane thing to save and rescue people.

I just finished Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, about Louis Zamperini’s capture and internment in Japanese POW camps during WWII, and the horrific treatment that he and others received there. The few Japanese guards and citizens who attempted to treat the prisoners humanely suffered greatly for their troubles. Those are at least “interesting” people. They’re heroes.

Opinion based?

You could write about the role of eugenics and other philosophies behind the Third Reich. Specifically, you could describe the various devices that influenced the German people to participate in such atrocities.

@zensky Yes, it’s opinion based. Op-ed, or opinion editorial (aka opposite editorial). Like the ones you can find in the newspaper sometimes on the Letters to the Editor page.

@zensky‘s two-word query is incisive. An opinion about the Holocaust that is not based on fact is without value. So much of the causes of this horror were based on opinions and beliefs entirely devoid of factual support. Consider that!

Yeah, I’m more of a research person myself, so I feel your pain for this assignment. Having to write three pages (or any minimum limit) is a challenge.

It sounds like you have already picked an opinionated topic: “Hitler Was a Dick”. Not all people agree with that. There were people who supported him on the front end, and then later changed their mind. Hindsight is often 20/20.

Now it is just a matter of putting together an outline for why you support this opinion. Once you map that out, the rest should be fairly easy. If you need some inspiration, just search the internet using ‘Hitler was good’ and read some of the information that comes up.

I would suggest looking at the generation after the Holocaust, though that may be too off topic. There is plenty of research about post-Holocaust work. Think of Holocaust Memorials and Holocaust Post-Memorials (The work of the Gertzes might be worth investigating) or even Maus by Art Spiegelman would make interesting subjects

What makes the Holocaust so horrifying is that it was done by what was arguably the most advanced nation in the world. If it could happen there, then what is to prevent it from happening anywhere else?

You seem to have chosen your topic, but one I would suggest is the families that sheltered Jews. I don’t know how much information there is, since most of the families went out of their went out of their way to avoid publicity about their heroic efforts.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Why was Krystalnacht such a symbol of it all that we recognize the name and significance today almost 75 tears later? Check that out…

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has an exhibition on Nazi propaganda just now. There is also a large collection of English translations of Nazi propaganda here Propaganda moulded public opinion and made the Holocaust possible. It would make an interesting topic for study.

@syz I loved Defiance. Excellent film.

@tinyfaery The Nazis also put gays, lesbians and the mentally ill in concentration camps, not just the Jews.

Also, the deaf.

@filmfann It would be easier to list the people that they didn’t put in the camps.

You might look at Israel’s curiously rich history of persecution. It’s arguably the most ill-treated group in the history of evar.

Hitler’s regime killed over 11 million people— 6 million were Jews, which means… 5 million were “others.” You rarely hear about the “others.” Why? That’s one opinion you could write—why do you rarely hear about the 5 million? Were they less important? Or more diverse, so the numbers have less impact? Or what?

He didn’t even start with Jews…. he started with the disabled babies then adults. His argument was that by killing disabled people who couldn’t work, he was saving the economy for the able-bodied. That’d be an opinion paper to write: why did he start with disabled people? Was it because they were the most defenseless? Or the actual drain on the economy? Or to desensitize people to killing of undesirables? Why did he pick them first.

He didn’t kill all disabled people—the ones who could work were forcibly sterilized.

He killed the Romas (gypsies) next. Then the mentally ill, gays and Catholics. And Union leaders. Then… the Jews.

Well, I usually enjoy finding an uncommon/controversial perspective. What about something like “Why Hitler was a genius leader” or “The leadership qualities of Hitler and the Third Reich”? Or “Hitler’s latent mental illness/homosexuality/drug addiction/something else”?

I wrote a research about attitudes towards jewish expats immediately following WW2 in college. it was an interesting topic!

@JilltheTooth “Kristallnacht” sounds infinitely more interesting than “window night.”

You might research the brighter moments, like when the odd Nazi would conveniently forget having seen anybody of interest.

One of the most outlandish events in my opinion included the German people themselves especially at the on-set of Hitler’s rule.. You have to realize that WWl literally destroyed these people so they were open to anything that would get them out of their funk and Hitler provided that.. Almost over night the state of affairs, jobs and chicken in every pot seemingly came out of nowhere.. Suddenly everyone had a job and products were as abundant as if they had never experienced a depression and they accepted this whirlwind of prosperiety having absolutely no idea that the metals and machines were stolen from nearby countries that Hitler and his killers had literally taken from those who had no intention of warring and the German people NEVER questioned where all this came from when not three years earlier there were no jobs and people ate dirt to survive.Try that scenerio.

Arthur Miller’s play Broken Glass is an interesting read.

Read about how http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Frankl handled it.

What about the Aryan Race? And comparing it to todays extreme fixation on appearance and health?;p

@AnnieNorway And their fixation on pure races compared to our fixation on genetically modifying humans to eliminate undesirable traits. The Nazis, too, started with the disabled……...