The Holocaust :: Holocaust Essays, The Nazis

When I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, I was sickened to learn of horrifying Nazi activities intended to improve the Aryan race and to learn about the human body.ï ¿ ½ While many people are aware that the Nazis had these goals, most are uninformed of the means used to reach them.ï ¿ ½ I was also ignorant of the extent of their attempts to establish themselves as ideal specimens of the human race.ï ¿ ½ They used many unforgivable methods to accomplish these aims, some of which were revealed to me during my visit to the museum. The Nazis attempted to create a master race through both vicious and less cruel means.ï ¿ ½ Before my visit to the museum, I was unaware that the Nazis had a program for forced sterilization for those who had genetic disorders or any traits that were undesirable to be passed down hereditarily (Holocaust Museum).ï ¿ ½ These included the mentally ill, the blind, the deaf, those with severe physical abnormalities, serious alcoholics, and Germans that were half-African (Holocaust Museum).ï ¿ ½ The sterilization of these people was legalized by the Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring, which took effect in 1933 (ï ¿ ½Deadly Medicineï ¿ ½).ï ¿ ½ Cases were heard by courts, but the vast majority of cases ended in the order to sterilize (ï ¿ ½Deadly Medicineï ¿ ½).ï ¿ ½ It is estimated that 300,000 Germans were forcibly sterilized by Nazi demand (Holocaust Museum).ï ¿ ½ Similar programs were in effect elsewhere in the world, including the United States (ï ¿ ½De adly Medicineï ¿ ½).ï ¿ ½ A law was implemented in Virginia allowing forced sterilization of ï ¿ ½feeblemindedï ¿ ½ people, and it was judged legal by the Supreme Court (ï ¿ ½Deadly Medicineï ¿ ½).ï ¿ ½ Euthanasia was also used by the Nazis to eliminate these people, even children (ï ¿ ½Deadly Medicineï ¿ ½).ï ¿ ½ Parents of the euthanized children were told that they had died from other causes, even though the children were murdered in hospitals (ï ¿ ½Deadly Medicineï ¿ ½).ï ¿ ½ Less severe methods of creating a perfect race included the Nuremberg Laws, which outlawed marriages between Jews and Germans, and the encouragement of large Aryan families with the ï ¿ ½Honor Cross of German Motherhood,ï ¿ ½ where mothers of four or more were given medals (ï ¿ ½Deadly Medicineï ¿ ½).ï ¿ ½ I was stunned to learn the extent of the Nazisï ¿ ½ actions that were intended to create a perfect race, and I was sickened to think that the Nazis might have committed further crimes s uch as these that are still unknown to the public. The Nazis also performed cruel medical experiments on Jewish prisoners, both living and dead.