To Have Fate Hold You
             "...I realized I didn't have my prisoner's cap. Any prisoner at
             morning roll call without his cap was shot ."
             What would it be like if your life depended on something as simple as whether or not your hat was in your possession? To have a simple twist in fate be the deciding factor in whether or not you were going to live? This was everyday living for some European Jewry. Six million people's twist of fate ended tragically. To classify all of the Jew's experiences - both survivors and the deceased- as similar is unfair, for many different factors played a role in their experiences from 1933 to 1945. As the Nazi's hold on Europe was clenched tighter and tighter, a living Jew became more and more of a rarity.
             Throughout history Jews have been discriminated against, yet in 1933 things changed. No longer was a Jew looked at as religiously different, but now they were considered biologically different.
             Hitler's rise to power in Germany changed life drastically for the German Jews. But the question arose, what was a German Jew (it is important to keep in mind this applies only to the Jews of Germany)? To begin the large-scale classification system, Germans were first broken up into two main groups, Aryans (non-Jews) and the Mischlinges (non-Aryan). There were also distinct levels of Mischlinges, first degree, second degree, and Jewish. Second degree Mischlinges were the grandchildren of only one Jewish grandparent and they themselves are non-practitioners of the Jewish religion. In order to qualify as a first degree Mischlinge, the person must have had two Jewish grandparents, they could not practice the Jewish religion nor could they marry a Jewish person past September 15, 1935 .
             However, there were exceptions to this rule which were rightfully called "liberations." Liberations simply meant that the Mischlinge was reclassified. Oddly enough,...