When I first started to weigh ideas to base my final project on, I had difficulty trying to decide a topic. Then, I saw that we would be discussing the years between the world wars in class in the upcoming weeks. It was then that I decided to research the Holocaust and make that the topic of my final project. The word “Holocaust” is linked to one of the most unfortunate genocides that the world has ever seen. Although, that same term used to describe a “sacrificial offering burned on an altar” (History.com). Since the genocide took place, people only understand the word as the horrific circumstances that occurred by the German Nazi regime between 1933 to 1945. Between 1941 through 1945, victims were taken from their home and sent to Nazi concentration camps all throughout Europe (History.com). Upon arrival, victims had to endure some of the most brutal torture that a person could think of such as being stripped of belongings, separated from family, and worst of all being slaughtered in mass murders (History.com). Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazis and he strongly believed in racial purity. He persecuted anyone who he felt was an inferior race such as Jewish, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, Non-Jewish Polish civilians, Serb civilians, disabled people, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, criminal offenders, German political opponents (resistance activists), and homosexuals (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). It is obvious how large this list of people is, but it is still incredibly difficult to understand the total amounts of death that occurred during this period in history. Fortunately, there are survivors such as Susan Harrsion Wolffis’ father who lived to share his story with his daughter who represents a “second generation” of survivors and continues to share his stories with people to this day (Holocaust's Effect). It is important that people that were not alive during this time period continue to learn about this event through the stories of those who were impacted by the Holocaust. By doing so, we continue to mourn the lives lost and ensure that this will ever happen again. I have always been interested by the Holocaust and learning about survivor stories as well as learning about the lives that were lost during the tragic genocide. I have been learning about it since one of my middle school teachers read a story about it to my class years ago. I felt that the most efficient way I could demonstrate this event would be by painting a picture that illustrates the dark tone, but also includes a sense of hope and optimism. For my painting, I chose to use an image of the barbwire fence at the concentration camp at Auschwitz (Holocaust's Effect on Three Local Generations Jan. 27). The picture that I used for inspiration was taken in black and white and I want to keep this same tone for the background of my painting. Although, I feel that in order to add that feeling of hope that I mentioned previously, I am going to have to add some color. For this reason, I will paint nineteen yellow butterflies. I chose the number nineteen because the closest estimate I could find for how many casualties there were during the Holocaust was 19 million. It is stated, however, that it is nearly impossible to get an exact estimate for total lives lost, as the Nazis did not keep proper records and disposed of most of what they did have (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Each butterfly will represent one million people that perished during this tragic time in history. In conclusion, I believe that is extremely important that when we reflect back on the Holocaust, we remember the brutal conditions and deaths, but also the survivors for being brave enough to continue to share their stories today.