The Capital Structure choice of Pepsico

The Capital Structure choice of Pepsico The collection of securities that the firm issues to raise capital from investors is the firms capital structure. Equity and debt are the most commonly used securities by firms. The amount of debt determines the firms leverage. The firm should always use a capital structure which will maximize the total value of the securities issued. In order to determine the capital structure of a firm, It is also necessary to determine the different ratios such as net debt ratio, fixed coverage ratio, interest ratio, long term debt ratio, cash flow ratio, etc, to evaluate the effects of the ratios on the on the firm. These ratios are useful for comparing analyzing with other competitor firms. Ratios help the firm to determine their position in terms of the market value, book value, market capitalization, debt value, revenues, etc. The  Modigliani-Miller theorem states that, the firms value is unaffected by the way it is financed in the absence of taxes, bankruptcy costs and asymmetric information in a perfect market.  It does not matter if the firms capital is raised by issuing  stock  or by selling debt. It does not matter what the firms  dividend  policy is. Therefore, the Modigliani-Miller theorem is also often called the  capital structure irrelevance principle. We will look at this theory in detail in capital structure. In this report we look at the different theories (pecking order theory, trade-off theory, asset substitution theory, modigliani-miller theory) capital structure choice of PepsiCo by determining various ratios, comparing PepsiCo with its competitors. Analysis of the results and recommendations provided. INTRODUCTION Pepsi was originally named as Brads Drink, after its creator, Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist from New Bern, North Carolina. Pepsi was created in 1893 and was later renamed as Pepsi Cola in 1898. Pepsi contained the digestive enzymes pepsin and kola nuts used in manufacturing Pepsi. Bradham had thought about creating a drink for people that was delicious and would help in digestion and boost energy. PepsiCo Inc. is an American Multinational Corporation headquartered in New York. The company manufactures markets sells a range of salty sweet grain based snacks. It also produces carbonated non-carbonated beverages and other food products. PepsiCo has approximately 285,000 employees working in over 200 countries. Pepsi Cola Company began in 1898, but it only became known as PepsiCo when it merged with Frito Lays in 1965. Until 1997 it also owned KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. In 1998 2001 PepsiCo bought Tropicana Quaker Oats. In 2005 PepsiCo surpassed Coca-Cola Company in market value for the first time in 112 years since both companies began to compete. Over the years PepsiCo has become a global beverage, snack foods company. PepsiCo owns 5 different billion dollar brands such as Pepsi, Tropicana, Frito Lay, Quaker Oats Gatorade. PepsiCo also owns other brands such as Diet Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda, Ruffles Potato Chips, Aquafina Bottled Water, Pepsi Max, Mountain Dew, etc. Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi has been the chief executive of PepsiCo since 2006. PepsiCo delivered some solid financial performance in 2009, Its Net revenue grew by 5%, Core division operating profit grew by 6%, Core earnings per share grew by 6%, Management operating cash flow excluding certain items reached $5.6 billion up by 16%, Annual Dividend raised by 6%. PepsiCo estimated worldwide retail sales of $108 billion through all the products. In 2009 PepsiCos Net Revenue was $43,232 million, mixed net revenues of 37% from food products and 63% from beverages. Net Revenues generated according to operations in US and outside US are 52% in US and 48% outside US. Net Revenues generated through PepsiCo and its subsidiary companies are 48% by PepsiCo Americas Foods, 23% by PepsiCo Americas Beverages, 29% by PepsiCo International. 2.1 PepsiCos Strategies for driving growth Expand the Global Leadership Position of Snacks Business Ensure sustainable profitable growth in global beverages. Continue to deliver environmental sustainability goals and commitments. Cherish associates and develop the leadership to sustain growth. 2.2 PepsiCos Competitive Advantage Strengths PepsiCos competitive advantage lies in their talented, dedicated and hard working work-force, that work on its huge brands, innovating producing differentiated products, using excellent marketing methodologies. PepsiCo also uses cost saving initiatives in operations. All these factors help them to sustain a competitive advantage in the market. PepsiCos strength lies in its brand name recognized all over the world, huge range of food and beverage products, marketing style in different regions according to the place culture segmentation, and huge marketing budget. CAPITAL STRUCTURE The most fundamental question of corporate finance is how a firm should raise capital from investors. A firm must determine the type of security it will issue to the investors. Capital structure refers to the way a firm finances its assets through some combination of equity, debt, or other securities. There are different theories to determine the capital structure of the company. (3.1) Pecking Order Theory (developed by Stewart Myers, 1984) states that the firms have a preferred structure for financing; the factor with a high preference uses internal financing such as retained earnings before opting for any external financing. External financing uses debts, convertible securities, preferred stock common stock. So the firm first uses its retained earnings for operations or investments or expansions and then if required they can opt for external financial resources. (3.2) Trade-Off Theory states that the firms are financed partly with equity and partly with debt. Debt financing is preferred here due to the tax benefits of debt. Debt financing also bears bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy costs. Further according to the theory marginal cost of the debts increases as the debt increases and marginal benefits decline as the debt decreases. (3.3) Agency Cost Theory states that there are 3 different agency costs related to a firms capital structure, they are asset substitution, cash flow underinvestment. Asset Substitution states that as the debt to equity ratio increases the firm gets more freedom to invest in new projects, this leads to the decline in the value of the firm which results into wealth being transferred from debt holders to shareholders. Underinvestment problems occur when debt appears to be more risky, in this scenario of the firm the returns from the investment in projects will be directed towards the debt holders rather than the shareholders. This may lead to the firm declining to start any new projects, and there is a potential to increase the firms value. Free Cash Flow states that free cash flow is also a problem for the firm if the cash is not returned to the investors. Doing so will disrupt the value of the firm. (3.4) Modigliani-Miller Theory (developed by Merton Miller Franco Modigliani) states that it is assumed that there are no transaction costs, no taxes and there is a perfect market condition. They also stated that the value of a firm is determined by adding up all the debts and equity of the firm. This can be viewed through an example Firm A Firm B Debt value 0 2,500,000 Interest on debt 0 5% Expenses on debt 0 125,000 Share 1,000,000 500,000 Price per share 5 5 Market value of equity 5,000,000 2,500,000 From the above table we can see the market value of Firm A is 5million (only equity), Firm A is only financed by shares, therefore the value of Firm A is 5million. Market value of Firm B is 5million (equity + debt), 50% financed by shares and 50% by debt, but Firm B has to pay interest on the debts which is 5% of the debt value which is 125,000. Therefore the returns on equity for Firm B will be its earnings minus the value of interest on debts. Returns per share for Firm B will be returns on equity divided by earnings. If Firm B would have sold its stock at a premium rate then it could have made arbitrage profits. Modigliani Miller theory states that the value of a firm in a perfect market is not affected by the way the company is financed but it is affected through the sort of capital structure the firm utilizes. PEPSICOS NET DEBT RATIO Debt ratio that indicates the proportion of debt a company has relative to its assets. The measure gives an idea to the leverage of the company along with the potential  risks  the company faces in terms of its debts. If debt ratio is higher than 1 then the firm has more debt than assets, if debt ratio is less than 1 then the firm has more assets than debts. The formula for calculating debt ratio is, Debt Ratio = total debt / total assets. Debt Ratio helps to measure the risk a bank or financial institution will take if they are financing a firm. Net Debt is the measure of a firms overall debt by taking the net value of debts and cash. Net Debt is calculated as, Net Debt = (long term debt + short term debt) cash cash equivalents. According to PepsiCo, they measure net debt ratio on market-value basis where net debt equals total debt. PepsiCos Net Debt Ratio (L*) = (D + PVOL CMS) / (NP + D + PVOL CMS). D is the market value of total debt (long term debt plus short term debt), PVOL is the present value of operating leases, CMS is the cash marketable securities, N is the number of common shares, P is the common stock price. From the assignment referring to exhibit 2 exhibit 4, all values in millions dollars except for the common stock price, D = 9215, PVOL = 479 * 5 = 2395, CMS = 1498 and reduce it by 25% for remitting to US therefore CMS = 1123.5, N = 788, P = 55.875. L *= [(9215+2395) 1123.5] / [((788*55.875)+9215+2395) 1123.5] L* = 19.2 % (PepsiCos Net Debt Ratio is 19.2%). Now to analyze this we can ask some questions as how much debt really exists? If we consider exhibit 2 in the assignment there are other factors like accounts payable, short term debt other current liabilities which constitute of total current liabilities plus long term debt other liabilities, all this together shows that the total liabilities are 18,119million dollars, which is a bit high according to the market situation. That is why this shows the Moodys rating of PepsiCo is A1/A. PepsiCo will have to reduce their liabilities in order to gain a rating of Aa3/AA of Coca-Cola. What kind of debt is it, long term or short term? Firstly let us talk about short term debt, if we talk about short term debts then we can assume it can be included in current debts, so according to the balance sheet in exhibit 2, total current liability is 5230million dollars, while total long term liability is 12889million dollars, so the total long term debt is very high compared to total current liabilities. PepsiCo will have to reduce its long term debts more effectively in order to increase its ratings and also increase its assets. Can the company afford the debts if  it runs into financial trouble? Let us calculate the debt ratio as explained above in the beginning, Debt ratio = total debt / total assets (both values are in million dollars) = 18119 / 25432 = 0.71. If the debt ratio is less than 1 it means that the firm has more assets than debts. So PepsiCo can afford to be debt financed at a certain level. Looking at the current assets if the company runs into financial trouble then it can clear all its debts by selling off its assets. RATIO COMPARISON ANALYSIS Table of calculated ratios referring to values given in exhibit 5 in assignment, RATIOS PEPSICO CADBURY SCHWEPPES COCA COLA COCA COLA ENTERPRISES MCDONALDS INTEREST COVERAGE 4.565 4.896 16.911 1.444 7.379 FIXED CHARGE COVERAGE 3.094 4.287 16.911 1.406 3.588 LONG-TERM DEBT 0.165 0.090 0.011 0.517 0.112 TOTAL DEBT TO TOTAL ADJUSTED CAPITALIZATION 0.176 0.146 0.016 0.521 0.125 CASH FLOW TO LONG TERM DEBT 0.427 0.569 2.730 0.155 0.539 CASH FLOW TO TOTAL DEBT 0.395 0.330 1.839 0.153 0.474 Lets look at each ratio one by one in detail and analyze it. (5.1) Interest coverage ratio is used to calculate the firms ability to pay interest on the debts. If the ratio is low the firm has huge debt expenses. If the ratio is less than 1 then it means that the firm is unable to generate revenues to incur the interest expenses. Interest coverage ratio = earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) / interest expense. According to the table above, we can see that interest coverage ratio of PepsiCo is 4.565 which is very higher than 1 and is considered as good. Comparing it with other companies in the table, we can see that Coco Cola has the highest ratio of 16.911 which is very impressive, but Coca Cola Enterprises has a ratio of 1.44 which is a caution alarm for its investors. To be on a safer side if the ratio is 1.5 or less then firms ability to meet its interest expenses can be questionable i.e. the is not able to generate sufficient returns to meet the interest expenses. (5.2) Fixed charge coverage ratio is used to calculate the firms ability to pay its fixed-charges such as rent and interest on debt without increasing the debts. If the ratio is less than 1 then the firm is not able to pay its fixed charges and vice versa. Fixed-charge coverage ratio = (EBIT  + fixed charges before tax) / (fixed charged before tax +  interest). According to the table above, we can see that PepsiCos fixed charge coverage ratio is 3.094 which is greater than 1. Comparing it with other companies in the table, Coca Cola has the highest ratio of 16.911 which is very impressive, but for Coca Cola Enterprises is 1.406 which is very less. PepsiCo should decrease its debts in order to reduce its fixed charges which will help to increase the value of the ratio. (5.3) Long term debt ratio is used to calculate the firms leverage. Higher the ratio, higher is the firms leverage. Firm with a high ratio is considered more risky for investors to invest because they have more liabilities than equity and vice versa. Long term debt ratio = long term debt / (long term debt + preferred stock + common stock). According to the table above, PepsiCos long term debt ratio is 0.165 which is less. Comparing to other companies in the table, Coca cola has a ratio of 0.011 which shows that it has more equity than liability, but Coca Cola Enterprises has a ratio of 0.517 which shows that it has almost 50% equity and 50% liability, so investing in Coca Cola Enterprises is more risky. (5.4) Total debt to total adjusted capitalisation ratio is used to calculate the firms leverage which includes long term and short term debts. Total debt to total adjusted capitalisation ratio = (long-term debt + short term debt) / [(long-term debt + short term debt) + preferred stock + common stock]. According to the table above, PepsiCos total debt to total adjusted capitalisation ratio is 0.176. Comparing to other companies in the table, Coca Cola has a ratio of 0.016 which shows it has more equity than liability, but Coco Cola Enterprises has a ratio of 0.521 which is again very risky. (5.5) Ratio of cash flow to long term debt is used to calculate the firms ability to generate cash in comparison with the long term debts. Ratio of cash flow to long term debt = cash flow / long term debt. According to the table above, PepsiCos ratio of cash flow to long term debt is 0.427 which is not good enough. Comparing it with other companies, Coca Colas ratio of cash flow to long term debt is 2.730, which is very impressive. PepsiCo has more long term debts than its annual cash flow while Coca Colas annual cash flow is 3 times the value of its long term debt. Firms with a high cash flow after interest and taxes are in a better position to distribute cash dividends. Firm with high cash flow can also use the cash to invest in other projects, buy assets, reduce debts etc. (5.6) Ratio of cash flow to total debt is used to calculate the firms ability to generate cash in comparison with its total debts. Ratio of cash flow to total debt = cash flow / total debt. According to the table above, PepsiCos ratio of cash flow to total debt is 0.395. Comparing it with other companies, Coca Colas ratio of cash flow to total debt is 1.839 which is very good. PepsiCos total debt is more than twice the value of its annual cash flow while Coca Colas annual cash flow is 2 times the value of its total debt. After considering all the ratios in the table, we can say that PepsiCo needs to reduce its debts by a huge margin and generate more cash so that it can use this cash to pay out more dividends to its investors, increase equity and reduce liability, invest in more products, buy assets, etc. Coca Cola is the largest competitor of PepsiCo, so PepsiCo needs to improve its equity in order to compete more effectively with Coca Cola. If company has less debts and liabilities people will invest more which will provide PepsiCo with a good rating as Coca Cola. PepsiCo can easily borrow money from the market for investments and also it can easily pay it back. Even in financial or economic crisis it will be the least affected company. Capital structure of PepsiCo has debt and equity. According to the net debt ratio we can say PepsiCo has about 20% 25% debt and 75% 80% equity. PEPSICOS RATING OBJECTIVE Ratings are given to companies depending on various factors such as its debt value, equity value, sources of finance, stock price, number of shares, profits, dividends, etc. Moody rated A as upper-medium grade, subject to low credit risk,  but that have elements present that suggest a susceptibility to impairment over the long term. PepsiCo has a rating of A1/A which places it in the upper medium grade category. A1 is the high quality rating given to PepsiCo, Aaa is the highest rating available. Coca Colas rating is Aa3/AA shows that it has much better ratings then PepsiCo. If PepsiCo wants to have a net debt ratio of 20% 25% then it will have to increase its debts and reduce equity, if this happens the Corporate Debt Rating of PepsiCo might fall to Baa which is lower medium grade. This will show a bad image of the company in the market, investors will find it risky to invest in PepsiCo. This means people will not buy shares of PepsiCo and it will not be able to raise funds through the issue of share to decrease its debts or to invest in the business. As a result of which they will have to borrow from the banks, Banks would also lend them funds to a certain limit where their assets are equal to liabilities, Banks would like to make sure that PepsiCo are able to pay back the funds with interest before lending them the funds. PepsiCo should reduce their net debt ratio to at least 15% instead of increasing it, due to this they will have more cash flow, reduced debts, can easily pay back dividends to investors, they can easily raise funds through issue of shares instead of borrowing from banks or other financial institutions. This will overall help PepsiCo to increase its ratings from A to Aa. CONCLUSION

Analysis of learning outcomes with web-based tools

Research QuestionThe past research has shown that the experimental groups learning outcome was higher than the control group. However the follow-up questionnaires and interviews three months after the post-test showed that both the experimental and control groups seemed to retain the same amount of information and procedures learned in the session.The experimental group did show that they coached others more, deliberately applying the procedures and following up with the provided web-site for reviews. Our research will review the two group’s ability to retain the information for long points of time and which method provides the best long term retention rate. The research problem will review if web-based learning tools will help the one group retain the information longer we will retest both group in 6 months and 12 months. Does the use of web-based learning tools provide employees with a source to help them maintain knowledge learned longer? PurposeTo write a quantitative purp ose statement, we must first start with our general topic, which in this case is, interpersonal communication skills. We must include the variables (what are the outcomes and what factors influence those outcomes?), the participants in the study and the research site. As we narrow our topic, we see from the information given that we want to focus our investigation on using web-based instruction to teach interpersonal communication. The study will be conducted for the employer, so we know the subjects will be the employees   of ABC Corporation. We know that a good purpose statement takes the form of â€Å"the effect of x on y†.With the above information in mind, our purpose statement becomes: â€Å"The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of web-based instruction on the acquisition and application of interpersonal skills for employees at ABC Corporation†.Literature SearchThe research question addresses the use of web-based tools and how they can help profess ionals in a work environment learn and retain information better. Researching other companies and how their use of web-based tools have helped improve production, time management, communication skills, and the impact on return on investment would be the main groups of literature research to review.Looking at the different types of research is needed to create a concrete research paper. Benchmarking other companies, colleges and how they are using technology to improve the learning environment of their students, and technology sites to find out what changes in online tools are being developed. Because this research is using adult learners it is important to look at research from college level up. Most research on children and the use of web-based tools would not be useful. If the impact that we show can be compared to the impact other companies have seen then the data that our research fines will be more concrete. There are standard that we will have to follow before the research can even begin. We will need to review the professional ethics in educational assessments and also the ethical standard for developing the research. Review of the accreditations of all research papers we review is also important. When using a quantitative study it is important to justify the research problem and to compare the results with the prior predictions (Creswell, 2005).Ways to Collect DataThe researcher would have to get permission from management to do a research study. They need to determine if employees who have access to a web site after their training retain more information? The representatives of the study would be the employees who went through the four sessions on improving interpersonal communications in the workplace using the web-based tools and the control group that did not use the web.The researcher will show that longer term retaination of information can be enhances by using the web supported tools. Neither group will know they are participating in a planned study because if the study was know ahead of time people would be able to prepare and that would effect the data collected. A quantitative should be used because we will have to compare groups against each other. Managers should fill out questionnaires when employees access web sites. Did the employees solve problems without management becoming involved? Were employees without web sites able to solve problems as often as the web group? Information should be put into categories, those with web support and those without web support. Interviews and Likert scales could be used to evaluate the employees’ use of the web site. Tally sheets and logs should be kept each time a problem is solved with or without web site usage. A checklist inventory or assessment should be used each time a problem is solved with or without using the web site. A numerical chart can be used to compare the results after three months and six months. After the first three months the learning outcomes of the experimental group was higher. This could be shown on a chart or graph. Ten out of forty-four employees were using principles that they had learned. While only 3 out of 50 participants of the control group used knowledge they had learned. Post survey scores increased by 30% over pre survey scores for the experimental group. Observations of the employee’s behavior should be monitored. The groups should be compared at the end of three and six months to see which groups are doing the best job of retaining what they have learned. A personality assessment could also be used to determine if employees using the web site will continue to retain their training information. Data AnalysisThe data analysis process would consist of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative and qualitative data for both groups would be measured against their baseline abilities. This means that changes would be measured first against the behaviors practiced by each group before the intervention took place (for example, the 30% increase over pre-survey scores). Then, the intervention and control groups would be measured against each other in order to identify whether the changes that took place might be said to have occurred as a result of the web-based instruction.The quantitative data measurements would inclu de not only comparisons of the number of persons reporting their use of principles acquired at the seminar (that is, 10 against 3), as this would give a slightly less optimistic outlook for the technology intervention. Rather, percentages will be computed, which would generate a ratio of approximately 23:6 (23% vs. 6%) in favor of the experimental group.Qualitative analysis could be measured by constructing questionnaires that require the respondents to rate their current communication levels using a Likert scale and then applying quantitative measures to tell how many people (compared with baseline levels) detect an improvement in different areas. The questionnaire could also include areas that allow them to comment on the extent to which the improvement has taken place and the areas in which the intervention helped the most. Where verbal descriptions of changes are given, similar responses might be coded and grouped together. The number of occurrences of key words would be noted a s well as the use of qualifiers, such as â€Å"best,† â€Å"somewhat,† â€Å"significantly† or â€Å"dramatically†.Findings and RecommendationsThe problem of the research would be stated and detailed background information given to provide the reader with the proper foundation for the full comprehension of the research. Next, a review of the literature would follow, and this would allow the reader to expand his/her knowledge concerning the current trends and understandings about the subject as they prevail in the general academic circles. It would also grant the writer a chance to demonstrate his/her expertise on the topic.A description of the methodology would explain the methods of data collection and clarify the reasons for choosing these. This would include a description of the population sample, the intervention site and methods, and any other details that pertain to the study. It would also outline any limitations of the research. The findings would then be explicitly presented and a discussion of these findings would ensue.The discussion would include the discovery of any trends and an explanation of why these trends are believed to have occurred. After this, a conclusion would be given that would summarize the main points of the study. Finally, recommendations would be given, both for future intervention (through computer-based instruction) as well as for extensions of the study (such as conducting a similar study on younger persons who already have excellent exposure to technology to find out if results would be even better.) In short, the research would follow (more or less) the Trochim format: introduction, literature review, methods, results/discussion, conclusion/recommendations. ReferencesCreswell, J. (2005). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluation Quantitative and Qualitative Research. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Retrieved September 26, 2006

What You Can Do About John Hopkins College Essay Samples Beginning in the Next Five Minutes

What You Can Do About John Hopkins College Essay Samples Beginning in the Next Five Minutes What You Need to Know About John Hopkins College Essay Samples Application writing isn't the close of the world and you're able to prepare for it. Besides having an exceptional SAT score, you would have to develop the ideal college essay. They also give a helpful template for students that aren't comfortable with this sort of essay format. Share an essay on any subject of your pick. We visit every a couple of decades or so. You would like your words to produce a positive impression, but you also don't need to drone on for days. They may require an outstanding bit of writing to have a scholarship for their senior year. Employing a writing service is the perfect method to have a well-written essay to use as a guideline to make sure the essays you write are hitting all the important points and are at the appropriate depth necessary for your academic grade. You may even go for an available writer to communication panel, which gives an immediate communication between the author and the customer. Always make certain to have a look at the review my essay section of any writing service website you're thinking of using. Simply speaking, the service exists, so should you need to use it in order to find a top essay, that's reason enough. Residing in Washington, I would truly feel the pulse of our world these days. Bridget's essay is quite strong, but there continue to be a couple little things that could be made better. Let's explore a few ways to compose a phenomenal college essay that is simply the ideal length. Use a quick anecdote, a brief you're writing. This article will appear at the criteria that generally makes for an excellent personal statement when giving you an enormous collection of successful essays that were accepted at a lot of different institutions. In this way, it's going to be simpler to structure the content of your essay. The writing supplement includes just 1 essay with a necessary length of 300-400 words. Write back on paper as many ideas as possible to keep in mind the examples to produce your paper powerful and impressive. Provide all the first details, let us know about the deadline, and we'll begin making your paper to aid you in getting high grades. This kind of essay typically comprises a minimum of 250 words. This usually means they're academically qualified, able to compose a well-structured essay and understand how to research from respectable sources. CTY identifies talented and gifted students and supplies an environment in which they're in a position to flourish. When many seniors experienced disappointments, it's simple to realize that they're far from alone. The program is advised for students in grades 5-12. There's, obviously, a limit on the range of pages even our finest writers can produce with a pressing deadline, but generally, we can satisfy all the clients seeking urgent assistance. Whenever you choose to ask us for expert guidance, don't hesitate to ge t in touch with our support managers. Not following directions supplied by colleges is among the easiest methods to get your work ignored and your application rejected. Even in the event the deadline is very tight, feel free to get hold of our managers. The important thing to keep in mind is that you're attempting to prove you can take the prompts and turn them into an interesting in addition to organized successful paper that adheres to the requirements while additionally expressing your nature and goals. With hard work (and a great deal of revision), you'll have your pick of universities to pick from! If you find making an excellent choice a tricky undertaking, write another paper for each intriguing experience you've got on your list. Make certain your topic is pertinent to the prompt.

Doris Orgels Devil in Vienna Essay - 2316 Words

The Holocaust. A subject most people would like to forget but shouldnt. People must find out as much as possible about it so history wont repeat itself. Millions of Jewish men, women, and children , of all strata were persecuted because of what? Nothing besides the fact that they were Jewish. Most Jews living in Germany, Austria, Poland, France or practically anywhere else in Europe were sent to concentration camps. There they were either tortured or killed. In The book Devil in Vienna, by Doris Orgel, Inge a young, intelligent Jewish girl is faced with the same types of problems. Being Jewish at that time was no small problem. Instead of worrying what to wear the next day, she would have to worry about whether or not her family†¦show more content†¦Camp living conditions were atrocious. People sent to the camps were fed the very bare minimum, never bathed, were frequently beaten, given the worst sleeping quarters, and killed in mass numbers by carbon monoxide gassing, shooting and being cremated alive. The people in charge of the camps were allowed to do anything they pleased, no matter how violent and abusive. Often they would make Jews do embarrassing and painful things just out of pure hatred, such as walk around naked, dig their own grave before being shot, and work until they would die. It may not seem true, but it is all too real, and it was caused almost single-handedly by Hitler. Adolf Hitler, the man who was ultimately responsible for having thousands of Jews executed, was born on April 20, 1889 in Austria-Hungary, one of five children from his fathers third marriage (three died during childhood). He grew up in what we now call a broken home. His father was a violent ill-tempered man who would frequently resort to beatings to silence his children. His mother spoiled him with material goods, maybe out of maternal anxiety. Although Hitler was never encouraged to try his best, he was punished when he did not do well. This may explain why he acted the way he did when he grew up. Hitler did not do much better at school than he did at home. He was a poor student, not because he wasnt intelligent but rather because he never applied himself. His