Holocaust

The Holocaust The holocaust was the system in which 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi Germans. The Nazis came to power in Germany by January 1933. The Nazi Party was led by a charismatic leader know as Adolf Hilter. Adolf Hilter had an extreme hatred of Jews and moved quickly to remove Jews from political, financial, schools, and ownership of property. The Nazi believed they were the ultimate beings “the Arian Race” and that the Jews were an alien threat to the German community. The Nazi’s didn’t just target Jewish people they went after the disabled, Gypsies, Slavic people, Russians and others. By 1945, the Germans and their collaborators killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the "Final Solution," the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe. The German authorities also established numerous forced-labor camps, both in the so-called Greater German Reich and in German-occupied territory, for non-Jews whose labor the Germans sought to exploit. To concentrate and monitor the Jewish population as well as to facilitate later deportation of the Jews, the Germans and their collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps for Jews during the war years. Between 1941 and 1944, Nazi German authorities deported millions of Jews from Germany, from occupied territories, and from the countries of many of its Axis allies to ghettos and to killing centers. Ghettos such as the Warsaw Ghetto were 4.5 % the original size of the city of Warsaw packed with half a million Jews. Killing Centres or concentration camps such as Belzed, Majdanek, Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau killed approximately 3 million Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet prisoners of war. The Nazi perfected their methods, using Zyklon-B which is a form of cyanide gas ushering people into what they thought were showers to be deloused. Zyklon-B was pumped into these shower rooms until all the people were dead. The bodies were then removed and burned in crematoriums which ran 24 hours a day 365 days a year. In the final months of the war, SS guards moved camp inmates by train or on forced marches, often called “death marches,” in an attempt to prevent the Allied liberation of large numbers of prisoners. As Allied forces moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Germany, they began to encounter concentration camp prisoners, as well as prisoners by forced march from one camp to another. The marches continued until May 7, 1945, the day the German armed forces surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. For the western Allies, World War II officially ended in Europe on the next day, May 8 (V-E Day), while Soviet forces announced their “Victory Day” on May 9, 1945. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, many of the survivors found shelter in displaced persons (DP) camps administered by the Allied powers. Between 1948 and 1951, almost 700,000 Jews immigrated to Israel, including 136,000 Jewish displaced persons from Europe. Other Jewish DPs emigrated to the United States and other nations. The last DP camp closed in 1957. The crimes committed during the Holocaust devastated most European Jewish communities and eliminated hundreds of Jewish communities in occupied Eastern Europe entirely. Adolf Hitler was never brought to justice as he committed suicide in the closing days of World War II. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trails meant to bring the perpetrators of the Holocaust to justice. The events that occurred during WWII must never be forgotten and future generations must learn this terrible history so that it is never repeated. |The Holocaust | | | |The holocaust was the system in which 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi Germans. The Nazis came to power in Germany by | |January 1933. The Nazi Party was led by a charismatic leader know as Adolf Hilter. Adolf Hilter had an extreme hatred of Jews | |and moved quickly to remove Jews from political, financial, schools, and ownership of property. The Nazi believed they were the | |ultimate beings “the Arian Race” and that the Jews were an alien threat to the German community. | | | |The Nazi’s didn’t just target Jewish people they went after the disabled, Gypsies, Slavic people, Russians and others. By 1945, | |the Germans and their collaborators killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the "Final Solution," the Nazi | |policy to murder the Jews of Europe. The German authorities also established numerous forced-labor camps, both in the so-called | |Greater German Reich and in German-occupied territory, for non-Jews whose labor the Germans sought to exploit. | |To concentrate and monitor the Jewish population as well as to facilitate later deportation of the Jews, the Germans and their | |collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps for Jews during the war years. Between 1941 and 1944, Nazi | |German authorities deported millions of Jews from Germany, from occupied territories, and from the countries of many of its Axis | |allies to ghettos and to killing centers. Ghettos such as the Warsaw Ghetto were 4.5 % the original size of the city of Warsaw | |packed with half a million Jews. Killing Centres or concentration camps such as Belzed, Majdanek, Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau| |killed approximately 3 million Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet prisoners of war. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |The Nazi perfected their methods, using Zyklon-B which is a form of cyanide gas ushering people into what they thought were showers| |to be deloused. | |Zyklon-B was pumped into these shower rooms until all the people were dead. The bodies were then removed and burned in | |crematoriums which ran 24 hours a day 365 days a year. | |In the final months of the war, SS guards moved camp inmates by train or on forced marches, often called “death marches,” in an | |attempt to prevent the Allied liberation of large numbers of prisoners. As Allied forces moved across Europe in a series of | |offensives against Germany, they began to encounter concentration camp prisoners, as well as prisoners by forced march from one | |camp to another. The marches continued until May 7, 1945, the day the German armed forces surrendered unconditionally to the | |Allies. For the western Allies, World War II officially ended in Europe on the next day, May 8 (V-E Day), while Soviet forces | |announced their “Victory Day” on May 9, 1945. | |In the aftermath of the Holocaust, many of the survivors found shelter in displaced persons (DP) camps administered by the Allied | |powers. Between 1948 and 1951, almost 700,000 Jews immigrated to Israel, including 136,000 Jewish displaced persons from Europe. | |Other Jewish DPs emigrated to the United States and other nations. The last DP camp closed in 1957. | |The crimes committed during the Holocaust devastated most European Jewish communities and eliminated hundreds of Jewish communities| |in occupied Eastern Europe entirely. Adolf Hitler was never brought to justice as he committed suicide in the closing days of | |World War II. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trails meant to bring the perpetrators of the Holocaust to justice. | |The events that occurred during WWII must never be forgotten and future generations must learn this terrible history so that it is | |never repeated. |