The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the mass murder of over six-million Jews, and also around two-million Soviet prisoners of war in Nazi Germany. However, Jews were not the only people killed, the list also included: gypsies, Poles, homosexuals, disabled people, German people that opposed the Nazi Party, Soviet prisoners of war, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany during World War II, believed Jews were an inferior race. This hatred for Jews began during World War I, as he believed they were the reason Germany lost the war. Hitler’s hatred for Jews was immediately apparent when he became chancellor and eventually dictator of Germany. Hitler’s first concentration camp was built at Dachau in 1933. Hitler’s ability to really discriminate against Jews really came in 1935, when the Nuremberg Laws were passed. This eventually led to Kristallnacht, which led to Jews in Nazi Germany being moved to ghettos. Hitler’s last step toward his “Final Solution” began in 1939 with his Euthanasia Program. This program eventually led to the death of around 275,000 disabled people all over Europe.
Hitler’s Final Solution began in 1940, as Germany continued to expand further into Europe. As the Nazis expanded, they would move Jews and others from the areas into Polish ghettos. Hitler tested his killing methods at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp with Soviet prisoners of war. After finding gassing to be the most effective method, the Holocaust began. The Jews began to be moved from ghettos to concentration camps in 1941. Eventually there were six mass killing centers at the camps in Poland. Word about the camps eventually got to the Allies. However, they were too busy trying to win the war than to be able to stop the Germans. At Auschwitz, the largest of the camps, over two-million people were killed. Towards the end of the war, Germany started to kill the Jews at a much higher rate. At Auschwitz in 1944, almost 12,000 were killed daily. Also, as the war was ending, the Nazis held “death marches” with the prisoners. These killed around 250,000 to 375,000 people. The Holocaust largely affected the population of all of Europe. To help control the migration of Jews, the Allied powers created Israel in 1948.
Hitler’s Final Solution began in 1940, as Germany continued to expand further into Europe. As the Nazis expanded, they would move Jews and others from the areas into Polish ghettos. Hitler tested his killing methods at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp with Soviet prisoners of war. After finding gassing to be the most effective method, the Holocaust began. The Jews began to be moved from ghettos to concentration camps in 1941. Eventually there were six mass killing centers at the camps in Poland. Word about the camps eventually got to the Allies. However, they were too busy trying to win the war than to be able to stop the Germans. At Auschwitz, the largest of the camps, over two-million people were killed. Towards the end of the war, Germany started to kill the Jews at a much higher rate. At Auschwitz in 1944, almost 12,000 were killed daily. Also, as the war was ending, the Nazis held “death marches” with the prisoners. These killed around 250,000 to 375,000 people. The Holocaust largely affected the population of all of Europe. To help control the migration of Jews, the Allied powers created Israel in 1948.
Concentration CampsInformation about the Auschwitz, Chelmno, and Belzec Concentration camps.
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Jewish GhettosInformation about the ghettos that Jews were forced to live in.
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Works Cited
History.com Staff. "The Holocaust." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 01 Jan. 2009. Web. 11 May 2016.
<http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust>.
"Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.
<https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143>.
Page by SH
<http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust>.
"Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.
<https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143>.
Page by SH