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The Holocaust was the organized murder of at least 6 million

European Jews by the Nazis during World War II. The Holocaust was the largest genocide in history.

By 1945 at least 66% of the European Jews were killed, with

Poland losing 91% of it’s over 3 million Jews. The Nazis also

killed a half million gypsies, 250,000 disabled persons, and over 3 million Soviet POWs. Jehovah’s Witnesses, the clergy,

homosexuals, and intellectuals were also victims.

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During WWII the Nazis spread anti-Semitism into nations they

conquered. In occupied Poland Jews had to wear a yellow Star of David and were then forced into ghettos, or inner city slums.

During WWII the Nazis spread anti-Semitism into nations they

conquered. In occupied Poland Jews had to wear a yellow Star of David and were then forced into ghettos, or inner city slums.

The Nazis used three main tools to control and force Jews into ghettos:

1. Deception - Jews were told they were being

sent to “resettlement areas” in the east, and

advised to pack, bring valuables and the tools

of their trade.

2. Starvation - People need 2,400 calories a

day, but the Nazis fed the Jews only 300

which made them weak and easy to control.

3. Terror - The SS frequently performed

on-the-spot public executions.

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When the Nazis invaded the USSR the Einsatzgruppen, or

specially trained SS killing groups, followed the army to kill Jews and create lebensraum for Germans in the east.

When the Nazis invaded the USSR the Einsatzgruppen, or

specially trained SS killing groups, followed the army to kill Jews and create lebensraum for Germans in the east.

The Einsatzgruppen also used “gas vans.” The exhaust from the van was piped into the back of the van, and then later into a nearby building filled with prisoners.

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In 1942 the Nazis decided gassing at death camps was

much faster than then Einsatzgruppen. Although he referred to the Holocaust with code words, few historians doubt Hitler was directly involved. Hitler called the Holocaust “the final solution to the Jewish question,” and the “clean sweep.”

“If I can send the flower of the

German nation into the hell of

war without the smallest pity

for the spilling of precious

German blood, then surely I

have the right to remove

millions of an inferior race that

breeds like vermin…”

Adolf Hitler

All new arrivals to the death camps went through “selection.”

Children, the old and sick were sent straight to the “showers,”

which were really the gas chambers. The healthy were sent to

labor camps where they died from hard labor and starvation.

The Nazis succeeded in keeping the Holocaust a secret, and those who knew had no idea it was on such a large scale.

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After the war the Axis leaders were tried for “crimes against

humanity,” which included deportation, enslavement, murder,

extermination and other atrocities.

At the Nuremberg Trials many top Nazis received death sentences, while others were imprisoned. Einsatzgruppen and

camp leaders were also executed. The trials showed that political and

military leaders could be held accountable for actions in wartime.