Introduction To The Holocaust

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The Holocaust
Introduction to the Holocaust
In Greek, holocaust comes from the word holokauston which means “sacrifice by fire”. A holocaust is the destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially caused by fire or nuclear war. The holocaust that happened during World War II can be defined as a systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of millions of people (mainly Jews) by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. It occurred in Europe within the Nazi borders and in the countries surrounding it between, January 30, 1933 – May 8, 1945

The Motives and Causes Behind the Holocaust The Jews were the main targets of the holocaust, and he hatred that was directed towards them was nothing new. They were persecuted for a long …show more content…

They had Concentration camps, extermination camps, labour camps, prisoner-of-war camps, and transit camps. The first concentration camp was Dachau which opened on March 20th 1933. The most camp was Auschwitz which was both a concentration and extermination camp (1 of only 2. Majdanek was the other). Approximately 1.1 million people were killed at this camp. The extermination camps included Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz, and Majdanek. Once here, prisoners were told to undress for a “shower”, but in reality they were getting ready for their …show more content…

30th 1933 Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
Mar. 20th 1933 Nazis establish 1st concentration camp: Dachau. 200 prisoners
April 1st 1933 Germany boycotts Jewish owned businesses and shops
August 1934 Hitler declared Fuhrer
Sept. 15 1935 Nuremburg Race Laws are passed -Anti-Semitism laws –Jews can’t vote, hold public office or marry non-Jews, lose citizenship
Nov 9-10, 1938 "Kristallnacht," The Night of Broken Glass in Austria and Germany - Nazis destroy Jewish property – 30,000 Jews deported to camps
Nov 15th, 1938 Expulsion of Jewish students from German schools
Oct. 12th, 1939 Deportation of Austrian and Czech Jews
Nov. 29th, 1939 Yellow Star was introduced – Polish Jews forced to sew yellow star onto clothing for recognition purposes.
May 20th, 1940 Nazis open up Auschwitz concentration camp
Nov. 15th, 1940 Warsaw Ghetto was sealed off – Approx. 400,000 inside
July 1941 Einsatzgruppen (killing squads) began to kill Jews -33,000 dead in 2 days in Babi Yar, near Kiev
July 31st, 1941 The “Final Solution” was introduced
Dec. 8th,1941 First extermination camp at Chelmno was