The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the attempt to exterminate the Jewish people during World War II. It started in 1933 and lasted until 1944. Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, hated Jews and spread that hate throughout Germany. In November of 1938, the night called "Kristallnacht," German soldiers forced Jews out of their homes, burned down synagogues, and destroyed Jewish businesses. 100 Jews were killed and thousands were imprisoned. Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, handicapped people, and people who spoke out against Hitler, were taken from their homes and placed in ghettos. Before Hitler started mass killings, he ran experiments with Soviet POW's. At the Auschwitz camp, Hitler gassed 500 Soviet officials with a pesticide called Zyklon-B. This would become the method used to kill people in the Holocaust. In 1941 Hitler sent mass amounts of people from the ghettos to concentration camps. The sick, weak, or old people were the first to be evacuated from the ghettos and exterminated. However, Jews who escaped death were forced to do hard labor, they were given small rations, and were constantly abused by guards. By the end of World War II there were approximately 40,000 concentration camps. Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany was responsible for the deaths of over 11 million people, 6 million being Jews. After the war was over the Nuremberg Trials were held to punish the Nazi officials involved in the Holocaust.
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Take a Look at the Concentration Camps
Auschwitz:
Auschwitz was a concentration camp that experimented on Soviet POW's and ways to kill extreme amounts of people of one time. The camp contained gas chambers and crematories. 1.3 million people were brought to Auschwitz and 1.1 people died there. The Germans performed pseudo-scientific experiments on infants and twins. They also performed adult castrations and sterilizations. |
Dachau:
Dachau was established as the first concentration camp in 1933. Here people were executed in crematories and in firing ranges. Prisoners were tested on here in decompression chambers for altitude testing. Also they performed experiments on malaria, tuberculosis, hypothermia, excessive bleeding, and new medication. |
Buchenwald:
Buchenwald was built in 1937 and was one of the largest concentration camps. There were many experiments conducted on diseases such as; typhus, typhoid, and cholera. Also, experiments were conducted to try to cure homosexuals. The prisoners were forced to work and people who were to weak were sent to the gas chamber. This camp played a key role in building transportation services and war materials. |
The Nuremberg Trials
After World War II was over, people discovered the true horror of the concentration camps. It was then that the Nuremberg Trials began. The Nuremberg Trials were held by Allied forces and prosecuted officials of Nazi Germany that committed crimes in the Holocaust. They took place in Nuremberg, Germany in 1945 and 1946. Twelve Nazi officials were sentenced to death, and many more were sentenced to prison. However, Adolf Hitler was missing at the trials due to his suicide during the Battle of Berlin.