Leading Up To The Holocaust
Following the end of World War One, Germany suffered from a large amount of economic depression. This rough period caused many Germans to become opposed to their failing political system, the Weimar Republic. Germans turned to anti-democratic parties for economic assistance. One of these groups, the National Socialist Party, commonly known as the Nazis, promised to relieve Germany of their hardships. In addition to this, this particular political party also promised to restore Germany to its original greatness and success. Many citizens soon supported the Nazis and their motives, and elected Adolf Hitler to be the chancellor of Germany. Hitler's new position allowed him to easily gain complete control of the government.
Just shortly after gaining office, Hitler began to share his personal beliefs about races and religions. Hitler proclaimed that Aryans, the Germans, were a greater and superior race than most others. Lesser races and individuals known as non-Aryans, specifically the Jews, were inferior. Hitler's teachings as well as antisemitic propaganda caused the persecution of the Jews to worsen. Hitler, and many Germans at the time, blamed the Jewish folk for their failures and wrongdoings. One day, a 17 year old Jewish boy was enraged because his father had been deported from Germany. Looking for revenge, he murdered a member of the German Embassy. This event resulted in the murder of nearly 100 Jews on the "Night of Broken Glass", and the worsened treatment and violence that Jews became subjected to. Eventually, the hatred for Jews escalated to an extreme amount, resulting in a horrific period of time that was filled with inhumane events, known as the Holocaust.
The Holocaust
As time progressed, Jewish individuals lost nearly all of their basic human rights. Hitler did all that he could to rid Germany of non-Aryan races. This began with simply forcing Jews to emigrate to other nations. But after a short while, areas refused to take any more Jews. Hitler's solution to this was to create segregated Jewish areas. These areas, known as ghettos, had extremely poor conditions and were built with the intention of killing of the Jewish population. Realizing that he was nowhere near achieving his goal, Hitler became increasingly impatient. He sent out the SS, a police force, and had them find and gather Jews. These Jews were then taken to a remote location and shot. Individuals who were not killed by the SS were sent to work at concentration camps. Within these camps, Jews and other undesirable races worked in horrible conditions and were barely provided with enough food to survive. Hitler soon became displeased with this approach as well, and created many large extermination camps. Death camps were created with the sole purpose of murdering Jews. In fact, the gas chambers in these camps killed nearly six thousand non-Aryans a day. These camps contributed greatly to the number of victims within the Holocaust, which included a staggering six million Jews and nearly 5 million individuals of other races.
Just shortly after gaining office, Hitler began to share his personal beliefs about races and religions. Hitler proclaimed that Aryans, the Germans, were a greater and superior race than most others. Lesser races and individuals known as non-Aryans, specifically the Jews, were inferior. Hitler's teachings as well as antisemitic propaganda caused the persecution of the Jews to worsen. Hitler, and many Germans at the time, blamed the Jewish folk for their failures and wrongdoings. One day, a 17 year old Jewish boy was enraged because his father had been deported from Germany. Looking for revenge, he murdered a member of the German Embassy. This event resulted in the murder of nearly 100 Jews on the "Night of Broken Glass", and the worsened treatment and violence that Jews became subjected to. Eventually, the hatred for Jews escalated to an extreme amount, resulting in a horrific period of time that was filled with inhumane events, known as the Holocaust.
The Holocaust
As time progressed, Jewish individuals lost nearly all of their basic human rights. Hitler did all that he could to rid Germany of non-Aryan races. This began with simply forcing Jews to emigrate to other nations. But after a short while, areas refused to take any more Jews. Hitler's solution to this was to create segregated Jewish areas. These areas, known as ghettos, had extremely poor conditions and were built with the intention of killing of the Jewish population. Realizing that he was nowhere near achieving his goal, Hitler became increasingly impatient. He sent out the SS, a police force, and had them find and gather Jews. These Jews were then taken to a remote location and shot. Individuals who were not killed by the SS were sent to work at concentration camps. Within these camps, Jews and other undesirable races worked in horrible conditions and were barely provided with enough food to survive. Hitler soon became displeased with this approach as well, and created many large extermination camps. Death camps were created with the sole purpose of murdering Jews. In fact, the gas chambers in these camps killed nearly six thousand non-Aryans a day. These camps contributed greatly to the number of victims within the Holocaust, which included a staggering six million Jews and nearly 5 million individuals of other races.