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The Holocaust - World War II

The Holocaust - World War II
Beginning in late 1941, the Germans began mass transports from the ghettoes in Poland to the concentration camps, starting with those people viewed as the least useful: the sick, old and weak and the very young. The first mass gassings began at the camp of Belzec, near Lublin, on March 17, 1942. Five more mass killing centers were built at camps in occupied Poland, including Chelmno, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and the largest of all, Auschwitz-Birkenau. From 1942 to 1945, Jews were deported to the camps from all over Europe, including German-controlled territory as well as those countries allied with Germany. Though the Nazis tried to keep operation of camps secret, the scale of the killing made this virtually impossible.

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain was a struggle between the German Luftwaffe (commanded by Hermaan Göring) and the British Royal Air force (headed by Sir Hugh Dowding’s Fighter Command) which raged over Britain between July and October 1940. The battle, which was the first major military campaign in history to be fought entirely in the air, was the result of a German plan to win air superiority over Southern Britain and the English Channel by destroying the British air force and aircraft industry. Hitler saw victory in the battle as a prelude to the invasion of Britain (codenamed Operation Sealion). In May 1940, German forces had overrun Belgium, the Netherlands and northern France using Blitzkrieg (‘Lightening War’) tactics. With the USA and the Soviet Union both still mired in hesitant isolationism, and the French ally toppled, Britain now stood alone against Nazi Germany. The climax of the battle came on 15 September, a day in which the Luftwaffe lost 56 planes and the RAF 28.

Antisemitism in the US during the Holocaust The US and the Holocaust Project Group: Antisemitism note March 2012: this page has been translated into Polish This page was created by Lauren Freeman, about the prevalence of antisemitism in the United States during the Holocaust. Much of the following information was drawn from David Wyman’s book The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust 1941-1945 (1984; Wikipedia book page). A Prevalent Attitude During the Holocaust, antisemitism was a factor that limited American Jewish action during the war, and put American Jews in a difficult position. Passive Antisemitism Another type of antisemitism in America during this time was “passive antisemitism.” Antisemitism in Congress & the Military There was an antisemitic feeling in Congress, as well as in the US Armed Forces. Public Opinion Antisemitism in the United States was also proven in national public opinion polls taken from the mid nineteen thirties to the late nineteen forties. In Conclusion

Holocaust on Trial Welcome to the companion Web site to "Holocaust on Trial," originally broadcast on October 31, 2000. The film uses a celebrated recent trial as a springboard to examine and successfully challenge the notion of Holocaust denial. Here's what you'll find online: Timeline of Nazi Abuses From January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, until May 7, 1945, when World War II ended, the Nazis unleashed a reign of terror on Europe's Jews, Gypsies, and others. Follow the crescendo of injustices in this illustrated chronology. Text Holocaust on Trial Home | The Director's Story | Timeline of Nazi Abuses Results of Death-Camp Experiments: Should They Be Used? NOVA Online | Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print © | created October 2000

Introduction to the Holocaust The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals. WHAT WAS THE HOLOCAUST? Although Jews, whom the Nazis deemed a priority danger to Germany, were the primary victims of Nazi racism, other victims included some 200,000 Roma (Gypsies). Further Reading

World War II History - World War II In North Africa, British and American forces had defeated the Italians and Germans by 1943. An Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy followed, and Mussolini’s government fell in July 1943, though Allied fighting against the Germans in Italy would continue until 1945. On World War II’s Eastern Front, a Soviet counteroffensive launched in November 1942 ended the bloody Battle of Stalingrad, which had seen some of the fiercest combat of the war. The approach of winter, along with dwindling food and medical supplies, spelled the end for German troops there, and the last of them surrendered on January 31, 1943. On June 6, 1944–celebrated as “D-Day”–the Allied began a massive invasion of Europe, landing 156,000 British, Canadian and American soldiers on the beaches of Normandy, France. In response, Hitler poured all the remaining strength of his army into Western Europe, ensuring Germany’s defeat in the east.

Microsoft%20Word%20-%205618.pdf Introduction to the Holocaust The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). WHAT WAS THE HOLOCAUST? Although Jews, whom the Nazis deemed a priority danger to Germany, were the primary victims of Nazi racism, other victims included some 200,000 Roma (Gypsies). As Nazi tyranny spread across Europe, the Germans and their collaborators persecuted and murdered millions of other people. Further Reading Bergen, Doris. Dawidowicz, Lucy S.

My Lost Childhood: Children's Homes for Holocaust Survivors After the war's end, the enormity of the tragedy that had befallen the Jewish people gradually unfolded. Among the six million victims of the Holocaust were some 1.5 million Jewish children. Survivors, including tens of thousands of children, were scattered all over Europe. The children were found in the liberated camps, Christian homes, monasteries and convents, as well as wandering the streets and forests. Children and teenagers experienced the Holocaust in all its brutality: in ghettos, in camps, in hiding, wandering from place to place, and on the death marches. After the Holocaust, a number of children's homes were established to take care of these children.

Antisemitism: The Longest Hatred Prejudice against or hatred of Jews—known as antisemitism—has plagued the world for more than 2,000 years. Early Christian thought held Jews collectively responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. This religious teaching became embedded in both Catholic and Protestant theology during the first millennium, with terrible consequences for Jews. Following many centuries of persecution and exclusion, the Jewish minority in Europe achieved some rights after the Enlightenment. All of these centuries of hatred were exploited by the Nazis and their allies during World War II, culminating in the Holocaust, the systematic murder of Europe’s Jews. In recent years, there has been an increase in antisemitism in the form of hate speech, violence, and denial and distortion of the Holocaust. Violence targeting Jews and Jewish institutions continues around the world. Explore the resources below to learn about the history and the continuing problem of antisemitism.

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