The Holocaust was a systematic, state-sponsored, bureaucratic slaughter of 6 million Jews and five million others. It was led by the Nazi regime and its collaborators who came to power in 1933. The Nazis believed that the Germans were “racially superior” to Jews and that the Jews were a serious threat to the “pure” German community. The “Final Solution” was the Nazi policy used to murder the Jews of Europe.
Not only were the Jews targeted, but so were other groups that were deemed by the Nazis as “racially inferior.” Among the other groups that were persecuted were Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s witnesses, and homosexuals. Besides these core groups, other victims also included gypsies and physically or mentally disabled patients that were living in institutional settings, and most of them were Germans.
In 1933, the Jewish population exceeded nine million people. Most of the European Jews occupied countries that Nazi Germany would have control or influence over during World War II. The Nazi regime started with concentration camps used to detain their opponents but soon they created ghettos, forced-labor camps, and transit camps. From these camps, they would then move Jews and others to their killing units where they would proceed to kill nearly two out of three European Jews and 11 million people in total.
Not only were the Jews targeted, but so were other groups that were deemed by the Nazis as “racially inferior.” Among the other groups that were persecuted were Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s witnesses, and homosexuals. Besides these core groups, other victims also included gypsies and physically or mentally disabled patients that were living in institutional settings, and most of them were Germans.
In 1933, the Jewish population exceeded nine million people. Most of the European Jews occupied countries that Nazi Germany would have control or influence over during World War II. The Nazi regime started with concentration camps used to detain their opponents but soon they created ghettos, forced-labor camps, and transit camps. From these camps, they would then move Jews and others to their killing units where they would proceed to kill nearly two out of three European Jews and 11 million people in total.
