The Holocaust
Created by: Emilio Mendoza
The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was a genocide in which Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany and its collaborators killed about six million Jews.
Period: January 30, 1933 – May 8, 1945
Fact #1
"The term "Holocaust," originally from the Greek word "holokauston" which means "sacrifice by fire," refers to the Nazi's persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people. The Hebrew word "Shoah," which means "devastation, ruin, or waste," is also used for this genocide."
Fact #3
- In addition to Jews, the Nazis targeted Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the disabled for persecution. Anyone who resisted the Nazis was sent to forced labor or murdered.
Fact #4
- It is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million of these were Jews.
Fact #5
- Jews were forced out of their homes and moved into smaller apartments, often shared with other families.
Fact #6
- The largest ghetto was in Warsaw, with its highest population reaching 445,000 in March 1941.
Fact #7
- To get them to cooperate, the Nazis told the Jews they were being transported to another place for labor.
Fact #8
- From 1933 until 1938, most of the prisoners in the concentration camps were political prisoners (i.e. people who spoke or acted in some way against Hitler or the Nazis) and people the Nazis labeled as "asocial."