What is the Holocaust?

The Holocaust was the calculated, systematic killing of six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of other people (Gypsies, mentally or physically disabled people, homosexuals, communists, socialists, and Jehovah's Witnesses) by the Nazis. Two out of every three European Jews were killed, reducing the pre-Holocaust European Jewish population of 9 million to 3 million. The Holocaust was particularly gruesome because it was a large scale, meticulously organized plan of genocide that almost succeeded. Furthermore, the implicit acceptance of it by much of the world's population makes it one of the most catastrophic events in human history.

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came into power in Germany in 1933. In that same year, Jews were forced to quit any public positions they may have held. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed, stripping German Jews of their citizenships. These laws also defined Jews by their genes — you are Jewish if at least one grandparent is. The Nazis turned the Jews into a race, and by doing so, they were able to elevate the Aryan race at the expense of what they deemed to be an impure, inherently corrupt, and evil Jewish race. Between 1937 and 1939, Jews were forced out of economic life and were segregated from the public at large. In November 1938, there was an orchestrated riot against the Jews, known as Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass"). Synagogues were burned, Jews were attacked and jailed, and stores were vandalized.

World War Two started in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. In 1941, the Nazis started sending Jews to concentration camps. By the trainload, Jews from across Nazi-controlled areas of Europe were sent to these camps, where they would be systematically and methodically killed in gas chambers. Those Jews who were forced into labor at these camps often died of malnutrition, exhaustion, disease or brutality.

The world was mostly indifferent to the plight of the Jews. Boats carrying Jews who escaped Nazi Europe were turned back to the killing fields where they came from. A notable example: the boat, the St. Louis, was prohibited from entering the U.S. Many of its passengers ended up dying at a Nazi concentration camp. Other countries, like France, which had set up a puppet government for the Nazis in Vichy, had been ambivalent to the Jews as well. This may have been the most disturbing aspect of the Holocaust — the tacit approval of it by much of the world.

There were others, though they were a minority, who helped the Jews and resisted the Nazis. The Danish rescued the entire Jewish population of Denmark. Oskar Schindler helped the Jews of Germany and Raoul Wallenberg saved thousands of Hungarian Jews in 1944. There were also numerous cases of Christians providing hiding spots for Jews in their attics and homes.

Yet, despite the efforts of these righteous people, the Holocaust was too great to stop. At war's end, 6 million Jews had been killed.


Where can I learn more about the Holocaust?

United States Holocaust Museum — the informative website of the Washington D.C. Holocaust museum. It contains special sections for students, families, teachers, children and adults. The website also features extensive areas on education, research, history and remembrance.

Yad Vashem — website of the Israeli museum dedicated to the Holocaust. It has many Holocaust resources, including a detailed question and answer page, a chronology of the events of the Holocaust, historical documents pertaining to the Holocaust and more.

A Cybrary of the Holocaust — a well-done educational online library devoted to remembering the Holocaust. It includes sections on children of survivors, witnesses to the Holocaust, personal stories and more.

The Nizkor Holocaust Educational Resource — very detailed and effective website rejecting the claims of revisionist historians, anti-Semites, and neo-Nazis who try to minimize or categorically deny that the Holocaust was so destructive or that it even happened.

Holocaust Resources for School Teachers — helpful resources for teachers needing to create lesson plans on the Holocaust. It includes suggested lesson plans and ideas for how to incorporate the themes of the Holocaust into the classroom.