The Holocaust

This article deals with the Nazi Holocaust. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. The Jews of Europe were the main victims of the Holocaust in what the Nazis called the " Final Solution of the Jewish Question ". The commonly used figure for the number of Jewish victims is six million, so much so that the phrase "six million" is now almost universally interpreted as referring to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, though mainstream estimates by historians of the exact number range from five million to over six million. Other groups deemed "undesirable", especially Slavs ( Poles , Russians and others), Roma , Sinti , the mentally or physically disabled , homosexuals , Jehovah's Witnesses , and political dissidents , were also persecuted and murdered . Taking all these other groups into account, the total death toll rises considerably. Estimates place the total number of Holocaust victims at up to 26 million men, women, and children, although the number 11 million is usually held as more reliable.

"Selection" on the Judenrampe , Auschwitz , May/June 1944. To be sent to the right meant slave labor; to the left, the gas chambers . This image shows the arrival of Hungarian Jews from Carpatho-Ruthenia , many of them from the Berehov ghetto. It was taken by Ernst Hofmann or Bernhard Walter of the SS. Courtesy of Yad Vashem . The Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστος [ holókaustos ]: hólos , "whole" and kaustós , "burnt"), also known as The Shoah ( Hebrew : השואה , Romanized HaShoah ; Yiddish : חורבן , Romanized Churben or Hurban ) was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II , a programme of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany . Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including ethnic Poles , Romani , Soviet civilians , Soviet prisoners of war , people with disabilities , homosexuals , Jehovah's Witnesses , and other political and religious opponents . By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims would be between 11 million and 17 million people. The persecution and genocide were carried out in stages. Legislation to remove the Jews from civil society was enacted years before the outbreak of World War II. Concentration camps were established in which inmates were used as slave labor until they died of exhaustion or disease. Where the Third Reich conquered new territory in eastern Europe, specialized units called Einsatzgruppen murdered Jews and political opponents in mass shootings. Jews and Romani were confined in overcrowded ghettos before being transported by freight train to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, the majority of them were systematically killed in gas chambers . Every arm of Nazi Germany 's bureaucracy was involved in the logistics of the mass murder, turning the country into what one Holocaust scholar has called "a genocidal state". Others Soviet POWs Soviet urban residents Civilians targeted during anti-partisan warfare People with disabilities Romani people Polish leaders and intellectuals Homosexuals Jehovah's Witnesses "The Auschwitz Album" , Yad Vashem . The word is only marginally found in Greek [Classical] literature referring in general to an offering . The adjective ὁλόκαυστος [holókaustos], "wholly burned", more common in the parallel form ὁλόκαυτος [holókautos], is in the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible used in Leviticus 6,21–22 in the following context: "[...] the baked pieces of the grain offering you shall offer for a sweet aroma to the Lord. / The priest [...] shall offer it. It is a statute for ever to the Lord. It shall be wholly burned )." "Holocaust," Encyclopaedia Britannica , 2009 : "the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Germans called this "the final solution to the Jewish question ..." Niewyk, Donald L. The Germans called this "the final solution to the Jewish question". Donald Niewyk suggests that the broadest definition, including Soviet civilian deaths, would produce a death toll of 17 million. Google Books Estimates of the death toll of non-Jewish victims vary by millions, partly because the boundary between death by persecution and death by starvation and other means in a context of total war is unclear. Overall, about 5.7 million (78 percent) of the 7.3 million Jews in occupied Europe perished ( Gilbert, Martin . Compared to five to 11 million (1.4 percent to 3.0 percent) of the 360 million non-Jews in German-dominated Europe.

Genocide of the European Jews by Nazi Germany and other groups "Holocaust" and "Shoah" redirect here. The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the World War II genocide of the European Jews . Between 1941 and 1945, across German-occupied Europe , Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews , around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out in pogroms and mass shootings ; by a policy of extermination through work in concentration camps ; and in gas chambers and gas vans in German extermination camps , chiefly Auschwitz , Bełżec , Chełmno , Majdanek , Sobibór , and Treblinka in occupied Poland . Germany implemented the persecution in stages. Following Adolf Hitler 's appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933, the regime built a network of concentration camps in Germany for political opponents and those deemed "undesirable", starting with Dachau on 22 March 1933. After the passing of the Enabling Act on 24 March, which gave Hitler plenary powers , the government began isolating Jews from civil society; this included boycotting Jewish businesses in April 1933 and enacting the Nuremberg Laws in September 1935. On 9–10 November 1938, eight months after Germany annexed Austria , Jewish businesses and other buildings were ransacked or set on fire throughout Germany and Austria during what became known as Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, triggering World War II, the regime set up ghettos to segregate Jews. Eventually thousands of camps and other detention sites were established across German-occupied Europe. The segregation of Jews in ghettos culminated in the policy of extermination the Nazis called the " Final Solution to the Jewish Question ", discussed by senior Nazi officials at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin in January 1942. As German forces captured territories in the East , all anti-Jewish measures were radicalized. Under the coordination of the SS , with directions from the highest leadership of the Nazi Party , killings were committed within Germany itself, throughout occupied Europe, and within territories controlled by Germany's allies . Paramilitary death squads called Einsatzgruppen , in cooperation with the German Army and local collaborators, murdered around 1.3 million Jews in mass shootings and pogroms between 1941 and 1945. By mid-1942, victims were being deported from ghettos across Europe in sealed freight trains to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, they were gassed, worked or beaten to death, or killed by disease or during death marches . The killing continued until the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945. The European Jews were targeted for extermination as part of a larger event during the Holocaust era (1933–1945), in which Germany and its collaborators persecuted and murdered other groups, including ethnic Poles , Soviet civilians and prisoners of war , the Roma , the handicapped , political and religious dissidents , and gay men . The death toll of these other groups is thought to be over 11 million. There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany This article is about the state-sponsored genocide of European Jews during World War II. "Holocaust" and "Shoah" redirect here. The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews during World War II . Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe , around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out primarily through mass shootings and poison gas in extermination camps , chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau , Treblinka , Belzec , Sobibor , and Chełmno in occupied Poland . The Nazis developed their ideology based on racism and pursuit of "living space" and seized power in early 1933. In an attempt to force all German Jews to emigrate , the regime passed anti-Jewish laws and orchestrated a nationwide pogrom in November 1938. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, occupation authorities began to establish ghettos to segregate Jews. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, around 1.5 to 2 million Jews were shot by German forces and local collaborators. Later in 1941 or early 1942, the highest levels of the German government decided to murder all Jews throughout Europe . Victims were deported by rail to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, most were killed with poison gas. Other Jews continued to be employed in forced labor camps where many died from starvation, abuse or exhaustion or used as test subjects in deadly medical experiments . Although many Jews tried to escape, surviving in hiding was very difficult due to factors such as the lack of money to pay helpers and the risk of denunciation. The property, homes, and jobs belonging to murdered Jews were redistributed to the German occupiers and other non-Jews. Although the majority of Holocaust victims died in 1942, the killing continued at a lower rate until the end of the war in May 1945. Not all victims were Jews however, with millions killed for ethnic and ideological associations. Many Jewish survivors emigrated outside of Europe after the war. A few Holocaust perpetrators faced criminal trials. Billions of dollars in reparations have been paid, although falling short of the Jews' losses. The Holocaust has also been commemorated in museums, memorials , and culture . It has become central to Western historical consciousness as a symbol of the ultimate human evil. Polityka ludnościowa i ekonomiczna hitlerowskich Niemiec w okupowanej Polsce [ Civilian and economic policy of Nazi Germany in occupied Poland ].

1941–1945 genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany This article is about the state-sponsored genocide of European Jews during World War II. The Holocaust ( / ˈ h ɒ l ə k ɔː s t / ), known in Hebrew as the Shoah ( שואה ), was the genocide of European Jews during World War II . From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe , around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were committed primarily through mass shootings across Eastern Europe and poison gas chambers in extermination camps , chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau , Treblinka , Belzec , Sobibor , and Chełmno in occupied Poland . Separate Nazi persecutions killed millions of other non-Jewish civilians and prisoners of war (POWs); the term Holocaust is sometimes used to include the murder and persecution of non-Jewish groups . The Nazis developed their ideology based on racism and pursuit of "living space" , and seized power in early 1933. Meant to force all German Jews to emigrate , regardless of means, the regime passed anti-Jewish laws, encouraged harassment, and orchestrated a nationwide pogrom in November 1938. After Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939, occupation authorities began to establish ghettos to segregate Jews. Following the June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union , 1.5 to 2 million Jews were shot by German forces and local collaborators. By early 1942, the Nazis decided to murder all Jews in Europe . Victims were deported to extermination camps where those who had survived the trip were killed with poisonous gas, while others were sent to forced labor camps where many died from starvation, abuse, exhaustion, or being used as test subjects in experiments . Property belonging to murdered Jews was redistributed to the German occupiers and other non-Jews. Although the majority of Holocaust victims died in 1942, the killing continued until the end of the war in May 1945. Many Jewish survivors emigrated out of Europe after the war. A few Holocaust perpetrators faced criminal trials. Billions of dollars in reparations have been paid, although falling short of the Jews' losses. The Holocaust has also been commemorated in museums, memorials , and culture . It has become central to Western historical consciousness as a symbol of the ultimate human evil.