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Table of Contents
The term “Holocaust,” comes originally from the Greek word “holokauston” which means “sacrifice by fire”. Today, the Holocaust refers to the Nazi’s mass persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people.
See the fact file below for more information on the Holocaust or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Holocaust worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
THE JEWISH PEOPLE
- The Jewish people were descendants of the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah.
- They originated as an ethnic and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, in the part of the Levant known as the Land of Israel.
- Jews were politically independent for a long span, with invaders in between.
- However, since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, most Jews have lived elsewhere.
- Their religion is Judaism and their national language is Hebrew.
- More than half of the Jewish population lives in the diaspora.
- Prior to 1948, approximately 800,000 Jews were living in lands that now make up the Arab world (excluding Israel).
- Currently, the largest Jewish community outside of Israel is located in the United States.
- The Jewish people and Judaism have experienced various persecutions throughout Jewish history.
- Throughout history, many rulers, empires, and nations have oppressed their Jewish populations or sought to eliminate them entirely.
- Methods employed ranged from expulsion to outright genocide; within nations, often the threat of these extreme methods was sufficient to silence dissent.
JEWISH PERSECUTION
- On April 1, 1933, the Nazis began their action against German Jews by announcing a boycott of all Jewish-run businesses.
- The Holocaust began in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and ended in 1945 when the Nazis were defeated by the Allied powers.
- The genocide, known as HaShoah in Hebrew, aimed at the elimination of the Jewish people on the European continent.
- Leading up to World War II, nearly all Jewish firms in Nazi Germany collapsed under financial pressure or had been forced to sell out to the Nazi government as part of the “Aryanization” policy inaugurated in 1937.
- It was a broadly organized operation led by Nazi Germany in which approximately six million Jews were murdered methodically and with horrifying cruelty.
OTHER VICTIMS OF WAR
- In addition to Jews, the Nazis targeted many other groups of people. People of different ethnic and religious backgrounds were at risk as were people who were disabled or homosexual.
- Anyone who resisted the Nazis was sent to forced labor camps or murdered. It is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust.
- It was the aim of Hitler’s regime to create a European world dominated and populated by the Aryan race, which they believed to be genetically superior.
- The Nazi machinery was dedicated to eradicating millions of people it deemed undesirable.
- Some people were undesirable by Nazi standards because of who they were, their genetic or cultural origins, or health conditions.
- These included Jews, Gypsies, Poles, other Slavs, and people with physical or mental disabilities.
- Others were Nazi victims because of what they did. These victims of the Nazi regime included Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, the dissenting clergy, Communists, Socialists, βasocialsβ, and other political enemies.
- Those believed by Hitler and the Nazis to be enemies of the state were banished to labor and death camps.
- Inside the concentration camps, prisoners were forced to wear various colored triangles, each color denoting a different group.
- The letters on the triangular badges designated the prisoners’ countries of origin.
- The number of inmates in Auschwitz is estimated to have been some 23,000.
- Many became the victims of medical experiments; others died of exhaustion or were suffocated by poison gas.
- The camp was dissolved in August 1944.
- Under the Nazi regime, African-German children were labeled “Rhineland Bastards” and forcibly sterilized.
- Hitler labelled them “bastardising the European continent at its core.”
NAZI CRUELTY
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- The food the prisoners received was not nutritious or sanitary in most circumstances. Prisoners slept with three or more people on crowded wooden bunks that had no mattress or pillow.
- Torture within the concentration camps was common and deaths were frequent. At a number of Nazi concentration camps, Nazi doctors conducted medical experiments on prisoners against their will.
While concentration camps were meant to work and starve prisoners to death, extermination camps (also known as death camps) were built for the sole purpose of killing large groups of people quickly and efficiently.
END OF WAR
- By the spring of 1945, German leadership was dissolving amid internal dissent.
- On April 30, 1945, Hitler committed suicide. Germanyβs formal surrender in World War II came barely a week later, on May 8, 1945.
- After the surrender, Allied forces discovered the concentration camps and were horrified to see the prisoners of war.
- Many holocaust victims were ultimately displaced for many years since they had no place to return to, until the establishment of Israel.
Holocaust Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Holocaust across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Holocaust worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the “Holocaust”, which has come to refer to the Nazi’s mass persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- World at War
- The Mastermind
- Them who Suffered
- A Thousand Words
- Diary of a Young Girl
- A Survivor
- Words of Peace
- Laws for Peace
- Poster for Peace
- Quick Review
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Holocaust?
The Holocaust was a systematic and state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews, as well as other minority groups such as Romani, homosexuals, disabled individuals, and political dissidents, by the Nazi regime in Germany and its collaborators during World War II. It is considered to be one of the worst atrocities in human history.
Who was responsible for the Holocaust?
The Holocaust was perpetrated by the Nazi regime in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, and its collaborators. The SS, the Gestapo, and the Einsatzgruppen were among the key organizations responsible for the implementation of the Holocaust.
What were some of the key events of the Holocaust?
Some of the key events of the Holocaust include:
- The Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which deprived Jews of their civil rights
- The Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) pogrom in 1938
- The Wannsee Conference in 1942, where the Final Solution, the plan to murder all Jews in Europe, was formalized
- The establishment of ghettos, concentration camps, and extermination camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau
- The use of gas chambers and other methods of mass murder to kill Jews and other victims of the Holocaust
- The liberation of the camps by Allied forces in 1945
How did the world respond to the Holocaust during World War II?
During the Holocaust, the world’s response was largely inadequate. The persecution of Jews and other minority groups by the Nazis was well-known and reported in the media, but little was done to intervene or to provide refuge for the victims. Many countries closed their doors to Jewish refugees, and the Allied powers did not make the rescue of Jews a priority during the war.
What is the significance of the Holocaust today?
The Holocaust serves as a powerful reminder of the dangers of hate, prejudice, and the abuse of power. It also serves as a warning against the dangers of indifference, apathy, and inaction in the face of evil. The Holocaust has had a profound impact on the Jewish people and on the world, and it is considered to be one of the worst atrocities in human history. The memory of the Holocaust is honored through Holocaust Memorial Day, which is marked annually on January 27th, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the largest extermination camps.
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Use With Any Curriculum
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