Holocaust

The Holocaust was an era of suffering for the Jews and other minorities who were sent to camps made to exterminate them.

The Holocaust can be explained in the way it happened: Phases. There were five phases throughout the Holocaust. The Holocaust started with little problems for the Jews but the Nazis hatred for the Jews and Non-Germans gradually increased over the years and led to the deaths of over six million Jews under the rule of Adolf Hitler.

The first phase of the Holocaust was isolation. Nazis burned Jewish written books. Public places like restaurants and shops started putting up signs saying that Jews were not wanted. In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws were passed which excluded Jews from public places, voting, and public office. Germans were fed propaganda to rise their hate towards Jews and eventually every part of the German government agreed with the anti-Jewish ideas of the Nazis.

The second phase was Arynization. During this phase Jews were forced to sell their businesses for much less than what they were worth on the market. Many lost their jobs and doctors were made nurses were only allowed to have Jewish patients. Drivers license were taken away and Jews were forced to change heir name for easier identification. Children were even expelled from school and times were not good for the Jews.

The third phase was violence toward the Jews. In 1938 the violence against the Jews became much worse. Before this time, even though the conditions were bad, Jews were never physically harmed. This started on the "Night of the Broken Glass" as it was called where Nazis organized mobs to destroy synagogues and Jewish shops. Broken Glass was all over the street hence the name.

The fourth phase was Ghettoization. When Germany invaded Poland it marked the unofficial start of World War II. Adolf Hitler went to war because he wanted to make more "living space" for the Germans. Ghettos were enclosed areas to hold Jews in until they could be transferred to a concentration camp.

The fifth phase was Annihilation. 1940-1941 Germany invaded more countries and gained control of more Jews, which were sent to the death camps. The Nazis began investing resources into quicker and more efficient ways of exterminating the Jews. Killing them was not enough for the Germans, they had to humiliate and torture them also.

The extermination camps were very