The Holocaust

The Holocaust was a terrible period of time when there was racial injustice against Jews that lead to the deaths of almost 11 million Jews. Hitler had roused racism against Jews and blamed them for Germany’s economic problems. Soon, the Nurermberg Laws were established, taking away citizenships, jobs, properties, and other rights from Jews. Kristallnacht was the “night of broken glass,” on which Nazis attacked Jewish homes and buildings across all of Germany. This included the destruction of many synagogues. Many of Germany’s Jews tried to get out of Germany but could not find any other country that would accept them. France and America were two of the countries that rejected some of the Jewish immigration. For example, St.Louis was a ship with many of the German Jews who had fled form Germany. The coast guard did not let them come into America, even though most had American immigration papers. The racism had started to spread worldwide.

The belief spread that Aryans were the “master race,” and Jews were sent to ghettos. The Germans built factories next to many of the ghettos. Then the Germans forced the Jews to work in the factories. Many of the streets had dead bodies in them. Jews were suffering everywhere. Some were killed while others were sent to concentration camps.

The last step to Hitler's Final Solution was the mass killing of Jews. The Nazis created gas chambers in the concentration camps that could poison and kill up to 12,000 people daily. Nazis running the camps unsuccessfully attempted to hide any evidence of their horrific crimes towards the end of the war. About six million Jews were killed total in these concentration camps. The few who survived had a very difficult future to face.

By Kristin Montgomery and Vivek Sainanee

***Note to Ms. Sanderson: This project isn't late because were both sick the day that the class did this project. We got the assignment for the project five days late. Thanks!