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The
Holocaust was
the systematic annihilation of six million Jews by the Nazi regime
during World War 2. In 1933 approximately nine million Jews lived
in the 21 countries of Europe that would be occupied by Germany
during the war. By 1945 two out of every three European Jews had
been killed. The European Jews were the primary victims of the
Holocaust.
But Jews were not the only group singled out for persecution by
Hitler’s Nazi regime. As many as one-half million Gypsies, at
least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled persons, and more
than three million Soviet prisoners-of-war also fell victim to
Nazi genocide. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Social
Democrats, Communists, partisans, trade unionists, Polish
intelligentsia and other undesirables were also victims of
the hate and aggression carried out by the Nazis.
The number of children killed during the Holocaust is not
fathomable and full statistics for the tragic fate of children who
died will never be known. Some estimates range as high as 1.5
million murdered children. This figure includes more than 1.2
million Jewish children, tens of thousands of Gypsy children and
thousands of institutionalized handicapped children who were
murdered under Nazi rule in Germany and occupied Europe.
Adolf Hitler and the Nazis believed the German people were a 'master race',
who were superior to others. They created a league table of
'races' with the Aryans at the top and with Jews, Gypsies and
black people at the bottom. These 'inferior' people were seen as a
threat to the purity and strength of the German nation and when the
Nazis came to power they persecuted these people, took away their
human rights and eventually decided that they should be
exterminated.
/Louis Bülow
Privacy
©2008-10
The
Holocaust Websites - Crimes, Heroes And Villains
www.oskarschindler.com
www.emilieschindler.com
www.deathcamps.info
www.auschwitz.dk
www.oskarschindler.info/
www.fatherkolbe.com
www.canaris.dk/
www.mengele.dk/
www.shoah.dk
www.annefrank.dk
were established 1996 to promote
education about the history of the Holocaust and assist visitors
in developing understanding of the ramifications of prejudice and
racism. The resources include essays, poems, eyewitness
testimonies, photographs, documents, films, literature, timelines,
links. |
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Holocaust
Victims