A Brief History of the Holocaust
The Holocaust was the systematic murder of six million Jews in Nazi Germany during World War II. While anti-Semitism has been present throughout much of human history, persecution of German Jews intensified in 1933 during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. Hitler did not see Jews as citizens of Germany, or even as people, and worked to strip them of their rights. At a Nazi rally in Nuremberg in September 1935, “the ‘Nuremberg Laws’ were passed, stripping Jews of their citizenship and forbidding intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews. Jews were banned from universities; Jewish actors were dismissed from theaters; Jewish authors’ works were rejected by publishers; and Jewish journalists were hard-pressed to find newspapers that would publish their writings” (Holocaust History “Nazi”). To be easily identified by others, Jews were also forced to wear the Star of David on their clothing and their identity cards were stamped with a red “J”.
As time passed, Hitler sought to eliminate the Jewish people altogether. In an effort to exert control over Jews, many were forced into hastily constructed ghettos where food was scare and they shared their small living quarters with a number of families. Eventually, Jews were transported to concentration camps, where they were shot, sent to the gas chambers, starved or worked to death, or died from disease. After the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, a number of extermination camps were created solely to murder the arriving Jews. “The Nazi’s purpose in building these camps was to carry out the systematic murder of European Jewry as part of the Final Solution. Permanent gas chambers were constructed in these camps” (Holocaust History “Implementation”). Other camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, which were already in existence, were converted into death camps as well.
As the Allies (Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union) advanced deeper into German territory, survivors at the concentration camps were killed or forced on “death marches,” where they were relocated to other camps further from the advancing troops. When the war finally ended in May 1945, about two-thirds of the European Jewish population had been murdered. Even upon returning home, survivors faced hardships, including continued hatred and persecution. As a result, many immigrated to other countries.
As time passed, Hitler sought to eliminate the Jewish people altogether. In an effort to exert control over Jews, many were forced into hastily constructed ghettos where food was scare and they shared their small living quarters with a number of families. Eventually, Jews were transported to concentration camps, where they were shot, sent to the gas chambers, starved or worked to death, or died from disease. After the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, a number of extermination camps were created solely to murder the arriving Jews. “The Nazi’s purpose in building these camps was to carry out the systematic murder of European Jewry as part of the Final Solution. Permanent gas chambers were constructed in these camps” (Holocaust History “Implementation”). Other camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, which were already in existence, were converted into death camps as well.
As the Allies (Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union) advanced deeper into German territory, survivors at the concentration camps were killed or forced on “death marches,” where they were relocated to other camps further from the advancing troops. When the war finally ended in May 1945, about two-thirds of the European Jewish population had been murdered. Even upon returning home, survivors faced hardships, including continued hatred and persecution. As a result, many immigrated to other countries.
I first read Anne Frank’s diary when I was thirteen years old. Since then, I have had a strange obsession with learning about the Holocaust and reading as much as I could find. Whether fiction or non-fiction, these books stick with you long after you have put them down, and with each tale, you see how important it is that this period of history is not forgotten.
In spite of the cries of "Never Again!" since the Holocaust, genocide continues around the world. If you are interested in some of the literature on a handful of other genocides, please visit my other page: http://ya-genocide-lit.weebly.com/
Sidenote: I created this website in 2013 for a graduate school assignment (University of Illinois - Champaign/Urbana, Library Information Science), but I have kept it active because I hope other people who are interested in the Holocaust find it useful. I add books to the lists when I come across ones I like, and occasionally check the links to see if they are still active (though it's been awhile since I did that).
Emily Wallace
LIS404LEB
April 15, 2013
LIS404LEB
April 15, 2013