Holocaust

The years preceding the Holocaust were marked by increasing antisemitism, discrimination, and violence against Jewish people in Europe. This period saw the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, which promoted anti-Jewish policies and propaganda. Jews faced persecution, forced segregation, and restrictions on their rights and freedoms, setting the stage for the atrocities of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust occurred during World War II, starting in 1941 and lasting until 1945.

The gas chambers were mostly large rooms, holding numerous people at once...The victims were forced to undress, men, women and child alike, and given the impression that they would be taking a shower to clean off after the long train ride to the "camp" (the Nazi's called it a "work camp"). There were no windows, just overhead showers in multitude. Once inside, instead of water coming out of the showerhead, a gas would be released, killing all those inside.

Initially, Carbon Monoxide (Exhaust Gas) was used, than later on, experiments were conducted with Hydrogen Cyanide (Called Zyclon B).

Carbon Monoxide was first used in the 1930's by the Nazis in their "Euthanasia Program" - to kill those people who were mentally and/or physically handicapped, as they did not believe that those whom were impaired had a right to live and cost the "state" money. It was less expensive to kill them than to house and treat the ill.

The Nazis first experiment with Zyclon B gas were done at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in early 1940, and it was performed on 250 Gypsy children. The first test of Zyclon B gas at Auschwitz, was done on September 3, 1941, and 600 Soviet POW's were used as the guinea pigs.

The Nazis had gas chambers in mobile vans, and in some of the Concentration Camps (Extermination Camps) there were gas chambers large enough to hold and kill upwards of 2500 people at a time; it has been reported in a journal entry that there were claw and bite marks on people and walls, from those trying to keep away from the gas, clawing and biting one another in pain and horror.

Nobody is truly able to say what is was like in the "Gas Chamber" there, as not a single person whom entered it survived; however, you may try to imagine being forced to strip down with people you both know and love, and, complete strangers; having to remove everything, including wedding bands, watches, etc...Than being led to a large dark room, on the way meeting up with others from the opposite sex who were made to also remove all articles on themselves; forced as a herd of cattle with very young, crying children; the elderly - listening to them wail and pray to G-d for help; and those in-between, begging for the door to be opened - than the hissing of the gas is heard followed by the screams of those inside, and than the mad rush of those strong enough to try to force themselves on top of you, and/or others so that they may live a few seconds more.

When you see photographs or old newsreels of the people being liberated from the Death Camps, many seem very old...This is a testament to the difficulties they endured, as all those over the age of 45 were put to death. So the woman whom may look like your 85 year old Grandmother, is not a day over 45 at most. The man who may look like a 75 year old, may only be 30. The cruelty is something to both think about and remember, so that nothing like this happens again to anyone, anywhere.

Gas Chambers were seen as the quickest, most efficient way of exterminating the Jews in Nazi Germany, But I am certain that 20 minutes of gassing was cruel

As of my last update, Betty Schimmel passed away on May 8, 2021. She was a Holocaust survivor and author known for her book "To See You Again." Her legacy continues through her writings and storytelling of her experiences during World War II.

Yes, an audiobook version of "I Will Bear Witness 1942-1945: A Diary of the Nazi Years" by Victor Klemperer is available on platforms like Audible or Google Play Books. You can listen to the firsthand account of life in Nazi Germany as documented by Klemperer during those turbulent years.

One of the main things was the Second World War.

Hearing stories is vital for a child's development, fostering language skills, cognitive abilities, emotional understanding, and social awareness. Stories also cultivate creativity, nurture cultural appreciation, and contribute to pre-literacy skills, making them an essential component of a child's holistic growth.

Anne Frank

Before the Holocaust, synagogues in Germany were vibrant centers of Jewish religious and communal life. They ranged from grand, ornate structures in larger cities to humble prayer houses in smaller communities. Synagogues were places of worship, education, and social gathering, reflecting the diversity of Jewish religious and cultural traditions. Sadly, the vast majority of synagogues in Germany were destroyed or damaged during the Holocaust, leading to the profound loss of this once-thriving Jewish religious infrastructure.

Native Americans who were killed is a bit of a debate. Between 36 and 300 were killed. Every soldier in the five companies Custer comanded died, with the exception of the single native scout Curley. Of the other commands involved, one officer and 51 trooper were killed. Only one mount, Catain Keough's Comanche was found alive on the battlefield.

The term "gypsies" refers to the Roma people, who were a targeted group during the Holocaust. They were subject to persecution, forced labor, and mass killings by the Nazis and their collaborators. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Roma people were killed during this time.

Yes, Irena Sendler was indeed nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. She was recognized for her heroic efforts in saving thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Although she did not win the prize, her nomination brought attention to her remarkable work.

No, the German national anthem was not played at the end of World War II or the Holocaust. The anthem at that time, "Deutschlandlied", was associated with Nazi Germany and was not used after the war. The current German national anthem, "Das Lied der Deutschen", was adopted in 1952.

It is estimated that about 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. While the exact number of survivors is difficult to determine, it is estimated to be around 1.5 to 2 million individuals. Many survivors faced significant physical and psychological trauma as a result of their experiences.

The term "African Holocaust" is typically used to refer to the transatlantic slave trade that began in the 15th century. However, the history of slavery in Africa dates back much further. Slavery existed in various African societies before the arrival of Europeans and continued long after the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in the 19th century.

During the Holocaust, people were targeted and treated based on their racial and ethnic backgrounds, particularly Jews but also other groups such as Romani people and Poles. These individuals were systematically persecuted, stripped of their rights, and subjected to extreme discrimination, forced labor, imprisonment, and ultimately mass murder in concentration and extermination camps. The Nazis' ideology deemed certain groups as racially inferior and sought their extermination as part of their genocidal agenda.

The exact number of people in mass graves during the Holocaust is difficult to determine due to the large scale and varying circumstances of genocide across multiple locations. Tens of thousands to millions of victims were buried in mass graves, depending on the specific site and period. The largest mass grave discovered so far contains the remains of over 100,000 people at the Babi Yar ravine in Ukraine.

Buna (aka Monowitz or Auschwitz III) was a private entreprise concentration camp run by the German chemicals conglomerate, I-G Farben. It made various platics using slave labour working under SS discipline and supervision.

The term "shoah" is often used to describe the mistreatment of shoes in Europe in the centuries leading up to the Holocaust. This term is rooted in the Yiddish word for "destruction" or "catastrophe" and serves as a metaphorical representation of the mass genocide and persecution of Jewish people during that time period.

the final solution was Hitler's idea of killing everyone who wasn't of a perfect Aryan race. if you were jewish, polish, handicapped, homosexual or transsexual, a roma (gypsy), mentally ill, etc. you were killed.

No, every building in the Warsaw was destroyed by the SS in April and May, 1943 when they put down the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Auschwitz will always be known for being a Nazi concentration and extermination camp during World War II, where millions of innocent people, mostly Jews, were imprisoned, tortured, and systematically murdered. It represents the horrors of the Holocaust and serves as a symbol of the atrocities committed during that time.

Approximately 67,000 people were deported from Drancy concentration camp in France during World War II. Out of those, around 63,000 were sent to extermination camps and killed. The remaining 4,000 were either liberated or transferred to other camps.

Many Jewish people kept their faith despite the Holocaust because their faith and religious practices were an integral part of their identity and provided them with strength and hope during the darkest times. For some, it was a way to honor their ancestors and the memory of those who perished. Additionally, maintaining their faith allowed them to preserve their cultural and religious traditions, which were central to their sense of community and resilience.

During World War II, various groups of people were sent to concentration camps by the Nazis, including Jews, Romani people, disabled individuals, political dissidents, Jehovah's Witnesses, and LGBTQ+ individuals. These camps were part of the Nazis' systematic effort to persecute and exterminate millions of people deemed undesirable by their regime.