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The establishment of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp
Auschwitz is one of the most well known concentration camps in history. It was established in the suburbs of Oswiecim in Poland with the direct reasoning, that Poland has had increased mass arrests and the existing prisons were running out of space. By 1942 Auschwitz has become the largest death camp. The following Video provides us an insight of how the life in Ausschwitz was. It shows us pictures from the unique "Auschwitz Album".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATQp8rFXRkg -
Wannsee Konferenz
The Wannsee Konferenz was an official meeting between important representatives of the Nazi Regime to discuss the implementation of the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", which was the Plan of killing every single Jew, they could find during WWII.
It was held on the 20th January 1942 in Berlin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPXPjZurupc
In this Video Dr. David Silberklang gives us a little insight on this Operation and its developement. -
Death penalty for anyone aiding Jews applied
From then on not only the Jews who fled were killed but also the people either helping them to hide, nourish or provide for Jews were to be punished with death. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising is what is known as the jewish resistance to oppose the Nazis effort of deporting the surviving Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto to camps. Several Jewish underground organisations had created self defence units to oppose the German. By the end of May the Ghetto Area was left in ruins, the synagogue was destroyed and the majority of the Jews dead. The ones that survived were deported concentration camps or killing centers.
https://youtu.be/qhlwy6d8vBk -
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Death Marches
Death marches were also known as forced evacuations from the camps. The prisoners had to be moved from the camps as the German realised that they were on the verge of losing the war. They didn't want prisoners to fall into the approaching enemies hands and killed anyone that couldn't keep up the march.
One of the biggest death marches was in January 1945. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/oral-history/lilly-appelbaum-malnik-describes-death-march-from-auschwitz-to-bergen-belsen -
Death of Anne Frank in Bergen-Belsen
Who was Anne Frank?
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/anne-frank-1 After 25 months in hiding (August, 4, 1944), she was found by the gestapo and sent to Bergen-Belsen. In February she died of Typhus and her and her sisters bodies were thrown into a mass grave. Just a few weeks later, in April, the cmp was liberated.
Her exact death date is unknown. -
Hitler commits suicide
On the 30th April 1945 Hitler swallows a cyanide capsule and shoots himself in the head. Soon after, Germany surrenders. -
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The Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of 13 Trials that were held between 1945 and 1949 to convict the surviving Nazi leaders. The convicted ones were brought to trial for crimes against peace and humanity.
The following interview gives us insights about the differents reactions the defendants had.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/oral-history/henry-j-kellermann-describes-the-reactions-of-defendants-during-the-nuremberg-trial
