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world war before
The continent struggled to recover from the death or injury of tens of millions of soldiers and civilians, as well as catastrophic damage to property and industry. -
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beginning pt2
Hitler's regime established the first concentration camps and repressed political opponents, homosexuals and Jehovah's Witnesses. Extensive propaganda was used to spread the Nazi Party's racist goals and ideals. During the first six years of Hitler's dictatorship, German Jews felt the effects of more than 400 decrees and regulations. -
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1933
German Jews numbered about 500,000 or less than 1% of the national population. In 1933, over 9 million Jews lived in Europe (1.7%) working and raising families in the harsh reality of the worldwide economic depression. Today, more than 80 million Jews live in Europe, a fifth of the global population. -
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the beginning
In 1933 Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany brought an end to the Weimar Republic, a parliamentary democracy established after World War I. The Nazi state quickly became a regime in which citizens were stripped of all rights and forced to work for the Nazis' economic and political gain. -
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1939
Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Over the next year, Nazi Germany and its allies conquered much of Europe. -
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1941
In 1941, Germany turned on its ally, the Soviet Union. Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) followed the German army and carried out mass shootings. -
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1942–1945
The Holocaust took place during a period of intense fighting on both the eastern and western fronts of the war. Allied troops uncovered the full extent of crimes committed during the Holocaust. -
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After
When Allied troops entered the concentration camps, they discovered piles of corpses, bones, and human ashes. For survivors, the prospect of rebuilding their lives was daunting. With few possibilities for emigration, tens of thousands of homeless Holocaust survivors were housed in displaced persons (DP camps.