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The Persecution Begins
Shortly after Hitler took power in Germany, he ordered all "non-Aryans" to be removed from goverment jobs. This order was one of the first moves in a campaign for raical purity that that eventually led to the Holocost. -
The Condemned
After taking power in 1933, the Nazis had concentrated on dilencing thei political opponents - communists, soialists, liberals, and anyone else who spoke out agianst the government. -
Jews Targeted
The Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, and property. To make it easier for the Nazis to identify them, Jews had to wear a bright yellow Star of David attached to their clothing. -
Kristallnacht
"Night of the Boken Glass"
Nazi storm troppers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Gemany. Around 100 Jews were killed, and hundreds or more were injured. Some 30,000 Jews were arrested and hundreds of synagogues were burned. -
The Plight of the St. Louis
Official indifference to the plight of Gemany's Jews was in evidence in the case of the ship St. Louis. This German ocean liner passed Miami in 1939. Althought 740 of the liner's 943 passengers had U.S. immigraion papers, the Coast Guard followed the ship to prevent anyone from disembarking in America. The ship was forced to return to Europe. -
The Final Solution
Hitler impose his "Final Solution" - a policy of genocide.
He was convinced that Aryns were a superior people and that the strength and purity of this "master race" must be preserved. To accomplish his, the Nazis condemned to slavery and death not only the Jews but other groups that they viewed as inferior or "enemies of the state". Groups include: Gypsies, Freemasons, and Jehoah's Witnesses. They were put into concentration camps, which are labor camps that were set up to imprision political- -
Death Camps
The Germans built siz death camps in Poland. The first was Chelmno and the largest was Auschwitz. Each camp has several huge gas chambers in which as many as 12,000 people could be killed a day. -
The Final Stage
Methods of killing were overwork, starvation, beatings, and shootings. They put the first gas chambers to work.
