Holocaust is a Greek word meaning ‘sacrifice by fire’. It is the genocide which occurred in Germany when Adolf Hitler took over the country back in 1933.The belief that Jews were a threat to German racial purity and community, led to the killing of 6 million Jewish population in Germany (HolocaustEncyclopedia, n.d.)

Condition of minorities and ethnic groups deteriorated after Hitler occupied the position of both president and chancellor after the death of President Hindenburg (L.Goss, 2018).

The racist belief of Nazis leads to discrimination among Jews and Germans. Holocaust was the state sponsored persecution of Jews by Nazis who believed that Germans were superior both biologically and racially than Jews. Not only Jews, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Gypsies and Russians also became the target of German authorities. After Hitler came to power, he introduced strict laws against the Jewish population to control their lives. His anti-Semitic laws persecuted vast population of Jews.

Hostility towards Jews date back to 1870’s when Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Romans. It is an evidence that anti-Semitism did not begin with Adolf Hilter, it has its roots in the past. The discrimination is based on racial character rather than religious one (The Holocaust).

THE FINAL SOLUTION

Hitler believed that Jews should be removed as they were a problem for German community, so many non-Germans were sent to concentration camps. Many were brutally tortured and killed due to hunger, disease and maltreatment. The mass killing of innocent Jews is what Hitler called ‘The final Solution’. Nazis also termed it as the ‘ethnic cleansing’ because Jews were considered inferior over Germans and blamed for the problems within Germany (CBBC, 2012).  

Hitler’s obsession with superiority of pure German race converted the concentration camps into the killing grounds of the holocaust. According to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Nazis killed approximately 960,000 of 1.3 million Jews who were deported to the concentration camps.

Between 1941 and 1944, the Germans deported the Jews to the ghettos, which was a key step by the Nazis to brutally separate, persecute and destroy Europe’s Jews. Especially world war 2 and holocaust filled the ghettos with Jews separating them from non-Jewish population. They lived in miserable condition with no hope for life. Children were separated from their parents, and millions were displaced from their homes.

A survivor of holocaust said, “My mother ran over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders, and she told me Leibele, I’m not going to see you no more. Take care of your brother”. (HolocaustEncyclopedia, n.d.)

Auschwitz

Auschwitz was established by the Germans in 1940. It was the largest and arguably the most notorious of Nazi concentration and death camps including killing center along with forced labor camp. It is considered as the worst among other concentration camps in the history. It was the hub of disturbing medical experimentation on Jewish prisoners.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Soviet prisoners were subjects to forced labor by the SS authorities to expand the camp. They were the first victims of mass starvation by Germans as they provided them 700 calories per day. The Nazis termed it as ‘death by starvation’. The condition of prisoners was worse that they ate grass to ease their hunger (encyclopedia). More than 3 million Soviet prisoners of war died in German custody. 

According to US memorial, about 1.5 million Jews died in Auschwitz extermination camp (memorial). The condition of Jews residing in the Auschwitz was miserable, no food, no medical care caused multiple deaths. The estimated number of victims at Auschwitz camp complex are:

• 1,095,000 Jews were deported and 960,000 died
• Among non-Jewish poles almost 150,000 were deported and 74,000 died
• Soviet prisoners of war (15,000 deported and died)

DEATH MARCHES

 In January 1945, the Allied forces approached Nazi camps to release the Jews. The SS started evacuating the Auschwitz camps and organized the ‘’Death Marches’ of camp inmates. The forced evacuation took place to avoid the camp prisoners from falling into Allied hands. Thousands were killed before the marches began and the ones who started their journey towards the city of Wodzislaw died due to starvation and cold weather (memorial). 

LIBERATION

On 27 January 1945, the Allied forces moved across Europe where they encountered concentration camps and massive graves.  Approximately 7,000 remaining prisoners who were mostly ill or dying were liberated by Soviet army. The condition of the rescued Jews was unspeakable which shed light on the full scope of Nazi horror. But almost 10,000 people died within one week of liberation due to disease and malnutrition. Auschwitz was closed by the Soviet army right after the rescue of thousands of prisoners kept in miserable condition (Encyclopedia).