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The Condemned
After taking power in 1933, the Nazis had concentrated on silencing their political opponents-communists, socialists, liberals, and anyone else who spoke out against the government. Once the Nazis eliminated these enemies, they turned against other groups in Germany- Jews, Gypsies, Freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses. Hitler began implementing his Final Solution in Poland with special Nazi death squads. -
The Persecution Begins
Shortly after Hitler took power in Germany, he ordered all "non-Aryans" to be removed from government jobs. This order was one of the first moves in a campaign for racil purity that eventually led to the Holocaust. -
Jews Targeted
The Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, and property. To make it easier for the Nazi to identify them, Jews had to wear a bright yellow Star of David attached to their clothing. -
Kristallnacht
"Night of Broken Glass" Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany. Around 100 Jews were killed, and hundreds more were injured. Some 30,000 Jews were arrested and hundreds of synagogues were burned. Afterward, the Nazis blamed the Jews for the destruction. -
St. Louis
The German ocean liner passed Miami in 1939. Although 740 of the liner's 943 passengers had U.S. immigrantion papers, the Coast Guard followed the ship to prevent anyone from disembarking in America. The ship was forced to return to Europe. More than half of the passengers were later killed in the Holocaust. -
The Final Solution
By 1939 only about a quarter million Jews remained in Germany. Obsessed with a desire to rid Europe of its Jews, Hitler imposed what he called the "Final Solution" - a policy of genocide. Groups targeted were Jews, Gypsies, Freemasons, Ghettos, and Jehovah Witnesses. Jews were shipped ot concentration camps, or labor camps. Families were often separated. -
Death Camps
The Germans built six death camps in Poland. The first, Chelmno, began operating in 1941. Each camp had several huge gas chambers in which as many as 12,000 people could be killed in a day. When prisoners arrived at Auschwitz, the largest death camp, they had to parade by several SS doctors. The strong would be chosen to work, and the weak would be killed. -
The Final Stage
At a meeting held in Wannsee, Hitler's top officials agreed to begin a new phase of the mass murder of Jews. They would mass slaughter and starvation. They also added muder by poisonous gas