Genocide (1942-1945)

After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Nazis had  begun mass shootings of Jews and other targeted groups, especially in Eastern Europe, often carried out by mobile killing units called Einsatzgruppen in what has been labeled the “Holocaust by Bullets.” Then in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and mass murder intensified. After the Wannsee Conference in 1942, the Nazis implemented the "Final Solution"— a plan to systematically exterminate all Jews—leading to the construction of extermination camps like Auschwitz, where industrialized killing began on a massive scale.  Millions of Jews were deported from all over Europe to extermination camps in occupied Poland, such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Sobibor, where they were murdered in gas chambers. The Nazis also targeted other groups, including Roma and Sinti, disabled individuals, political prisoners, and others they deemed undesirable.  Examples of physical resistance to the Nazi machine surfaced in the Warsaw Ghetto and several death camps, including Auschwitz. Despite growing evidence of the atrocities, international response remained limited. As Allied forces advanced in 1944–1945, they began liberating the camps, uncovering the full extent of the genocide. By the end of the Holocaust, six million Jews and five million other victims had been murdered. This section includes readings with questions, activities, and case studies.