A Tragic Legacy

The Holocaust

Literally means “sacrifice by fire”

The systematic mass slaughter of millions of Europeans, especially Jews, by the Nazis during WWII

11 million victimsThe largest group targeted by the Nazis

were Jews (6 million)

What is the Holocaust?

Jews Non-Jews Total 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Total VictimsNon-JewsJews

Millions

Murdered by the NazisSurvivors

European Jews

75%

Holocaust VictimsSurvivors

Polish Jews

90%

Who Were the Other Victims?

•Homosexuals

•Gypsies

•The Disabled

•Political dissidents

•Poles

•Jehovah’s Witnesses

•Catholics

•Soviet Prisoners of

WarMemorial to homosexual victims of the Holocaust

The first concentration camp opens in 1933

Timeline

Dachau 1933

New arrivals at Buchenwald 1938

Most were arrested during Kristalnacht

Occupied Territories

Treblinka opened in Poland in 1943

This was an extermination camp

These rails once led prisoners into the camp

April 1945American G.I.s discover Holocaust victims at Dachau

Liberations continue as Allied Forces invade Germany and the occupied territories

May 7, 1945 Germany Surrenders