Summary of the Holocaust 1939-1945
The Holocaust was a genocide carried out by Nazi Germany during World War II from 1939 to 1945. It targeted European Jews, as well as other groups including Romani people, disabled individuals, homosexuals, and others deemed undesirable by the Nazis.
Millions of people were systematically murdered in extermination camps, concentration camps, and through mass shootings. The mass murder was carried out through methods such as gas chambers, starvation, forced labor, and medical experiments.
The Holocaust also involved the forced deportation of millions of people from their homes, the confiscation of their property, and the denial of their basic human rights. The Nazis' ultimate goal was the complete eradication of the Jewish population in Europe, which they referred to as the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question."
After the war, the full extent of the Holocaust became known with the liberation of the concentration camps by Allied forces. It is estimated that six million Jews and millions of others were killed during the Holocaust, making it one of the most devastating genocides in history.