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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day: 33 important Holocaust facts
There are certainly more than 33 things to know about the Holocaust, but some of these items may be less known, and by knowing them, we can cultivate a deeper understanding of the Nazi's "Final Solution."
The Holocaust began in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and ended in 1945 when the Nazis were defeated by the Allied powers.
The term "Holocaust," originally from the Greek word "holokauston" which means "sacrifice by fire," refers to the Nazi's persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people. The Hebrew word "Shoah," which means "devastation, ruin, or waste," is also used for this genocide.
It is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million of these were Jews.
The Nazis killed approximately two-thirds of all Jews living in Europe.
An estimated 1.1 million children were murdered in the Holocaust.
On April 1, 1933, the Nazis instigated their first action against German Jews by announcing a boycott of all Jewish-run businesses.
A few of the major ghettos were located in the cities of Bialystok, Kovno, Lodz, Minsk, Riga, Vilna, and Warsaw.
Although many people refer to all Nazi camps as "concentration camps," there were actually a number of different kinds of camps, including concentration camps, extermination camps, labor camps, prisoner-of-war camps, and transit camps.
The Nazis built six extermination camps: Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz, and Majdanek. (Auschwitz and Majdanek were both concentration and extermination camps.)
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Hekate
(90,530 posts)shenmue
(38,506 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)eridani
(51,907 posts)The map is a real shocker. Thanks for posting.
Diclotican
(5,095 posts)eridani
Norway as occupied by germany - so it is correct we had a KZ camp or two -even though Grini technically was a Polizeihäftlingslager Not Konsentrationlager - even though I suspect most inmates from 1940 until liberation in 1945 do not look at the difference to Mitch as Grini was a hard prison to be a inmate in.. But technically it was not government by SS, but by the german police, who had a different look on it - technically - but for all purpose of the camp - it was a rigid system, where you could be punished for nothing - and harsh...
The history of Grin is an interesting one - as it originally was build as a womans prison, and was finished right at the start of the War and the prison was then taken over by the german occupying forces - who kept it as a prison for the duration of the war - and also a political prison as most of what was seen as pluvial enemies was confined to that camp - more than 3000 was send to Germany and many should die there.... And Grini was synonyme with the world KZ camp in most of Norway even though compared to other german camps it was not as worse as believed - even if hard enough.... The german police was no humanists either...
But we did have some small camps - who might be recognized as real KHZ camps - Like Berg outside of Trondheim - and Falstad - a camp so horrible that even germans had to step in and make some order to it - as Falstad maybe was the worst camp in the whole of Norway.. And the worst is - Falstad was for the most part governments by Norwegians from the organization Hirden - whoes Party Nasional Samling was close allied with th germans - and who's leader, should end up executed after the war...
Today Grini is still on its job as a prison - even though most of the war-time bulding was teared down after the war - a few remaining buildings is still there - as a museum about the war and its inmates... Today the prison is named Ila fengsel og forvaringsanstalt - and have housed some of our worst offenders over the years..
And I live in the general area - in the nabouring county Asker - as Grini is located in Bærum County... But it is not a long way to drive - maybe 25-30 min to the museum. Compared to many other places, where musums after KZ Camps ca be rather intensive - it is not mutch to look at really - even though some of its guide can give you a good idea about how it was when the camp was active...
Diclotican
eridani
(51,907 posts)Diclotican
(5,095 posts)eridani
Your welcome - I have a lot more on board if you want
Diclotican
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)MrBig
(640 posts)It shows how close Europe really was to complete takeover, and only 71 years ago at that.
krishnarama
(30 posts)He was in Hungary at the time of the war, and didn't get taken in until about 1944, where he ended up in Auschwitz. Since it was the late years he was taken, he survived, but lost his whole family. My father was born two years later in a DP camp in Hamburg, Germany, and emigrated to America 3 years later.
It is with my grandfather that I was fortunate to have, and being taught his story as he learned how to make dentures the hard way, and then refined his profession to help his own people with new life - teeth. I remember my grandfather making those dentures in his home. It was just amazing on how he makes those.
My late grandmother, who I was named after, was a survivor from Bergen-Belsen. I don't know much about her because she passed away of cancer before I was born.
I am the oldest of my current surviving generation to pass along my grandfather's story. It is also recorded with the History of the Shoah.
one_voice
(20,043 posts)and doing these threads.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)PCIntern
(25,467 posts)you are appreciated by many beyond words
You are, IMO, one of the most valuable assets here on "the" DU
Thanks again,
PC