The Holocaust, or Shoah, is one of the most studied events of the twentieth century. There have always been deaths in conflict but there was something unique about the Nazi policies towards the Jews and other minorities. It was the systematic murder of a race of people, through no fault of their own. However, the Nazis had their reasons so you should use the following sources to found out what these were. Even more extraordinary, how did the Nazis get ‘normal’ German citizens to carry out these acts of murder? You should focus on how they came to power in 1933 and slowly indoctrinated the German people against these scapegoats of society. For example, laws were passed to dehumanise Jews in 1935, violence was overlooked by the government when Kristallnacht broke out in 1938. And when the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939, the death of Jews and the other minorities became much easier to hide. Specialist killing groups, the Einsatzgruppen, were set up to execute Nazi enemies in eastern Europe. But this was not efficient so the Final Solution became the policy in 1942, to murder these groups in Death Camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau.
Ordinary Men – Police Battalion 101
The Men who pulled the Trigger
Fifth Column – A group within a country who are trying to undermine or weaken the government or majority group. Usually, they do this for the benefit of an enemy or foreign nation.