Widespread Attacks on European Jews
Historians estimate that approximately 6 million Jews perished in a genocide during World War II. Conducted by Nazi Germany, this horrendous event is known as the Holocaust. The vast majority of the Jewish Holocaust victims were killed in large concentration camps throughout Poland, which was occupied by German forces for most of the war. These facilities were designed by the Nazi regime with the express intent and purpose of carrying out a systematic genocide at a modern industrial scale. These facilities were often strategically installed near major urban centers with large populations of Jewish residents. Some of the most notorious concentration camps include Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka, names that echo through the years of history to this day. Some Jews were also killed in large urban ghettos throughout Eastern Europe, that effectively operated like large open-air prisons. Such vicious attacks on unarmed Jewish civilians were mainly carried out by the notorious SS units from the Nazi military. Additionally, some Nazi collaborators also participated in the attacks on Jews all over Europe and parts of the Soviet Union.
Non-Jewish Victims
In addition to the large scale killing of European Jews, the Germans imprisoned and murdered various other groups of people in the concentration camps. The non-Jewish Holocaust victims included Poles and other ethnic groups that were considered a threat to the Nazi regime and ideology. Communists and other political leaders were also imprisoned in the concentration camps. Additionally, minority groups such as homosexuals, the Romani people and disabled individuals were held at various camps throughout most of the war where they suffered equally harsh conditions as their Jewish counterparts.
Check out www.zachorfoundation.org to find more information on the Holocaust from the ZACHOR Holocaust Remembrance Foundation.
