The Jewish Holocaust "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." As Americans, why didn’t we speak against the injustices towards the Jews? What could America have done to prevent the Holocaust?

Boycott of Jewish Businesses Hitler announced a boycott of all Jewish businesses. The purpose of the boycott of Jewish businesses was to socially and economically isolate Jews from German society. Tens of thousands of Jews were fired from their jobs. Jewish stores were marked with Stars, and were often terrorized.

"Germans! Defend Yourselves! Don't Buy From Jews!"

The German woman reads a boycott sign posted in the window of a Jewish-owned department store in Berlin.

1st April 1933: Members of the SS in Berlin, pasting a notice onto a Jewish business, urging Germans to boycott Jewish shops.

Nuremberg Laws Hundreds of laws were passed to restrict the life of Jews in German society. The Nuremberg Laws passed were a means for assigning Jews an inferior status in German society. Jews were considered “subjects,” were as Germans were “citizens.” Jews were forced to wear armbands with the Star of David. Marriages between Jews and Germans was forbidden.

Kristallnacht Nazi officials unleashed a savage nationwide campaign of terror against Germany’s Jewish population. In 15 hours, 101 synagogues were destroyed by fire, 76 were demolished. 7,500 Jewish stores were destroyed, over 100 Jews were killed. 30,000 Jews were imprisoned and arrested. German govt. fined Jews 1 Billion marks ($400,000,000) for damages caused.

Instead of putting out the fire at the Jewish synagogue, the German fire department waters German buildings to prevent them from burning.

One of the 101 synagogues burned and destroyed in Germany during Kristallnacht.

Jewish Ghettos Ghettos were small areas within a city that were sealed off with barbed wire or high walls. The purpose was to isolate the Jews from normal society. Ghettos proved to be a temporary way to concentrate Jews before sending them to Concentration Camps.

Map of the Jewish Ghettos throughout Europe.

Deportation throughout Europe After Nazi Germany captured the west, it now needed to deport all Jews to Concentration Camps in the East. In 1943, 60,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands to Auschwitz killing center in Poland. In France, 50,000 Jews were deported by June 1943. In May 1943, more than 42,000 Greek Jews were sent to Concentration Camps.

Camps Camps were originally created as labor camps. By 1942, they served the sole purpose of exterminating Jews. Criminals, homosexuals, Gypsies, prostitutes, beggars, socialists, clergy and religious people were killed. People suffered unimaginable torture, hard labor, disease, chronic hunger, etc.

Final Solution The “Final Solution” to the “Jewish problem” was to expel and exterminate all Jews from German society. First, Jews were shot and buried in mass graves. To save bullets, Nazis started to use gas as the primary means of execution. In the end, over 6 million Jews were killed.

Massive grave of Jews exhumed for cremation.

Liberation Towards the end of the war, Hitler ordered the burning of dead Jews. However, Nazis did not have enough time to burn all Jews and their items. Bodies remained unburied or cremated. And, the Jews personal items remained as well. About 300,000—400,000 Jews were liberated by the Allies.