1. The Holocaust

2. The Holocaust: The Great Destruction
Holocaust: “completely burnt” systematic extermination of about 6 million Jews.
Jews were considered to be the “scapegoat” for all of Germany’s problems (kristallnacht – night of the broken glass)
Initially, rounded up and forced to live in ghettos

3. The Holocaust: The Great Destruction
As WWII progressed, the question for Nazi Germany became: What do we do with the Jews?
The Final Solution: Death Camps
Most notorious death camp was at Auschwitz (Poland)…estimates of 1.1 million killed

4. The Holocaust: The Great Destruction
Joseph Mengele: “The angel of death”
Performed Experiments on Jews and was especially fascinated by Twins
Induce one twin with a disease and kill the second when the first twin passed away to study the effects
About 6 million Jews massacred
About 4 million Slavs, Gypsies, Communists, homosexuals, & other civilians also murdered

5. “Never Forget, Never Again”
Because of the Holocaust, calls for the creation of a State of Israel became deafening
Post WW2: Exhausted from fighting, Britain turns the problem over to the United Nations
1947: UN divides Palestine btw Jews & Arabs (2 Separate States)
Israel declares itself independent in May 1948

7. The Refugees 700,000 Palestinians 800,000 Jews