Germany, after World War I, was in terrible shape economically, and many Germans lacked confidence in their government. Thus, creating the ultimate chance for the rise of a new leader. Adolf Hitler was a “powerful and spellbinding speaker who attracted a wide following of Germans desperate for change” (“Hitler comes to Power”). Hitler and his party, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi party), made it easy for the Germans to blame Germany’s hardships on one particular group. In this case, the blame was put on Jews. Hitler was able to convince many Germans that “the Jews had been the source of defeat during the war, as well as for the economic depression during the 1930’s”. Hitler was officially appointed chancellor of Germany
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Nearly three million Jews lived in Poland when Germans took control of it, so Nazis needed to build more camps to hold such large numbers of prisoners. New territories obtained during the war and larger groups of potential prisoners for the Nazis inspired the rapid expansion of the concentration camp system. The camps served as a source of cheap labor to produce construction materials for projects that involved the expansion of existing camps, the construction of new camps and production of weapons and related goods to contribute to the German War effort (“Concentration Camp System: In Depth”). Hitler’s most trusted and loyal worker, Heinrich Himmler, was ordered to build a concentration camp near a polish city known as Auschwitz to hold Polish prisoners and to provide slave labor for new German-run factories that would be built nearby. As Hitler continued to conquer various parts of Europe, including Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France, an ‘ever-increasing’ number of Jews were placed under Nazi control. In order to “concentrate and monitor the Jewish population as well as to facilitate later deportation of the Jews, the Germans and their collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps for Jews during the war years” (“Introduction to the Holocaust”). June of 1941, Hitler took a “military gamble” by invading the Soviet Union, which contained an estimated three million Jews. Hitler’s top generals were told that the attack on Russia would be a ruthless “war of annihilation” and that ‘normal rules of military conflict’ were to be ignored. (“Genocide in the 20th Century: The Nazi Holocaust 1938-45”). Throughout the war, the Nazis created ghettos, or city districts, where they forced the Jewish population to live under harsh and miserable conditions. The largest of the ghettos established was the one in Warsaw, Poland
Nearly three million Jews lived in Poland when Germans took control of it, so Nazis needed to build more camps to hold such large numbers of prisoners. New territories obtained during the war and larger groups of potential prisoners for the Nazis inspired the rapid expansion of the concentration camp system. The camps served as a source of cheap labor to produce construction materials for projects that involved the expansion of existing camps, the construction of new camps and production of weapons and related goods to contribute to the German War effort (“Concentration Camp System: In Depth”). Hitler’s most trusted and loyal worker, Heinrich Himmler, was ordered to build a concentration camp near a polish city known as Auschwitz to hold Polish prisoners and to provide slave labor for new German-run factories that would be built nearby. As Hitler continued to conquer various parts of Europe, including Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France, an ‘ever-increasing’ number of Jews were placed under Nazi control. In order to “concentrate and monitor the Jewish population as well as to facilitate later deportation of the Jews, the Germans and their collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps for Jews during the war years” (“Introduction to the Holocaust”). June of 1941, Hitler took a “military gamble” by invading the Soviet Union, which contained an estimated three million Jews. Hitler’s top generals were told that the attack on Russia would be a ruthless “war of annihilation” and that ‘normal rules of military conflict’ were to be ignored. (“Genocide in the 20th Century: The Nazi Holocaust 1938-45”). Throughout the war, the Nazis created ghettos, or city districts, where they forced the Jewish population to live under harsh and miserable conditions. The largest of the ghettos established was the one in Warsaw, Poland