What Are The Causes Of The Holocaust

The word holocaust was historically used to describe the sacrificial offering on an altar. The term had taken on a new meaning that referred to the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews since 1940s. The Holocaust was the darkest period in human history that occurred during World War II. The Nazi regime believed Jews were an inferior race and a threat to German racial purity and community. Their final solution was to deport European Jews to extermination camps, where they were tortured and murdered. What happened during this dreadful event that claimed the lives of countless people? The Nazi Party was founded in 1919 and promoted German pride and anti-Semitism by opposing the harsh terms the peace treaty that ended World War I forced on Germany. Adolf Hitler joined the party the year it was established and became its leader in 1921. The Nazi Party took power as Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933. After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1934, he combined the positions of chancellor and president, becoming Germany’s supreme ruler. Hitler’s first objective was to consolidate power and to eliminate political opposition. The first official extermination camp opened at Dachau to house political prisoners but then evolved into a …show more content…
Meanwhile, Nazi officials selected Germans with mental illness or disabilities to be gassed. The German army expanded Hitler’s empire in Europe, conquering Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and the Netherlands in 1940 and the Soviet Union in 1941. All European Jews and Gypsies were forced into Polish ghettos, an area of town, surrounded by high walls and barbed wires. The Nazis discussed the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” and concluded to deport all European Jews to extermination camps in 1942. Large death camps, such as Auschwitz, began operating with merciless efficiency. There were gas chambers, and prisoners were used for medical