This genocide is now known as the Holocaust

Between 1933 and 1945, the German government led by Adolf Hitler and

The Nazi regime also persecuted and killed millions of other people

The Allies’ victory ended World War II, but Nazi Germany and its

In March 1933, Adolf Hitler addressed the first session of the

After this photograph was taken, all political parties in the Reichstag—with

A storm trooper (SA) guards newly arrested members of the German Communist

Communists, Socialists, and other political opponents of the Nazis were among

A woman reads a boycott sign posted on the window of

Many Germans continued to enter the Jewish stores despite the boy-cott,

An instructional chart distinguishes individuals with pure “German blood” (left column),

Among other things, the laws issued in September 1935 restricted future German

The laws prohibited marriage and sexual relation-ships between Jews and non-Jews.

NAZI

Members of the Hitler Youth receive instruction in racial hygiene at

According to their ideology, the “Aryan race,” to which the German

The Nazi ideal was the Nordic type, displaying blond hair, blue

Residents of Rostock, Germany, view a burning synagogue the morning after

Within 48 hours, synagogues were vandalized and burned, 7,500 Jewish businesses

Within the concentration camp system, colored, tri-angular badges identified various prisoner

Although Jews were their primary targets, the Nazis also persecuted Roma

Millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah’s Wit-nesses, Soviet prisoners of war, and

Jews in Vienna wait in line at a police station to

Before being allowed to leave, however, Jews were required to get

Government policies in the 1930s made it difficult for Jews seeking refuge

In May 1939 the passenger ship St. Louis—seen here before departing

Unknown to the passengers, the Cuban government had revoked their landing

After the U.S. government denied permission for the passengers to enter

Sections of Warsaw lay in ruins following the invasion and conquest of

For most of the next two years German forces occupied or

By the end of 1942, however, the Allies were on the

The war in Europe ended with the unconditional surrender of Germany

Jews in the Warsaw ghetto wait in line for food at

Ghettos were city districts, often enclosed, in which the Germans concentrated

In November 1940, German authorities sealed the Warsaw ghetto, severely restricting

Survival was a daily challenge as inhabitants struggled for the bare

About a quarter of all Jews who perished in the Holocaust

These units carried out the mass murder of Jews, Roma, and

Between 1942 and 1944, trains carrying Jews from German-controlled Europe rolled

Commonly between 80 and 100 people were crammed into railcars of

Many died during the extreme conditions of the journey, and most

This railcar is on display at the United States Holocaust Memorial

Jews from Hungarian-occupied Czechoslovakia (present-day Ukraine) are taken off the trains

The overwhelming majority of Jews who entered the Nazi killing centers

The German authorities confis-cated all the personal belongings of the Jews,

These confiscated shoes from Majdanek and Auschwitz are on display at

For several weeks in October 1943, Danish rescuers ferried 7,220 Jews to

As a result of this national effort, more than 90 per-cent

This boat, now on display at the United States Holocaust Memorial

In fall 1939, Jewish activists in Warsaw, around the historian Emanuel

In 1942–1943, they buried these documents in metal containers, such as

This photo taken from the window of a private home shows

Evacuated by train, ship, or on foot, prisoners suffered from malnutrition,

General Dwight D. Eisenhower and other high-ranking U.S. Army officers view

Eisenhower visited the camp to witness personally the evidence of atrocities.

He publicly expressed his shock and revulsion, and he urged others

Leading Nazi officials listen to proceedings at the International Military Tribunal,

Beginning in October 1945, 22 major war criminals were tried on

In response to the Holocaust, the international community worked to create safeguards

The United Nations in 1948 voted to establish genocide as an

Despite this effort, genocide has continued, and it continues to threaten