Anti- Semitism had deep roots in German history all the way back to the Middle Ages.

Because of their economic background, Hitler blamed the Jews for their defeat in WWI and also the economic depression they were suffering through.

 In order to purify the Aryan race Hitler wanted to rid Germany of Jews, Gypsies and other unpure races.

 As laws became more restrictive, some Jews tried to flee but very few nations were willing to take Jewish refugees.

 the night of broken glass- November 9, 1938 SS troops attacked Jewish homes, shops and synagogues.
Kristallnacht

 Jews were blamed for the destruction and fined a total of one billion marks.

Hitlers Euthanasia Program Operation T4

Special treatment program to euthanize mentally retarded, genetically deformed and hopelessly sick Germans. It was believed that this mercy killing would help to purify the German race.

life without hope

"...because God cannot want the sick and ailing to reproduce."

life only as a burden.

 Nazis eliminated undesirables like communists and liberals and then began to work or exterminating groups like, Jews, homosexuals and Gypsies.

Shootings were taking too long, so vans were introduced as traveling gas chambers which could kill 100 150 people at one time using carbon monoxide.

Holocaust by Barbara Sonek (holocaust survivor) We played, we laughed we were loved. We were ripped from the arms of our parents and thrown into the fire. We were nothing more than children. We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We had dreams, then we had no hope. We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying. Separated from the world to be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.

Dr. Mengele Angel of Death

Medical Experiments
Froze patients to see effects of hypothermia Gave patients malaria and tested different drugs on them Attempted to see how long a person could survive on sea water. Patients withstood amputations without anesthesia (for fun). Attempted to change eye color by injecting dyes into a patients eye Tried to create artificial Siamese twins. Dr. Mengele was most interested in twins and performed many torturous experiments on them.

The Final Solution

Cold blooded and systematic genocide of the Jewish race.

Jews were herded into concentration camps where they were forced to work and when they couldnt they were put into gas chambers.

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night. . . Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. . . Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.
-Elie Wiesel -Night