The Holocaust is
generally regarded as the systematic slaughter of not only 6 million Jews,
(two-thirds of the total European Jewish population), the primary victims, but
also 5 million others, approximately 11 millionindividuals wiped
off the Earth by the Nazi regime and
its collaborators. It is
hard to grasp the idea that it isn't just 11 million deaths, but 11 million
people whose lives were cut off because of racism and hate, all in a period of
11 years (1933-1945). There are actually two main phases to the
Holocaust, the period between 1933 and 1939,
the Nazi rise, and the period between 1939 and
1945, the period of war, or more specifically, World War II. The
firstconcentration camp opened
in January 1933, when the Nazis came to power, and continued to run until the
end of the war and the Third Reich: May 8,
1945.
