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World War II: The Holocaust

The Ghettos and Concentration Camps

Holocaust

During the Holocaust, the Nazis established ghettos and concentration camps across Europe to imprison and murder millions of Jews and other groups deemed undesirable.

Ghettos

The ghettos were usually areas within a city where Jews were forced to live, often surrounded by walls or fences to prevent their escape. These areas were overcrowded, lacked basic sanitation and medical care, and were often subject to brutal violence from Nazi guards.

Concentration Camps

The concentration camps were a network of prison camps where Jews, political prisoners, and other groups were sent to work under inhumane conditions. Many of these camps were also sites of mass murder through gas chambers, shootings, and other methods. Auschwitz-Birkenau, located in Poland, was the largest and most notorious of the death camps. Over 1.1 million people were killed there, primarily Jews but also Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, disabled individuals, and others.

Resistance and Survival

The ghettos and concentration camps were not only places of suffering and death but also sites of resistance and survival. Prisoners in the camps formed underground organizations and engaged in acts of sabotage and resistance. Jewish ghettos also had their own underground movements, such as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, where Jewish fighters held off Nazi forces for nearly a month. Despite the incredible odds against them, these acts of resistance and bravery serve as a testament to the human spirit's resilience in the face of unimaginable horror.

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The Einsatzgruppen and the Death Camps

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