The holocaust.
As they moved into German-held territory in Europe, allied armieshad been making horrified discoveries. They came across the concentration camps. The Nazis had set up concentration camps run by the SS (one of Hitler's special police forces). Most prisoners were there because they were Jews. Others were political prisoners who had dared to speak out against the Nazis.
In 1942, the Nazis had devised one of the most horrific schemes in human history. They had decided that every Jewish man, woman, and child would be transported to concentration camps and exterminated. Hitler called this the "final solution" to the "Jewish problem" in Europe.
Dachau and Bergen-Belsen were typical of the camps in Germany. Here all prisoners were put to work for the Nazi war effort. At least 5 million slaves were working in the German camps. In some places, medical experiments were carried out on helpless human beings who were used as guinea pigs.
At places like Treblinka, Sobibor, and Maidanek in Poland, hanging, shooting, torturing, and overwokring were all used to kill Jewish people. At Auschwitz, victims were crowded into gas chambers disguised as showers. The shower rooms were sealed and Zyklon B gas was dropped into the chambers through a small opening in the ceiling. It took from three to fifteen minutes to kill all those confined within the chamber. The bodies were then removed by a special detachment of prisoners. Gold fillings from the teeth of the victims were melted down and made into gold bars. Other valuables such as watches, bracelets, and rings were also deposited in secret bank vaults for future use. Then the corpses were placed in ovens for cremation. Six thousand could be gassed in a day at Auschwitz.
Some of the most moving stories of bravery and heroism have come out of the death camps. At Auschwitz there was an 18-year-old girl, Rosa Robota. Rosa and many of her friends were forced to work for the Nazis in a gunpowder factory. They planned to steal enough gunpowder to blow up the crematorium and the gas chambers. Every day, a dozen gurls smuggledd out small quantities of explosives hidden in thd hems of their dresses. The explosives were buried around the camp until there was a sizeable stockpile.
On the afternoon of 7 October 1944, they successfully blew up Number 3 Crematorium. The Gestapo were enraged by this act of sabotage. An investigation was begun and Rosa and the girls were arrested. Every day Rosa was beaten, and after four days of torture the Nazis hanged her.
Hours before her death Rosa Robota managed to smuggle out a message from the death cell. It read, "Be strong and brave." The message helped give strength to others in Auschwitz who would become victims of Hitler's "final solutinon!"
By the end of the war, Hitler had destroyed over one-third of the Jews in Europe. It is estimated that 6 million people, among whom Anne Frank was one, were put to death. Their only crime was that they were not members of the "master race."
Before the war ended, orders went out from Berlin to destroy the camps to keep them secret. But time ran out as Russian, British, Canadian, and American forces overran the camps. The first battle-hardened soldiers who entered these death factories often broke down and cried. One soldier turned his machine gun on the camp guards. If Canadian troops had ever doubted whether the war was worth fighting, the Nazi death camps made it clear that the fight though tragic, was just. The Allies decided that parts of some camps should be preserved. They would be a permanent reminder of the Holocaust, the Nazi's systematic destruction of millions of Jewish people.
In 1942, the Nazis had devised one of the most horrific schemes in human history. They had decided that every Jewish man, woman, and child would be transported to concentration camps and exterminated. Hitler called this the "final solution" to the "Jewish problem" in Europe.
Dachau and Bergen-Belsen were typical of the camps in Germany. Here all prisoners were put to work for the Nazi war effort. At least 5 million slaves were working in the German camps. In some places, medical experiments were carried out on helpless human beings who were used as guinea pigs.
At places like Treblinka, Sobibor, and Maidanek in Poland, hanging, shooting, torturing, and overwokring were all used to kill Jewish people. At Auschwitz, victims were crowded into gas chambers disguised as showers. The shower rooms were sealed and Zyklon B gas was dropped into the chambers through a small opening in the ceiling. It took from three to fifteen minutes to kill all those confined within the chamber. The bodies were then removed by a special detachment of prisoners. Gold fillings from the teeth of the victims were melted down and made into gold bars. Other valuables such as watches, bracelets, and rings were also deposited in secret bank vaults for future use. Then the corpses were placed in ovens for cremation. Six thousand could be gassed in a day at Auschwitz.
Some of the most moving stories of bravery and heroism have come out of the death camps. At Auschwitz there was an 18-year-old girl, Rosa Robota. Rosa and many of her friends were forced to work for the Nazis in a gunpowder factory. They planned to steal enough gunpowder to blow up the crematorium and the gas chambers. Every day, a dozen gurls smuggledd out small quantities of explosives hidden in thd hems of their dresses. The explosives were buried around the camp until there was a sizeable stockpile.
On the afternoon of 7 October 1944, they successfully blew up Number 3 Crematorium. The Gestapo were enraged by this act of sabotage. An investigation was begun and Rosa and the girls were arrested. Every day Rosa was beaten, and after four days of torture the Nazis hanged her.
Hours before her death Rosa Robota managed to smuggle out a message from the death cell. It read, "Be strong and brave." The message helped give strength to others in Auschwitz who would become victims of Hitler's "final solutinon!"
By the end of the war, Hitler had destroyed over one-third of the Jews in Europe. It is estimated that 6 million people, among whom Anne Frank was one, were put to death. Their only crime was that they were not members of the "master race."
Before the war ended, orders went out from Berlin to destroy the camps to keep them secret. But time ran out as Russian, British, Canadian, and American forces overran the camps. The first battle-hardened soldiers who entered these death factories often broke down and cried. One soldier turned his machine gun on the camp guards. If Canadian troops had ever doubted whether the war was worth fighting, the Nazi death camps made it clear that the fight though tragic, was just. The Allies decided that parts of some camps should be preserved. They would be a permanent reminder of the Holocaust, the Nazi's systematic destruction of millions of Jewish people.