The most dangerous part of the Holocaust for innocent people was possibly the period from 1944 to 1945. This was the time when millions of people were deported from Germany and occupied territories in order to be gassed, shot, or worked to death in camps such as Auschwitz.
Until that time, many people even within Germany had not been acquainted with the death camps. They were constructed and operated in secret throughout the early half of the 1940s. German businesses worked together with the Nazi government in order to establish these camps under secret orders.
Most of the camps were intended to be placed in areas that were physically remote. This would keep people from being able to aid the prisoners who went to the camps. It also made it much more difficult for the camps to be liberated. Most of the camps were so remote that the Allied forces could not even bomb them effectively.
By 1944, all of the rights of German Jews had been eliminated by the Nazis. Jews could be seized and deported from their homes at any time. From January 1944 on, the Nazi Party government operated under the principles of “total war” and a final resolution to the “Jewish question.” This called upon Nazis to exterminate all of the Jews of Europe before the Allied forces could penetrate Germany’s defenses.
More than six million Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust. At first, they were told that they were merely being relocated and pressed into the service of the Nazi war effort in order to “redeem” themselves. In truth, however, many would be summarily executed as soon as they arrived. Those who seemed to be ill or infirm would be the first to die, along with virtually all women and children.
The few survivors of this early process would be worked to death on starvation rations. In some cases, their labor contributed to the Nazi war machine that was being used to wipe out Jews all over Europe.
Only about 1% of the total population of concentration camp inmates ever set foot outside the camps again. By April 1945, Nazi SS and other troops were fleeing from the camps, bombing them, and setting traps in order to keep Allies from reaching them. They marched Jewish and other prisoners to death to prevent them from being liberated. By May, many camps had been liberated, first by the Soviets and later by Americans.
Help us fight against Holocaust denial by Donating to our cause, You will recieve an Exclusive "Hitler's Children" DVD. Buy the DVD
Image Courtsey of Tony Dowson /freedigitalphotos.net