How Did the Holocaust End?
How Did the Holocaust End?
The Holocaust is a black mark on 20th century history that many people want to forget. However, it is important to remember this event and what it stood for so that it doesn't get repeated in the future. In 1933, when Adolf Hitler rose to power, he began implementing simple discrimination laws against Jews and others who were 'less than' in order to create his Master Race and restore the Germans to power, which he believed was being taken by the Jews. He was able to convince his followers of this issue with the Jewish Question, as it was known, and get away with murdering millions of people in an attempt to cleanse the society of anyone inferior to the Master Race.
The Holocaust lasted for 12 years, until 1945. Starting as early as 1944, the Allies were advancing on the Germans finally and they began taking over their camps. In July 1944, Maidanek, a camp in Poland, was liberated by the Soviets. This was followed by many more liberations and takeovers as the Americans and other Allies slowly removed Hitler from power. In January 1945, Auschwitz was liberated. This was the biggest camp in the Nazi territory and it was also the one where the most deaths occurred. The liberation of this camp was a major milestone in the end of the Holocaust.
By the end of the war, there were some 50,000 to 100,000 survivors that were living in occupied Europe. Within just a year after the removal of Adolf Hitler from power, that number quickly climbed to over 200,000 survivors. Camps were built for Jewish displaced persons, who couldn't return to their homes because of the horror and threats of danger from lingering anti-Semitic residents of the countries. They were emigrated to Israel, Palestine, and the United States primarily, while some went to other countries. These camps were in existence until 1957 when all the DPs (displaced persons) had been re-homed.
When the Allied forces finally invaded Germany in 1945, Adolf Hitler knew he had been defeated. Whether out of cowardice and fear of punishment, or based on Nazi ideals of death before dishonor, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in April of 1945 before the Allies had a chance to capture him. Thousands of Nazis committed suicide during this year, as they were taught that it was a more favorable option than being captured and punished for their beliefs. However, hundreds more were caught and punished for their involvement in the Holocaust.