3 stages of the Holocaust
The Holocaust systematically murdered 11 million people across Europe, more than half of those people were Jewish. The Jews were blamed for the German’s failures, such as World War I. As a result, Hitler established anti-Semitism throughout his army and the majority of Europe. The Holocaust consisted of three phases to annihilate the Jews. The phases did not create racial purity and they did not successfully annihilate all of the Jews as the Nazi party planned. The first phase began when the Nuremburg Laws were passed in 1935. These laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, property, and jobs. Jews were required to wear a bright yellow Star of David attached to their clothing to make it easy for Nazis to identify them. The Nuremberg Laws, as they became known, did not define a, "Jew", as someone with particular religious beliefs. Instead, anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents were defined as a Jew, regardless of whether that individual identified himself or herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community. Many Germans who had not practiced Judaism for years found themselves caught in the grip of Nazi terror. The Nuremberg Laws also prohibited marriage between Aryans, which were considered Hitler’s master race and Jews. Hitler implemented these laws to ostracize, discriminate and expel Jews from German society. Hitler’s obsession to rid Europe of Jewish people created the, “Final Solution”. This phase was the implementation of committing mass genocide of the Jewish people. To preserve Hitler’s, “master race”, the Nazis condemned to slavery and death not only the Jews but also other groups that they viewed as inferior or unworthy were considered enemies of the state. The Nazis silenced all of their political opponents regardless of their political affiliation. Many Jews were re-located into ghettos. Ghettos were segregated areas where Jews lived. Life inside the ghetto was a living hell. The Jews were forced to work in German