Following the declaration of war with Germany, and the increasing threat of air attacks, the Ministry of Home Security in Britain issued these guidance leaflets on bomb shelters. As the threat of air attacks and German invasion increased, the War Office and Ministry of Home Security attempted to prepare Britain for invasion, and a potential occupation.
Following the invasion and subsequent occupation of France, the Nazis turned their attention towards Britain. The Nazis assumed that, due to the defeat of almost all of their allies, Britain would be willing to agree to a negotiated peace deal. In the face of this opposition, the Nazis began to step up planning for Operation Sealion — the code name for the invasion of Britain.
The Luftwaffe initiated the first attack as part of the Battle of Britain on 10 July For the first six weeks the Luftwaffe concentrated on bombing strategic targets, such as air strips, on the south coast. After a series of battles, it became clear that the Nazis were not going to enjoy a swift and easy victory.
This decision marked an active switch to bombing civilian targets. Whilst devastating for London, the bombing raids on the East End allowed the RAF crucial time to recover from the raids on their own runways and airports.
On 14 September , Hitler recognised that invading Britain was, at that moment, impossible. Operation Sealion was postponed indefinitely. The bombing of London, which became known as the Blitz, continued until 11 May The British, who had troops stationed in Egypt which was a colony at the time , responded four days later by capturing the Italian Fort Capuzzo in Egypt.
A series of counter offensives followed. The situation reached a head in the Second Battle of El Alamein in October , which became a key turning point in the war.
The German and Italian troops were expecting an attack, and sheltered behind a minefield. The Allied invasion took place in two parts: an intense bombing campaign followed by infantry attack which then cleared the way for armoured divisions to break through the German defences. The German and Italian troops were in a weak position, with their leader, Erwin Rommel, in hospital from 23 September onwards. They also had little fuel or transport. Rommel returned from hospital to retake command on the 25 October By 2 November , the defences were near breaking point.
Rommel withdrew his troops on 4 November By 11 November, the battle was over, leaving the Allied troops victorious. The battle marked a turning point in the North Africa campaign, reviving the morale of the Allied troops following the failure of the Battle of France.
After a winter stalemate in , with both sides building up reinforcements, the Allied troops advanced and surrounded the Axis troops. On 13 May , the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. All Axis territory was captured along with , experienced troops. It represented a significant reduction of Axis power. By , the German Army had annexed or occupied large parts of Europe. This map shows these territories as well as the German advance into the Soviet Union. This certificate was issued to thank German citizens for their donations of fur and winter clothes in response to a Christmas appeal for the troops on the Eastern Front.
Following the failure of the Battle of Britain, the Nazis turned their focus towards their ideological enemy, the Soviet Union.
Hitler had always envisioned that a successful war against the Soviet Union would be necessary to achieve two of the Nazis ideological aims: Lebensraum and the destruction of communism. Hitler had anticipated the attack being similar, if not easier, than that of France, lasting four or five months at most. The Nazis viewed the Russian people as racially and ideologically inferior: no match for the German army. Hitler authorised preparations for the attack, known as Operation Barbarossa , on the 18 December The Nazis invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June This broke the Nazi-Soviet aggression pact which had been signed just two years prior.
The Nazis aimed their attacks at three key targets, the Ukraine in the south, Moscow in the middle, and Leningrad in the north. The invasion took the Soviets by surprise. Initially, the Nazis managed to cover large territories and encircle masses of troops, who duly surrendered.
By late September, the Nazis were on the edge of Leningrad, having covered hundreds of miles of Soviet territory. Despite these tactical achievements, Soviet resistance hardened and the country did not surrender.
Although less well trained than their German counterparts, the Soviet Army was extremely large and they were more used to the difficult terrain than German troops. Having expected a quick victory, the German troops became more and more exhausted and they were unprepared for a Russian winter after months of warfare. Supply chains were slow, leaving troops short of key materials. In late , the Soviets launched a counterattack on the German troops outside Moscow, pushing the Germans back into a defensive battle.
The mass murder of Soviet Jews by the Einsatzgruppen was an essential part of the planning that took place in the six months prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union. Their victims included, but were not limited to, Slavs, Jews, Roma and their political opponents.
The Einsatzgruppen were made up approximately men. They were assisted by the Germany Army and local collaborators. In contrast to the extermination camp system which was used widely for Jews in Germany, Austria and occupied Poland, the Einsatzgruppen murdered their victims where they lived or nearby to where they lived.
Typically, the Einsatzgruppen murdered their victims in mass shootings, however there were also cases of the Einsatzgruppen using mobile gas vans. Einsatzgruppe A covered Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
Einsatzgruppe B covered eastern Poland from Warsaw east and Belorussia. Einsatzgruppe C covered southeastern Poland from Krakow east and western Ukraine. Einsatzgruppe D covered Romania, southern Ukraine and the Crimea. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan. Until the end of , the United States of America had remained a neutral country, not involved in the War.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the most important naval base in America, on 7 December changed this. The USA were caught by surprise by the attack. Over people were killed, and more than people were injured. A large majority of the military vehicles present were destroyed or broken.
The reaction to the sheer devastation caused was immediate. Hitler supported the Japanese attack, and shortly after, on 11 December , declared war on the USA. The USA immediately retaliated, and returned the declaration. The bombing of Pearl Harbour, which brought the United States into the war on the side of the Allies, had a huge impact on the final outcome of the war.
Stalingrad was one of the largest and most brutal battles of the Second World War. Here, German troops run through a trench in the north of Stalingrad during battle. This pamphlet was published in July It circulated the details of a meeting of German resistance in , shortly after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. At Bermuda, the delegates did not deal with the fate of those still in Nazi hands, but rather with those who had already escaped to neutral lands.
Who are the "Righteous Among the Nations"? There were "Righteous Among the Nations" in every country overrun or allied with the Nazis, and their deeds often led to the rescue of Jewish lives. Yad Vashem, the Israeli national remembrance authority for the Holocaust, bestows special honors upon these individuals. To date, after carefully evaluating each case, Yad Vashem has recognized approximately 10, "Righteous Gentiles" in three different categories of recognition.
The country with the most "Righteous Gentiles" is Poland. The country with the highest proportion per capita is the Netherlands. The figure of 10, is far from complete as many cases were never reported, frequently because those who were helped have died. Moreover, this figure only includes those who actually risked their lives to save Jews, and not those who merely extended aid.
The news of the persecution and destruction of European Jewry must be divided into two periods. The measures taken by the Nazis prior to the "Final Solution" were all taken publicly and were, therefore, in all the newspapers. Once the war began, obtaining information became more difficult, but, nonetheless, reports were published regarding the fate of the Jews. The "Final Solution" was not openly publicized by the Nazis, and thus it took longer for information to reach the "Free World.
The response of the Jews in the "Free World" must also be divided into two periods, before and after the publication of information on the "Final Solution. Unfortunately, the views on how to best achieve these goals differed and effective action was often hampered by the lack of internal unity. Moreover, very few Jewish leaders actually realized the scope of the danger. Following the publication of the news of the "Final Solution," attempts were made to launch rescue attempts via neutral states and to send aid to Jews under Nazi rule.
These attempts, which were far from adequate, were further hampered by the lack of assistance and obstruction from government channels. Additional attempts to achieve internal unity during this period failed. Did the Jews in Europe realize what was going to happen to them? Regarding the knowledge of the "Final Solution" by its potential victims, several key points must be kept in mind.
First of all, the Nazis did not publicize the "Final Solution," nor did they ever openly speak about it. Every attempt was made to fool the victims and, thereby, prevent or minimize resistance. Thus, deportees were always told that they were going to be "resettled. Following arrival in certain concentration camps, the inmates were forced to write home about the wonderful conditions in their new place of residence.
The Germans made every effort to ensure secrecy. In addition, the notion that human beings--let alone the civilized Germans--could build camps with special apparatus for mass murder seemed unbelievable in those days. Escapees who did return to the ghetto frequently encountered disbelief when they related their experiences. Even Jews who had heard of the camps had difficulty believing reports of what the Germans were doing there. Inasmuch as each of the Jewish communities in Europe was almost completely isolated, there was a limited number of places with available information.
Thus, there is no doubt that many European Jews were not aware of the "Final Solution," a fact that has been corroborated by German documents and the testimonies of survivors. How many Jews were able to escape from Europe prior to the Holocaust? It is difficult to arrive at an exact figure for the number of Jews who were able to escape from Europe prior to World War II, since the available statistics are incomplete. From , , German and Austrian Jews left their homes. Some immigrated to countries later overrun by the Nazis.
During the years , approximately 35, emigrated from Bohemia and Moravia Czechoslovakia. Shanghai, the only place in the world for which one did not need an entry visa, received approximately 20, European Jews mostly of German origin who fled their homelands.
Immigration figures for countries of refuge during this period are not available. In addition, many countries did not provide a breakdown of immigration statistics according to ethnic groups. It is impossible, therefore, to ascertain. Various organizations attempted to facilitate the emigration of the Jews and non-Jews persecuted as Jews from Germany.
Among the programs launched were the "Transfer Agreement" between the Jewish Agency and the German government whereby immigrants to Palestine were allowed to transfer their funds to that country in conjunction with the import of German goods to Palestine. Other efforts focused on retraining prospective emigrants in order to increase the number of those eligible for visas, since some countries barred the entry of members of certain professions.
Other groups attempted to help in various phases of refugee work: selection of candidates for emigration, transportation of refugees, aid in immigrant absorption, etc. Some groups attempted to facilitate increased emigration by enlisting the aid of governments and international organizations in seeking refugee havens.
The League of Nations established an agency to aid refugees but its success was extremely limited due to a lack of political power and adequate funding. The United States and Great Britain convened a conference in at Evian, France, seeking a solution to the refugee problem.
With the exception of the Dominican Republic, the nations assembled refused to change their stringent immigration regulations, which were instrumental in preventing large-scale immigration.
In , the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, which had been established at the Evian Conference, initiated negotiations with leading German officials in an attempt to arrange for the relocation of a significant portion of German Jewry.
However, these talks failed. Efforts were made for the illegal entry of Jewish immigrants to Palestine as early as July , but were later halted until July Large-scale efforts were resumed under the Mosad le-Aliya Bet, Revisionist Zionists, and private parties. Attempts were also made, with some success, to facilitate the illegal entry of refugees to various countries in Latin America. The key reason for the relatively low number of refugees leaving Europe prior to World War II was the stringent immigration policies adopted by the prospective host countries.
In the United States, for example, the number of immigrants was limited to , per year, divided by country of origin. Moreover, the entry requirements were so stringent that available quotas were often not filled. Schemes to facilitate immigration outside the quotas never materialized as the majority of the American public consistently opposed the entry of additional refugees.
Other countries, particularly those in Latin America, adopted immigration policies that were similar or even more restrictive, thus closing the doors to prospective immigrants from the Third Reich. Great Britain, while somewhat more liberal than the United States on the entry of immigrants, took measures to severely limit Jewish immigration to Palestine. In May , the British issued a "White Paper" stipulating that only 75, Jewish immigrants would be allowed to enter Palestine over the course of the next five years 10, a year, plus an additional 25, This decision prevented hundreds of thousands of Jews from escaping Europe.
The countries most able to accept large numbers of refugees consistently refused to open their gates. Although a solution to the refugee problem was the agenda of the Evian Conference, only the Dominican Republic was willing to approve large-scale immigration. The United States and Great Britain proposed resettlement havens in under-developed areas e. Guyana, formerly British Guiana, and the Philippines , but these were not suitable alternatives.
Two important factors should be noted. At that time, there were no operative plans to kill the Jews. The goal was to induce them to leave, if necessary, by the use of force. It is also important to recognize the attitude of German Jewry. While many German Jews were initially reluctant to emigrate, the majority sought to do so following Kristallnacht The Night of Broken Glass , November , Had havens been available, more people would certainly have emigrated.
He considered this area the natural territory of the German people, an area to which they were entitled by right, the Lebensraum living space that Germany needed so badly for its farmers to have enough soil.
Hitler maintained that these areas were needed for the Aryan race to preserve itself and assure its dominance. There is no question that Hitler knew that, by launching the war in the East, the Nazis would be forced to deal with serious racial problems in view of the composition of the population in the Eastern areas. Soldiers did all they could to attend to the dead and to support the living. Those who survived faced the slow task of reclaiming their dignity and returning—somehow—to life.
As the world struggled to understand what had happened, a new word, genocide, was needed for these crimes—crimes committed by ordinary people from a society not unlike our own.
Explore Museum suggestions for where to begin teaching about the Holocaust. The ceremony at the US Capitol, featuring a candle-lighting and names reading, is happening now. Join us right now to watch a live interview with a survivor, followed by a question-and-answer session. The Museum's commemoration ceremony, including remarks by the German ambassador and a Holocaust survivor, is happening now. What is Genocide? Key Videos Podcasts and Audio.
Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial What is Antisemitism? Holocaust Denial and Distortion Teaching about Antisemitism. Watch on YouTube. Help us teach about the consequences of unchecked hate and antisemitism. Give today. To tell you the truth, I felt as if I was being hit myself but I couldn't interfere. It would have been fatal for me. A victim of Nazi medical experimentation. A victim's arm shows a deep burn from phosphorus at Ravensbrueck, Germany, in November of The photograph shows the results of a medical experiment dealing with phosphorous that was carried out by doctors at Ravensbrueck.
In the experiment, a mixture of phosphorus and rubber was applied to the skin and ignited. After twenty seconds, the fire was extinguished with water. After three days, the burn was treated with Echinacin in liquid form. After two weeks the wound had healed.
This photograph, taken by a camp physician, was entered as evidence during the Doctors Trial at Nuremberg. Jewish prisoners in Buchenwald concentration camp, after the liberation of the camp in American soldiers silently inspect some of the rail trucks loaded with dead which were found on the rail siding at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, on May 3, A starved Frenchman sits among the dead in a sub-camp of the Mittelbau-Dora labor camp, in Nordhausen, Germany, in April of Bodies lie piled against the walls of a crematory room in a German concentration camp in Dachau, Germany.
The bodies were found by U. Seventh Army troops who took the camp on May 14, Three U. Photo taken in an unidentified concentration camp in Germany, at time of liberation by U. This heap of ashes and bones is the debris from one day's killing of German prisoners by 88 troopers in the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar in Germany, shown on April 25, Prisoners at the electric fence of Dachau concentration camp cheer American soldiers in Dachau, Germany in an undated photo.
Some of them wear the striped blue and white prison garb. They decorated their huts with flags of all nations which they had made secretly as they heard the guns of the 42nd Rainbow Division getting louder and louder on the approach to Dachau. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and other American officers in the Ohrdruf concentration camp, shortly after the liberation of the camp in April of As American forces approached, the guards shot the remaining prisoners.
A dying prisoner, too weak to sit up amid his rags and filth, victim of starvation and incredible brutality, at the Nordhausen concentration camp in Germany on April 18, Prisoners on a death march from Dachau move towards the south along the Noerdliche Muenchner Street in Gruenwald, Germany, on April 29, Many thousands of prisoners were marched forcibly from outlying prison camps to camps deeper inside Germany as Allied forces closed in.
Thousands died along the way, anyone unable to keep up was executed on the spot. Pictured, fourth from the right, is Dimitry Gorky who was born on August 19, in Blagoslovskoe, Russia to a family of peasant farmers.
The reason for his imprisonment is not known. Photo released by the U. Holocaust Memorial Museum. American soldiers walk by row after row of corpses lying on the ground beside barracks at the Nazi concentration camp at Nordhausen, Germany, on April 17, The camp is located about 70 miles west of Leipzig.
As the camp was liberated on April 12, the U. Army found more than 3, bodies, and a handful of survivors. A dead prisoner lies in a train carriage near Dachau concentration camp in May of Liberating soldiers of Lt.
General George S.
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