The Holocaust was a terrible time in history. When Hitler came into power in 1933 the ruthless deaths of over 600,000 Jews was about to occur. Though today some people still refuse to believe that it ever occured, the proof of evidence that it did is too obvious to disregard.
The German society was encouraged to hate Jews and was told that there needed to be pure racial lines. As time passed laws were made that restricted the freedom of Jews. Any person with one or more Jewish grandparents could be classed as a Jew. All Jewish shops were boycotted and lost business, signs were put up that segregated them, later Jews were cruelly beat, and all Jews had to wear yellow star as a symbol of their differences. The infamous Nuremberg laws were posted and life for Jews became difficult. On Nov. 9th of 1938 violence reached a peak. The Jews were unprepared for the attacks because they were well established in the community. SS workers raided homes and shops, nine Jews were killed, and over 30,000 were arrested. This terrible night became known as Kristallnacht, or " the night of broken glass", because there was shattered glass everywhere, which the Jews were forced to clean up (Spencer 98-100).
Many people ask why the Jews didn't fight back. Some Jews innocently believed that they were being sent off to work, while others were just in fear. Still others told themselves that it would soon be over, and so sustained from trying to get away (Rossel 60-61).
The Jews weren't the only ones that faced death during the Holocaust. Homosexuals, Gypsies, "non Aryrans", Jehovah's witnesses, and other racial inferiors were also slaughtered (Bachrach 20). The handicapped were especially hated and viewed as useless, and Hitler even thought that the Holocaust "was the best time for the incurably ill"(Bachrach 32). Also murdered were the senile, any person in a hospital, nursing home, or asylum for five or more years, and deformed babies (Rogasky 59-60).
