Virtual Book Display: In Memory of Six Million

Text for Holocaust Virtual Display
1. In Memory of Six Million

2. In 1933, there were Jews in every European country. Approximately nine million Jews lived in the countries that would be occupied by Germany during World War II. By the end of the war, two out of every three of these Jews were dead. Europe Against the Jews 1880-1945. The Story of the Jews: Belonging, 1492-1900. The Wandering Jews. A Yiddish World Remembered.

3. Adolf Hitler became the German Chancellor on January 30, 1933. Within six months, Germany transformed from a democratic state to a Nazi dictatorship. November 9-10, 1938, Nazis in Germany attacked Jewish people and property. The night became known as Kristallnacht – Night of Broken Glass. Hitler’s First Hundred Days. A Concise History of Nazi Germany. Army of Evil. Kristallnacht Prelude to Destruction. 48 Hours of Kristallnacht

4. German authorities established the first ghetto in occupied Poland in October 1939. Jews were forced to move into these ghettos, where the vast majority died from starvation, disease, shooting, or deportation to killing centers. In the Ghetto of Warsaw. Renia’s Diary. Rwyka’s Diary.

5. Nazis established the first concentration camp in 1933 for political prisoners. During the war, the camps became sites of forced labor and mass murder, targeting real or perceived enemies of Nazi Germany as well as those deemed inferior, such as Jews and Gypsies. Conditions in the camps were appalling, including starvation, disease, exposure, mistreatment, and horrific medical experiments. 999. The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz. By Chance Alone. KL. Night. The Long Night. Surviving Birkenau.

6. The concentration camps were liberated by Allied forces in 1944-1945 and the full scope of the Nazi horrors were exposed to the world. Many survivors ended up in displaced persons camps, fearing to return home due to persistent anti-Semitism. The Liberators. All the Horrors of War. Memory of the Camps. The Last Million.

7. Many Jews wanted to leave Europe, especially for the United States and Palestine, but faced considerable difficulty, such as strict immigration quotas. After the State of Israel was established in 1948, thousands of Jewish displaced persons & refugees streamed into the new country. Measure of a Man. From Broken Glass. Out of the Depths. The Long Way Home.

9. In Memory of Six Million