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In 1945, there was no word for the Holocaust, the most horrific event of World War II. It was the Nazi attempt to kill all ews, as well as other !"ndesira#les,$ "nder their control. %his was part of a racist Nazi ideolo&' that considered (r'ans)white Northern *"ropean &entiles)s"perior to other people. +itler #e&an to persec"te the ews as soon as he came to power. In 19,5, the Nuremberg Laws denied citizenship to ews and se&re&ated them at ever' level of societ'. (cts of violence a&ainst ews were common. %he most serio"s occ"rred on Novem#er 9, 19,., and is called Kristallnacht, the !Ni&ht of /roken 0lass.$ 1ecret police and militar' "nits destro'ed more than 233 s'na&o&"es and 4,533 ewish #"sinesses, killed more than 233 ews, and in5"red more than 633 others. +itler7s !8inal 1ol"tion to the ewish 9"estion$ was genocide, the willf"l annihilation of all ews livin& in re&ions "nder his control. ews and other !"ndesira#les$ were confined in concentration camps. In theor', the camps were desi&ned to t"rn prisoners into !"sef"l mem#ers$ of the %hird :eich. %here were, however, no restraints on &"ards, who tort"red and killed prisoners witho"t fear of reprisals. Doctors cond"cted #o&"s e;periments that killed prisoners or left them deformed. <an' concentration camps were death camps, where prisoners were s'stematicall' e;terminated. %he lar&est death camp was ("schwitz in so"thern =oland. /efore the war, the >nited 1tates and other co"ntries co"ld have done more if the' had rela;ed immi&ration policies and accepted more ewish ref"&ees. ?nce the war started, news of the mass killin&s #e&an to filter to the West. In earl' 1944, 8D: #e&an to respond and esta#lished the War Refugee Board, which worked with the :ed Cross to save tho"sands of *astern *"ropean ews. %he enormit' of the Nazi crime #ecame real for most (mericans onl' when (llied soldiers #e&an to li#erate the concentration camps. %he revelation of the +oloca"st increased (merican s"pport for a ewish homeland. %herefore, when ewish settlers in =alestine proclaimed the state of Israel, =resident %r"man immediatel' reco&nized the new nation.

Review Questions
. What was the p"rpose of +itler7s concentration camps@

!. +ow did the >nited 1tates respond to the +oloca"st@

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