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On January 30 of 1933 Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor, the most powerful position in the German government, by President Hidenburg. Hitler was the leader of the right-wing National Socialist German Workers Party (called the Nazi Party for short). In 1933 about 9 million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be taken over by the Nazi regime in 1945. More than 5,750,000 Jews were systematically killed. That meant every two out of three Jews were killed. Hundreds of thousands of Gypsies (Roma) and at least 250,000 mentally and physically disabled people were killed. Millions of other innocent people were killed. More than three million prisoner Soviets were killed because of their nationality. Poles and other Slavs were kept for slav labor, killing about two million. Anti-socialists and thousands of polictical and religious dissidents such as communists, socialists, trade unionists, and Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted for their beliefs and behavior. Many of these people died because of maltreatment. Concentration camps were most associated with the Holocaust. They remain a symbol of the Nazi regime. The first concentration camp opened after the Nazis took power in January of 1933. They lasted as a basic part of Nazi rule until May 8 of 1945 when the regime ended. Holocaust Links: The Holocaust: An Historical Summary |
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