The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community.
During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.
well.... was a genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany. Two-thirds of the population of nine million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust were killed.
Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including Romani, Soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet civilians, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses and other political and religious opponents, which occurred whether they were of German or non-German ethnic origin.
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews including 1.5 million Jewish children in Europe by the Nazi regime and its collaborators that took place between 1933-1945. Millions of others were caught up in the Nazi web of destruction as well. When Hitler became chancellor in 1933, the German government began passing laws removing the rights of the Jews as citizens. Ultimately, in German-occupied Europe, the Jews were forced by law to live in specific zones within the cities, called ghettos. From there, the Nazis deported many Jews to labor camps and death camps. In addition to the Jews, the Nazis targeted other minority groups including, political dissidents, the disabled and those with genetic diseases, the Roma or Gypsies, the Poles, Soviet POWs, male homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In December of 1942, a single Nazi decree ordered Gypsies from all over Europe to be deported to the death camp in Auschwitz; 16,000 were immediately murdered. Such crimes as these finally stopped when American troops liberated the camps in 1945 and ended the Nazi regime. Many of the survivors were forced to go to Displaced Persons (DP) camps because their homes and families had been destroyed. Children were hidden in orphanages throughout Europe, while their surviving relatives struggled to find them. Although the world has attempted to prosecute many of the Nazi war criminals in trials such as the famous Nuremburg Trials, many escaped with light sentences, if any at all. Moreover, some of these Nazi officials are still in hiding today.
Starting in the 1940's, when the majority of the killings took place, some people described the massacre as "the Hitler holocaust"1 or "the Nazi holocaust"2. However, only much later, when full accounts of what had happened came to light, were fully accepted in society, and frequently talked about, did people start using the term "the Holocaust," Holocaust being capitalized and being proceeded by the word "the." My aim is to trace the evolution of this word, starting before World War II when the word solely referred to destruction by fire, tracking its usage during World War II, when it was used in the previous manner and also as a term to specifically describe the Nazis killing of the Jews, and finally how the common usage of the noun has diminished greatly while its proper usage, the Holocaust, has increased.
As a case study, the coverage of the Holocaust and evolution of the word as it appears in the newspaper the New York Times was studied. This newspaper is good to use because it is a large paper, it has a significant Jewish readership, so the paper is more likely to talk about the Holocaust then other papers whose audience is not as Jewish, and every issue of the newspaper has been indexed digitally starting in 1851 and continuing to this day. I have also tracked the term in dictionaries published over the past one hundred years to see how the definition of the word has evolved to incorporate the events that took place during World War II. Aside from looking at the word holocaust, other terms that have been used to describe the massacre of the Jews are examined as well. These terms include the Shoah, Churban, and the Final Solution.
The history of Jews in Germany is nearly two thousand years old. The earliest evidence of Jewish settlements in the German provinces can be traced all the way back to the Roman Empire. While the first several centuries were a period of relative peace and prosperity, the period between the Crusades and World War II were often marked with persecution and discrimination starting with the massacre of hundreds of Jews in 1096 and ending with the Final Solution which sought to exterminate the Jewish people.
During latter part of the 18th century, Jewish life in Germany achieved a level of stability for a number of years. On July 3, 1869, the North German Confederation declared that "all existing limitations on civil rights derived from a difference in religious persuasion are hereby eliminated." Two years later, Otto von Bismarck, united all German lands under the leadership of Prussia. The new German Reich finally granted Jews the equality they had sought for so long. Once emancipated, Jews were allowed to move to cities, establish shops, and take part as elected officials in parliament.
The holocaust was basically a a timein history where nazi ruled and killed over 6 million jews. "Holocaust" comes from the greek meaning "holokauston" wich means "sacrafice by fire". one of the ways they murdered jews. they didnt only foucous on the jews though.
Adolf hitler focoused on people who didnt/couldnt/wouldnt follow the nasi's. Most of wich were Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the disabled. during that time the nasi's used the term "The final solution" refering to the murder of those people
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The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community.
During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.
well....
was a genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany. Two-thirds of the population of nine million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust were killed.
Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including Romani, Soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet civilians, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses and other political and religious opponents, which occurred whether they were of German or non-German ethnic origin.
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews including 1.5 million Jewish children in Europe by the Nazi regime and its collaborators that took place between 1933-1945. Millions of others were caught up in the Nazi web of destruction as well. When Hitler became chancellor in 1933, the German government began passing laws removing the rights of the Jews as citizens. Ultimately, in German-occupied Europe, the Jews were forced by law to live in specific zones within the cities, called ghettos. From there, the Nazis deported many Jews to labor camps and death camps. In addition to the Jews, the Nazis targeted other minority groups including, political dissidents, the disabled and those with genetic diseases, the Roma or Gypsies, the Poles, Soviet POWs, male homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In December of 1942, a single Nazi decree ordered Gypsies from all over Europe to be deported to the death camp in Auschwitz; 16,000 were immediately murdered. Such crimes as these finally stopped when American troops liberated the camps in 1945 and ended the Nazi regime. Many of the survivors were forced to go to Displaced Persons (DP) camps because their homes and families had been destroyed. Children were hidden in orphanages throughout Europe, while their surviving relatives struggled to find them. Although the world has attempted to prosecute many of the Nazi war criminals in trials such as the famous Nuremburg Trials, many escaped with light sentences, if any at all. Moreover, some of these Nazi officials are still in hiding today.
Starting in the 1940's, when the majority of the killings took place, some people described the massacre as "the Hitler holocaust"1 or "the Nazi holocaust"2. However, only much later, when full accounts of what had happened came to light, were fully accepted in society, and frequently talked about, did people start using the term "the Holocaust," Holocaust being capitalized and being proceeded by the word "the." My aim is to trace the evolution of this word, starting before World War II when the word solely referred to destruction by fire, tracking its usage during World War II, when it was used in the previous manner and also as a term to specifically describe the Nazis killing of the Jews, and finally how the common usage of the noun has diminished greatly while its proper usage, the Holocaust, has increased.
As a case study, the coverage of the Holocaust and evolution of the word as it appears in the newspaper the New York Times was studied. This newspaper is good to use because it is a large paper, it has a significant Jewish readership, so the paper is more likely to talk about the Holocaust then other papers whose audience is not as Jewish, and every issue of the newspaper has been indexed digitally starting in 1851 and continuing to this day. I have also tracked the term in dictionaries published over the past one hundred years to see how the definition of the word has evolved to incorporate the events that took place during World War II. Aside from looking at the word holocaust, other terms that have been used to describe the massacre of the Jews are examined as well. These terms include the Shoah, Churban, and the Final Solution.
Oscar
The history of Jews in Germany is nearly two thousand years old. The earliest evidence of Jewish settlements in the German provinces can be traced all the way back to the Roman Empire. While the first several centuries were a period of relative peace and prosperity, the period between the Crusades and World War II were often marked with persecution and discrimination starting with the massacre of hundreds of Jews in 1096 and ending with the Final Solution which sought to exterminate the Jewish people.
During latter part of the 18th century, Jewish life in Germany achieved a level of stability for a number of years. On July 3, 1869, the North German Confederation declared that "all existing limitations on civil rights derived from a difference in religious persuasion are hereby eliminated." Two years later, Otto von Bismarck, united all German lands under the leadership of Prussia. The new German Reich finally granted Jews the equality they had sought for so long. Once emancipated, Jews were allowed to move to cities, establish shops, and take part as elected officials in parliament.
The holocaust was basically a a timein history where nazi ruled and killed over 6 million jews. "Holocaust" comes from the greek meaning "holokauston" wich means "sacrafice by fire". one of the ways they murdered jews. they didnt only foucous on the jews though.
Adolf hitler focoused on people who didnt/couldnt/wouldnt follow the nasi's. Most of wich were Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the disabled. during that time the nasi's used the term "The final solution" refering to the murder of those people
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