What was The Holocaust?  (Great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire.)
It was the migration and genocide of 6 million out of the 9 million Jews.


After the invasion of Poland, Germans established Ghettos.  Ghettos were confined areas where Jews were held captive because of there cultural minority (As to Germans who thought they were a superior race).  The Germans herded Jews from all around Europe.  Some Jewish escaped into forests, and started rebellions but many knew that the German army was bigger and didn't resist.  As much as they didn't want to leave there homes they had no choice.  They had to leave all their belongings behind.  Instead they were pushed into dense ghettos the biggest one being The Warsaw Ghetto in Poland followed by The Łódź Ghetto.  The Warsaw Ghetto inhabited around 400, 000 people in around 13 square kilometers!

This is Hitler's chart to determine Jewish you are, ex. Full black circle means 100% Jewish
and Full white circle means 100% German

Hitler found ghettos an insufficient way to kill Jews so he established death camps. So, as more people were migrated from around Poland, The Warsaw Ghetto's population stayed about the same.

Many of the Jewish considered emigrating, but they had no where to go.  Most of Europe was controlled by Nazi and the borders were heavily guarded.

These Ghetto's were surrounded by an 11 foot wall with barb wire on the top and heavily guarded on the outside.  The Jewish had no power and were considered an "Alien race" or as Hitler labelled them "A virus."  Many rules were forced upon the Jews including a curfew which if they ignored they could be shot on the spot.

Life was hard in the Ghetto.  Many struggled to survive as the rest just died off.  Food was scarce, labor was hard.  Many dreamed that one day they would be free.

Ben Kamm

A teenage boy named Ben Kamm was a Jewish resident of the Warsaw Ghetto at one point.  He found a hole in the wall and was able to slip out.  Luckily, he was Blond haired and blue eyed meaning he could fit right in with the population.  He could gather food for his family unnoticed.

The were rumors in the Ghetto of rebels hiding in the woods.  Ben joined the "Partisans"  and fought along side them ambushing police, intercepting trade and many more dangerous missions.  Ben returned to his ghetto and asked his family if his little brothers could join the partisans, but they believed they would be released soon and it would be safer in the ghetto.  Unfortunately Ben never saw any of his family again.

After the war some Jews tried to go back to their old lives but found it very difficult because there was still much discrimination from neighbors and such.  Many of the Jewish moved to America, as well as Ben Kamm.  He married a nice lady and had kids.  He died after a successful life in 2002.  A lot of Jews also moved to Israel, which was not a country yet, but after 3 years they became independent.

After Effects

Just to show the devastation caused by the Germans, Lodz had a Jewish population of about 215,000 just before the war, and after the Holocaust about 800 Jews were left in Lodz.  So almost all of the Jews were killed and the survivors were sorry.


After the war, some tried to publish books on the Holocaust to prevent it from happening again and to give us a constant reminder. Some of the texts were too gruesome or sad to print at the time so they kept trying. Some never found any survivors of their families, but heard what had happened to them (gunned down, escaped then re-captured and killed by dogs, burned in the incinerator/gas chambers, etc.). If you were a Nazi or guard and were arrested by the US you were interrogated in court.