Why it started?
The Holocaust started gradually. Centuries of ingrained theological anti-Judaism led to racial antisemitism, which resulted in the desire to eliminate the Jews from within Christian lands. The extermination aspect of the Holocaust started in 1941, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, when the Germans instituted the systematic process of murdering all Jews under their jurisdiction first by shooting and then by gassing them. Another reason the holocaust started was partly the allied powers from world war 1s fault. At the end of the war the allies treated Germany a bit too harsh. This angered a few people such as Adolf Hitler ( Who was a pilot during the war) this led him to start one of the biggest mass genocide in history.
The Beginning
Hitler who was angered at the overdone punishment of Germany, created the fascist Nazi party to eventually become a dictator and have revenge on the rest of Europe. At first, Jewish businesses were boycotted and vandalized, books by Jewish authors were publicly burnt and all Jews were dismissed from public positions. In 1935, the so-called Nuremberg Laws were enacted, which deprived Jews of their citizenship and forbade marriage to "German citizens". This was the beginning of the systematic campaign of persecution of Jews, sanctioned by law.
By the time Germany marched into Poland in 1939 and World War II began, all Jewish property in areas under Nazi control (including Austria and Czechoslovakia) had been confiscated and Jews herded into ghettos and labor camps. As the German Army advanced into the Balkans and the Soviet Union, Nazi SS squads annihilated the Jewish population of whole towns and villages, and transported many thousands to concentration camps.
The Jews in Germany were bewildered and frightened. Some chose to leave, and emigrated to the United States, the Iberian Peninsula and British Mandatory Palestine. But the majority stayed in Germany, hoping that the "madness" would pass, or at least not increase in its severity. There was no public expression of disapproval of Nazi policies - not by German citizens, church leaders or foreign powers - and this deafening silence brought to the surface the deep-rooted anti-Semitism prevalent in Europe.
By the time Germany marched into Poland in 1939 and World War II began, all Jewish property in areas under Nazi control (including Austria and Czechoslovakia) had been confiscated and Jews herded into ghettos and labor camps. As the German Army advanced into the Balkans and the Soviet Union, Nazi SS squads annihilated the Jewish population of whole towns and villages, and transported many thousands to concentration camps.
The Jews in Germany were bewildered and frightened. Some chose to leave, and emigrated to the United States, the Iberian Peninsula and British Mandatory Palestine. But the majority stayed in Germany, hoping that the "madness" would pass, or at least not increase in its severity. There was no public expression of disapproval of Nazi policies - not by German citizens, church leaders or foreign powers - and this deafening silence brought to the surface the deep-rooted anti-Semitism prevalent in Europe.