The Holocaust and Shoah

Historical Context Essay

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During World War II, as the Nazi empire began to expand first into Poland, and then into the Soviet Union, official policy initially called for the extermination of many people, primarily men, who were likely to form a core of resistance. In 1941, this evolved rapidly into the shooting of Jewish men, women and children, and other “undesirable” people in the path of the invading army. By the end of the year, a program for the total extermination of all European Jews was launched. Camps were erected specifically for massive killing operations, primarily by gassing and exhaustion through slave labor and malnutrition. Jews from the west and from countries allied with the Nazis were brought by train to the death camps. Jews of the …

4197 words

Citation: Browder, George C.. "The Holocaust and Shoah". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 November 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1547, accessed 29 March 2024.]

1547 The Holocaust and Shoah 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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