The Holocaust
How a state organised the murder of six million Jews, along with Roma, disabled people, and others it classed as enemies. It happened in steps, from law and propaganda to exclusion, ghettos and killing centres, and the record of those steps survives.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe the sequence from law and propaganda through exclusion and ghettos to mass murder
- Say roughly how many Jewish people were murdered and name other groups that were targeted
- Name a kind of evidence historians work from, such as survivor testimony, camp records, or the perpetrators' own paperwork
- Give one example of resistance or of rescue
1 · Read
The murder of six million Jews did not happen in one burst. It came in steps: harsh laws, hateful propaganda, boycotts, exclusion, ghettos, then deportations to killing centres. Each step made the next one easier for the killers, so step by step is the key idea you must hold.
Jews were the main target, and Roma people, disabled people, political opponents, and others the regime classed as enemies were targeted too. The state ran the killing with paperwork, trains, and guards. Because it was organised on paper, so much evidence survives.
Weigh two kinds of proof side by side. On one side sit camp lists, orders, and photos the killers kept themselves. On the other sit diaries and spoken memory from survivors. Historians trust the picture where both kinds agree, and that is how we know what happened.
Not everyone behaved the same: some joined in, some watched, some hid neighbours at mortal risk, and a few fought back in ghetto uprisings or partisan groups. Genocide is built through choices, which means early steps like sorting people into enemies can be spotted and opposed.
Murder came by steps, the paperwork left proof, and choice at each step is why early warnings matter.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
This opens up
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.