Lesson 3: The Holocaust (World War II)

❌ Nazi Anti-Semitism

The Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, believed that Germans were a "superior" race. Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany’s problems after World War I. This hate is called anti-Semitism.

The Nazis passed unfair laws against Jewish people. Jewish children were kicked out of schools. Jewish shops had signs saying "Don’t Buy from Jews!" Many Jews lost their jobs and homes.

💔 Story: One Jewish boy, Heinz, was not allowed to play soccer with his friends anymore. They told him, “You’re not German. You’re a Jew.” Heinz later escaped and became Henry Kissinger, a famous American leader.

In 1938, a night called Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”) happened. The Nazis broke windows of Jewish homes, schools, and synagogues. Thousands of Jews were arrested. It was a sign that things were going to get worse.

🕳️ The Final Solution

During World War II, Hitler and the Nazis made a terrible plan called the Final Solution. This plan was to kill all the Jews in Europe.

The Nazis built concentration camps and death camps. Jewish families were taken by trains, told they were going to “work,” but many were killed in gas chambers.

🧳 True Story: At Auschwitz, a young girl named Eva Kor and her twin sister were taken by a Nazi doctor named Josef Mengele. He did medical experiments on twins. Eva survived and later started a museum for forgiveness.

By the end of the war, the Nazis had murdered 6 million Jews, and millions of others, including Roma people, disabled people, and political enemies.

🌅 Aftermath of the Holocaust

When Allied soldiers entered the camps in 1945, they were shocked. They saw starving people, piles of shoes, and rooms full of hair and glasses. Many soldiers cried.

The world said, “Never Again.” People put Nazi leaders on trial in a city called Nuremberg. Some were sent to prison or sentenced to death for their crimes.

🕊️ Inspiration: One woman, Anne Frank, wrote a diary while hiding from the Nazis in a small room. She dreamed of peace and being a writer. Though she died in a camp, her diary became famous, and millions of people have read it.