The+Final+Solution

** __Final Solution__ ** ** Read the information below to find out what __really__ happened during the Holocaust. ** __**The Final Solution**__ During the WANNSEE CONFERENCE, senior Nazi officials, most with doctorates, discussed what the Endlösung, o r Final Solution, would be. The conference would be a turning point in Jewish policy, and it would decide what would be done about the Jews in Europe. One of the ideas was to send the Jews to MADAGASCAR, and get them out of Europe. This was deemed impractical during wartime, however, and the idea was tossed. Another idea was to transport them to Eastern Europe, toward Russia, eventually working up to “the future final solution” (Berenbaum). The Conference lasted only 90 minutes, but during that time, the plan was established: the eventual extermination of Jews, all while moving them east through concentration camps. Once decided, all that was left to do was to put the plan in action (Berenbaum). **__Putting the plan in action__ ** In March of 1942, the extermination camp Belzec was opened, and became operational in Poland. In March the deportation of many different types of Jews, like Polish Jews, German Jews, and Austrian Jews, began to Auschwitz. By June 30th 1942 it had been reported that over 1,000,000 Jews had already been killed by the Nazis. The Endlösung was already in full effect. Between September and October, many deportations began sending Jews to Auschwitz. In December of 1942, exterminations at Belzec ended after about 600,000 Jews were killed. The camp is then plowed over, and then planted. (Holocaust Timeline) **In 1943, the number of Jews killed far surpassed 1 million, and the Nazis began burning and burying the bodies to hide the evidence. In May of 1943, Dr. Mengele, the infamous doctor of the Nazis, arrived at Auschwitz (Sheehan). His experiments were cruel, and he determined who wouldl live and who wouldl die. Only six death camp ****s were ever made, although there were still labor camps and concentration camps. All camps had very poor conditions, such as no proper housing, or clothin ****g, the death camps were the worst, because they had been made to kill people, and the few survivors in the camp hardly lasted very long. ALLIED FORCES WERE NOT AWARE OF WHAT WAS BEING DONE at these c ****amps, and so it was not their top priority to try and l ****iberate the ****se camps when compared to winning the war. **  **By May 24th, 1944 an estimated 100,000 people had been gassed. Throughout the rest of 1944, at least another 2 million people had been murdered. However, on October 28th, the last deportation of Jews arrived at Auschwitz, and two days later, on October 30th, the gas chambers were used for the last time. Starting in late 1944, and going through early 1945, the Nazis began conducting death marches--forced marches of prisoners or slaves without much nutrition. Finally, in January of 1945, Auschwitz and Warsaw were liberated (History Timeline). An estimated 2 million people died in Auschwitz alone. On April 30th, 1945, Hitler committed suicide in one of his bunkers. On May 7th, 1945 Germany surrendered to the Allied Powers. By the end of 1945 the concentration camps had all been liberated and shut down, and the Jews free. **


 * __Significance__**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It had been a dark time for Jews, homosexuals, and other minorities that were targeted by the Nazis. They had under gone extreme hatred, had been systematically executed, had lost family members, belongings, and their livelihoods. But now, there was a ray of hope on the horizon. The Jews were promised a country, where they could live in peace and attempt to rebuild their lives. It was Israel, but there was a problem. Another group of people were already living there: The Palestinians. It was a holy land for them, and they were not happy to be unceremoniously kicked out of the country. The resulting tension between the two groups of people would be a main cause of modern-day terrorism, and the cause of even more unnecessary fighting. **