The Holocaust, (called Ha-Shoah in Hebrew) refers to the state sponsored murder and persecution of about six million Jews by the German Nazi regime and its collaborators, leading into and during the Second World War. The word itself means, "Sacrifice by fire".
The Holocaust has no other comparison in the annals of human history because of the sheer extent of the terror it spread.
In 1933 the population of Jews in Europe was about nine million. After Adolf Hitler came to power on a campaign of aggressive foreign policy, focus on domestic unification and the idea of racial superiority - nearly two thirds of the Jewish people in the continent had perished.
The 'Final Solution' to the 'Jewish Problem' was, of course, murder.
Although Jews, who were seen by Hitler and the Nazi regime as primarily responsible for Germany's capitulation in the First World War, in addition to being inferior as a race, were the primary targets, several other demographics also received attention during the holocaust.
The knowledge that even though the contents shall be often-times shocking and heart-wrenching, this chapter in human history needs to be read and processed by us to prevent such a heinous crime from ever happening again.
