| | [[Image:Warsaw ghetto.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Jewish families are forced from the Warsaw Ghetto in the aftermath of its destruction by the SS in 1943. Their final destination was the killing center at Treblinka.]] | | [[Image:Warsaw ghetto.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Jewish families are forced from the Warsaw Ghetto in the aftermath of its destruction by the SS in 1943. Their final destination was the killing center at Treblinka.]] |
| | The '''Holocaust''' was systematic destruction by the [[Nazis]] of [[Jews|Jewish culture]], society, and, in ''die Endlösung'' (the '''Final Solution'''), the lives of Jews, Slavs, the disabled, Roma, and all others viewed as racially inferior, from 1933 to 1945. Before [[Hitler]] and the [[Nazis]] came to national power in 1933, they [[demonize]]d the Jews as subhuman and the cause of all [[Germany]]'s troubles. Once in power, the Nazis first removed the Jews from positions of power and prestige, initially by [[gun control]];<ref>See many articles from [[Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership]]</ref> from 1938–41 they imposed severe restrictions on Jews in Germany (many of whom fled). The systematic killings started in 1941, as the [[SS]] under [[Heinrich Himmler]] rounded up all the Jews they could find in the areas under Nazi control, and ultimately killed about 6 million through mobile SS death squads and in the extermination camps. Millions of non-Jews were also killed in separate Nazi operations. | | The '''Holocaust''' was systematic destruction by the [[Nazis]] of [[Jews|Jewish culture]], society, and, in ''die Endlösung'' (the '''Final Solution'''), the lives of Jews, Slavs, the disabled, Roma, and all others viewed as racially inferior, from 1933 to 1945. Before [[Hitler]] and the [[Nazis]] came to national power in 1933, they [[demonize]]d the Jews as subhuman and the cause of all [[Germany]]'s troubles. Once in power, the Nazis first removed the Jews from positions of power and prestige, initially by [[gun control]];<ref>See many articles from [[Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership]]</ref> from 1938–41 they imposed severe restrictions on Jews in Germany (many of whom fled). The systematic killings started in 1941, as the [[SS]] under [[Heinrich Himmler]] rounded up all the Jews they could find in the areas under Nazi control, and ultimately killed about 6 million through mobile SS death squads and in the extermination camps. Millions of non-Jews were also killed in separate Nazi operations. |
| | + | During the early 1930s, Communists collaborated with Nazis in the [[Prussian Landtag referendum]]<ref>Childers, Thomas (1983). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Nazi_Voter/Do3CCQ2rkBoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=landtag+referendum+communists+nazis&pg=PA195&printsec=frontcover The Nazi Voter: The Social Foundations of Fascism in Germany, 1919-1933]. ''Google Books''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref><ref>Moncure, Billy (September 28, 2018). [https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/communists-allied-with-nazis.html How Communists in Germany Allied with Nazis to Destroy Democracy]. ''War History Online''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref> and [[Berlin transport strike]],<ref>Edwards, Lee (November 1999). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Collapse_of_Communism/AglXAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=nazi+communist+transport+strike&pg=PA58&printsec=frontcover The Collapse of Communism], p. 58. ''Google Books''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref><ref>Bullock, Alan (1962). [https://archive.org/details/hitlerstudyintyr0000bull Hitler: A Study in Tyranny], pp. 229–32. ''Internet Archive''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref><ref>McKenzie, John Richard Philip (1971). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Weimar_Germany_1918_1933/6RFoAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=nazis+transport+strike+bolsheviks+bourgeoisie&dq=nazis+transport+strike+bolsheviks+bourgeoisie&printsec=frontcover Weimar Germany, 1918-1933], p. 238. ''Google Books''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref> all but ensuring Hitler's rise to power and eventual mass murder of six million Jews. Communists, along with Social Democrats,<ref>Fischer, Conan (April 3, 1991). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_German_Communists_and_the_Rise_of_Na/DXqJDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=communist+recruits+sturmabteilung&pg=PA110&printsec=frontcover The German Communists and the Rise of Nazism], p. 110. ''Google Books''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref> also comprised a large bulk of ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA) recruits<ref>Brown, Timothy Scott (April 23, 2009). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Weimar_Radicals/nnZyz6JOKlQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=communist+recruits+%22stormtroopers&pg=PA139&printsec=frontcover Weimar Radicals: Nazis and Communists Between Authenticity and Performance], pp. 137–39. ''Google Books''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref><ref>Fischer, Conan (1996). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Rise_of_National_Socialism_and_the_W/B2RiYX6aC68C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=communist+recruit+stormtroopers&pg=PA108&printsec=frontcover The Rise of National Socialism and the Working Classes in Weimar Germany], p. 108. ''Google Books''. Retrieved October 8, 2023.</ref> who later continued in Nazi ranks and participated in the mass murders of innocent Jews, Christians, Roma, and Eastern Europeans. |
| | The Holocaust was known but downplayed between 1945–1960, but since 1960 has become one of the central memories and horrors of [[World War II]], shaping policies by and towards [[Israel]] and profoundly shaping the modern conceptions of guilt and evil. | | The Holocaust was known but downplayed between 1945–1960, but since 1960 has become one of the central memories and horrors of [[World War II]], shaping policies by and towards [[Israel]] and profoundly shaping the modern conceptions of guilt and evil. |