We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of all donors.
![American soldiers view the bodies of prisoners laid out in rows in an open field at Ohrdruf, a subcamp of Buchenwald in Germany. [LCID: 38099]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/f1997598-e9d6-426e-bdc6-41d3ff9ccb45.jpg.pagespeed.ce.mYQppyNBc6.jpg)
Featured Article
Concentration Camp System: In Depth
The camp system was extensive. It included concentration camps, labor camps, prisoner-of-war camps, transit camps, and killing centers.
![Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (left), Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (center), and Soviet foreign minister Viacheslav ... [LCID: 91391]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/7e60e917-99fa-4279-bc6b-07a63e679f9f.jpg.pagespeed.ce.aYqt_q0zpf.jpg)
![Jews carrying bundles of possessions before their deportation from the Kovno ghetto. [LCID: 10687]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/1d5950dc-d9a7-47e4-903c-c3c135c46ef1.jpg.pagespeed.ce.kch0_E_deD.jpg)
![Jews are forced into boxcars destined for the Belzec killing center. [LCID: 63444]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/eae02616-41b4-4697-9938-c1648fb6ea14.jpg.pagespeed.ce.Ie88eOPs6G.jpg)
![Train station near the Treblinka killing center. This photo was found in an album belonging to camp commandant Kurt Franz. [LCID: 35274]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/6650591e-240b-44bd-8cf7-774c8c400c9b.jpg.pagespeed.ce.1N9cTdCkXY.jpg)
![American Olympic runner Jesse Owens and other Olympic athletes compete in the twelfth heat of the first trial of the 100m dash. [LCID: 14523a]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/0623da87-2aa7-4e7b-bec6-b2285030315e.jpg.pagespeed.ce.d8RMmEuUBW.jpg)
Explore the Encyclopedia
ID Cards
Explore the ID Cards to learn more about personal experiences during the Holocaust
Browse A-Z
Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically
Discussion Questions
How and why was the Holocaust possible?