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Belle Mayer trained as a lawyer and worked for the General Counsel of the US Treasury, Foreign Funds Control Bureau. This bureau worked to enforce the Trading With the Enemy Act passed by Congress. In this capacity, Mayer became familiar with the German I. G. Farben chemical company, a large conglomerate that used slave labor during World War II. In 1945, Mayer was sent as a Department of Treasury representative to the postwar London Conference. She was present as representatives from the Allied nations…
Martin Weiss and his family were deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Explore Marty’s biography and his description of arrival in Auschwitz.
John Dolibois immigrated to the United States in 1931 at the age of 13. After graduating from college, Dolibois joined the 16th Armored Division of the US Army. Due to his German language skills, he became involved in military intelligence. He returned to Europe in this capacity toward the end of World War II. Dolibois interrogated German prisoners of war, including leading Nazis, in preparation for the postwar trials of war criminals. He was later appointed US ambassador to Luxembourg, his birthplace.
Hitler's political opponents were the first victims of systematic Nazi persecution. They were incarcerated without trial and under conditions of great cruelty.
Between 1938 and 1941, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied much of Europe, bringing millions of Jews under its control. The United States remained neutral during this period. Though many Americans were sympathetic to the plight of Europe’s Jews, the majority did not want to increase immigration, nor see the United States become involved in World War II.
John Dos Passos was an American author who served in World War I. During the Nazi book burnings of 1933, his works were burned for their leftist leanings.
Eugenics in Germany Following Germany’s defeat in World War I and during the political and economic crises of the Weimar Republic, ideas known as racial hygiene or eugenics began to inform population policy, public health education, and government-funded research. Proponents of eugenics argued that by keeping the “unfit” alive to reproduce and multiply, modern medicine and costly welfare programs interfered with natural selection. (Natural selection was the concept that Charles Darwin applied to the…
Persecution of Jews and other groups was not solely the result of measures originating with Hitler and other Nazi zealots. Nazi leaders required the active help or cooperation of professionals working in diverse fields who in many instances were n...
Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, aimed to eliminate Europe's Jews and other perceived enemies of Nazi Germany. Learn more.
Since its founding, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) relief organization has assisted refugees fleeing persecution. Learn about its work during WWII and the Holocaust.
Describes her arrival in Sweden, at the war's end, with the aid of the Red Cross
Communism is an economic and political philosophy grounded in the belief that societies are shaped by their economic systems. According to communist teachings, capitalist societies create social problems by dividing...
Insignia of the 89th Infantry Division. The 89th Infantry Division's nickname, the "Rolling W," is based on the division's insignia. Created during World War I, this insignia utilized a letter "M" inside a wheel. When the wheel turns, the "M" becomes a "W." The letters "MW" signify the mid-west origin of the troops who formed the 89th during World War I. The division was also known as the "Middle West" division, another variation on its origin.
After WWII and the fall of the Nazi regime, Holocaust survivors faced the daunting task of rebuilding their lives. Listen to Aron and Lisa Derman's story.
Before the Nazi rise to power, Jews represented less than 1% of Germany's population. Learn more about Jewish communities in Germany before the Holocaust.
The 8th Armored Division participated in major WWII campaigns and is recognized for liberating the Halberstadt-Zwieberge subcamp of Buchenwald in 1945.
Read about the Nazi persecution of Afro-Germans, as well as the experiences of African Americans in Nazi Germany.
Leopold was a teacher in Krakow, Poland, when World War II began in 1939. While serving in the Polish army, he was captured by Germans. Leopold escaped from a prisoner-of-war transport. Soon after, he met the German industrialist Oskar Schindler. The two became friends. Leopold was forced to live in the Krakow ghetto. He later worked in Schindler's factory in Bruennlitz. He and the other Jews who worked there were treated relatively well and protected from the Nazis. After the war, Leopold moved to the…
Learn about the North African military campaigns of World War II which took place between September 13, 1940, and May 13, 1943.
Arnold Zweig was a German novelist and playwright. The Nazis denounced him as a pacifist, and his works were burned in 1933. Learn more.
Belle Mayer trained as a lawyer and worked for the General Counsel of the US Treasury, Foreign Funds Control Bureau. This bureau worked to enforce the Trading With the Enemy Act passed by Congress. In this capacity, Mayer became familiar with the German I. G. Farben chemical company, a large conglomerate that used slave labor during World War II. In 1945, Mayer was sent as a Department of Treasury representative to the postwar London Conference. She was present as representatives from the Allied nations…
After World War II ended, the Allies established courts in each of their occupied zones in Germany to prosecute German officials for their role in the commission of war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity. American military tribunals in Nuremberg, Germany, presided over 12 major proceedings against leading German industrialists, military figures, SS perpetrators, and others. Included among these Subsequent Nuremberg Trials was the RuSHA Case.
The Armenian genocide refers to the physical annihilation of ethnic Armenian Christian people living in the Ottoman Empire from spring 1915 through autumn 1916. There were approximately 1.5 million Armenians living in the Empire. At least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million died during the genocide. Armenians call these events Medz Yeghern (the great crime) or Aghet (catastrophe). The Armenian Genocide The origin of the term genocide and its codification in international law have their roots in…
World War I (1914–18) saw the first use of poison gas as a weapon of war. In this oil painting, John Singer Sargent depicted the aftermath of a mustard gas attack on British soldiers during a battle in August 1918. A line of soldiers, with bandaged eyes injured by the gas, hold on to one another as they are led to medical treatment. Around them are rows of other soldiers injured by the effects of the mustard gas, which could cause injuries such as burns and temporary blindness. © IWM (Art.IWM ART…
Learn about Jewish communal life and politics in Munkacs between WWI and WWII, including leaders, acculturation, Zionism, and communal organizations there.
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