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Czechoslovakia

Lion Feuchtwanger

In 1933, Nazi students at more than 30 German universities pillaged libraries in search of books they considered to be "un-German." Among the literary and political writings they threw into the flames were the works of Lion Feuchtwanger. 

The United States Army Signal Corps

The Signal Corps, a longstanding part of the US Army expanded greatly during WWII. They had a crucial role in documenting the atrocities perpetrated during the Holocaust.

Jewish Community of Kalisz: Youth, Culture, Religion

Julius Streicher: Biography

Henry Morgenthau

Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1891–1967) served as secretary of the treasury in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations from January 1, 1934, until July 22, 1945. In 1943, he became involved in the debate over rescue of Jews. 

Nazi Racism

Joseph Greenblatt

Despite great obstacles, Jews throughout occupied Europe attempted armed resistance against the Germans and their Axis partners. They faced overwhelming odds and desperate scenarios, including lack of weapons and training, operating in hostile zones, parting from family members, and facing an ever-present Nazi terror. Yet thousands resisted by joining or forming partisan units. Among them was Joseph Greenblatt. 

The "Jewish Question"

Nazi Imperialism: An Overview

Aftermath of battle in Danzig

The Treaty of Versailles, imposed on Germany following its defeat in World War I, declared Danzig to be a free city jointly administered by Poland and the League of Nations. Germany bitterly resented the loss of this largely German city, which was also an important port on the Baltic Sea. The return of Danzig to Germany became a central focus of Adolf Hitler's foreign policy. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. After the invasion of Poland, Germany unilaterally annexed Danzig. This German newsreel footage shows cheering crowds welcoming German forces into the city.

German presence in Copenhagen, Denmark

Denmark signed a nonaggression pact with Germany in 1939, hoping to maintain neutrality as it had in World War I. Germany, however, broke the agreement on April 9, 1940, when it occupied Denmark. King Christian X remained on the throne, and the Danish police and government reluctantly accepted the German occupation. This footage shows the German presence in the occupied Danish capital, Copenhagen. In 1943, as German policies towards Denmark toughened, the Danes would form one of the most active and successful resistance campaigns against the German occupation.

Battle for Danzig

The Treaty of Versailles, imposed on defeated Germany following World War I, declared Danzig to be a free city jointly administered by Poland and the League of Nations. Germany bitterly resented the loss of this largely German city, which was also an important port on the Baltic Sea. The return of Danzig became a central feature of Adolf Hitler's foreign policy. This footage shows pro-German forces besieging a Polish garrison in Danzig's main post office. Germany annexed Danzig after the defeat of Poland in September 1939.

Insignia of the 84th Infantry Division

Insignia of the 84th Infantry Division. The 84th Infantry Division derives its nickname, "Railsplitter" division, from the divisional insignia, an ax splitting a rail. This design was created during World War I, when the division was known as the "Lincoln" division to represent the states that supplied soldiers for the division: Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. All figured prominently in the life of President Abraham Lincoln, of log-splitting legend.

Insignia of the 90th Infantry Division

Insignia of the 90th Infantry Division. Called the "Tough Ombres," the 90th Infantry Division was raised from draftees from the states of Texas and Oklahoma during World War I. The divisional insignia incorporates the letters "T" and "O" to symbolize both states. These letters later yielded the nickname "Tough Ombres," symbolizing the esprit de corps of the unit. The 90th was also sometimes called the "Alamo" division during World War II.

Insignia of the 83rd Infantry Division

Insignia of the 83rd Infantry Division. The 83rd Infantry Division received its nickname, the "Thunderbolt" division, after a division-wide contest for a new nickname held in early 1945. The earlier nickname, "Ohio," was based on the division's insignia (which includes the name "Ohio," where the division was raised during World War I). A new nickname was desired to represent the nationwide origins of the division's personnel during World War II.

Insignia of the 101st Airborne Division

Insignia of the 101st Airborne Division. The nickname of the 101st Airborne Division, "Screaming Eagles," originates from the division's insignia, a bald eagle on a black shield. "Old Abe" was the eagle mascot of a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil War. The 101st was formed as a reserve unit in Wisconsin shortly after World War I and included "Old Abe" as part of the division's insignia.

Insignia of the 42nd Infantry Division

Insignia of the 42nd Infantry Division. The nickname of the 42nd Infantry Division, the "Rainbow" division, reflects the composition of the division during World War I. The division was drawn from the National Guards of 26 states and the District of Columbia. It represented a cross section of the American people, as the rainbow represents a cross section of colors.

Poster: "We Women Are Voting Slate 2 National Socialists."

Poster: "We Women Are Voting Slate 2 National Socialists." German women were an important voting bloc. The Nazis made a concerted effort to appeal to women, as exemplified by this 1932 election poster. The Nazis had to repackage their messages to de-emphasize military aims. Hitler consciously modeled some Nazi propaganda appeals to German women on speeches delivered by Benito Mussolini in Fascist Italy, who also had to calm the fears of Italian war widows after World War I. Nazi propagandists attempted to win over newly-enfranchised women voters by portraying the party as the defender of traditional German womanhood, the family, and Christianity. Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Plak 002-042-064)

The 101st Airborne Division during World War II

In 1985, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the US Army's Center of Military History initiated a program to honor US Army divisions that took part in the liberation of Nazi camps. To date, 36 divisions, including the 101st Airborne Division, have been recognized as liberating units.

The 8th Infantry Division during World War II

As Allied troops moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Nazi Germany, they found tens of thousands of concentration camp prisoners in deplorable conditions. Malnutrition and disease were rampant, and corpses lay unburied. The soldiers reacted in shock and disbelief to the evidence of Nazi atrocities. In addition to burying the dead, the Allied forces attempted to help and comfort the survivors with food, clothing and medical assistance.

Locating the Victims

Jewish Community of Monastir: A Community in Flux

The Sephardic Jewish community of Monastir, historically the largest Jewish community in Macedonia. The Jews who trace their ancestry to the Macedonian city known since 1913 as Bitola continue to call the city by the name it bore during centuries of Ottoman rule: Monastir. The final chapter in the history of the Monastir Jewish community came in 1941, when the Germans invaded Yugoslavia and Germany's ally, Bulgaria, occupied Macedonia.

The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936: Inauguration of the Olympic Torch Relay

The German Army and the Racial Nature of the War against the Soviet Union

SS Police State

Featured Artifact: Model of the Lodz Ghetto

Jewish Life in Europe Before the Holocaust

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Jews were living in every country of Europe. A total of roughly nine million Jews lived in the countries that would be occupied by Germany during World War II. By the end of the war, two out of every three of these Jews would be dead, and European Jewish life would be changed forever.

Jewish Population of Europe in 1933: Population Data by Country

Before the Nazis seized power in 1933, Europe had a richly diverse set of Jewish cultures. Many of these cultures were dynamic and highly developed. They drew from hundreds and, in some areas, a thousand or more years of Jewish life on the continent.

Third Reich: An Overview

Deceiving the Public

The Nazis frequently used propaganda to disguise their political aims and deceive the German and international public. They depicted Germany as the victim of Allied and Jewish aggression to hide their true ideological goals and to justify war and violence against innocent civilians.

France

German policies varied from country to country, including direct, brutal occupation and reliance upon collaborating regimes. France was divided into occupied and unoccupied zones, with differing policies in each. 

The United States: Isolation-Intervention

The United States remained neutral during the first two years of World War II, from September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, to December 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. As the Axis forces expanded their territorial holdings in Europe and Asia, Americans debated whether to aid the Allied powers economically or militarily.

The German Military and the Holocaust

The German military participated in many aspects of the Holocaust: supporting Adolf Hitler, using forced labor, and murdering Jews and other groups targeted by the Nazis.

Quakers

Though a small religious movement, the Society of Friends (Quakers) organized relief and advocated rescue in Europe before, during, and after the Holocaust. The American Friends Service Committee became an important part of a rescue network helping refugees. The group worked in French internment camps, hid Jewish children, and assisted thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish refugees with immigration and resettlement to the United States.

Martin Niemöller: Biography

The United States and the Nazi Threat: 1933-37

Nazi Germany’s persecution of Europe’s Jews was not a secret in the United States. Though some Americans protested Nazism, the US response during these early years was limited, in large part because Americans were suffering through the Great Depression and did not want to become entangled in an international conflict in the aftermath of World War I.

Communism

Communism is an economic and political philosophy grounded in the belief that societies are shaped by their economic systems. According to communism, capitalism creates social problems by dividing wealth unfairly between two classes of people. Therefore, the economic system must be reformed to distribute wealth equally. Communist ideas spread rapidly in Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries, offering an alternative to both capitalism and far-right fascism and setting the stage for a political conflict with global repercussions.

Combating Holocaust Denial: Origins of Holocaust Denial

Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939

German troops invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, triggering World War II. In response to German aggression, Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany.

Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany: From the 1890s to the 1930s

Vienna

German Wartime Expansion

Antisemitism

Julien Bryan

Julien Bryan was an important US documentary filmmaker and photographer who captured the everyday life, work, and culture of individuals and communities in many countries around the globe. He was one of the few western photographers left in Warsaw upon the German invasion of Poland.

Article 48

Alfred Dreyfus and the "Dreyfus Affair"

Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) was a French Jewish military officer who was wrongfully tried and convicted of treason against France in 1894. The trial and ensuing events are referred to as the “Dreyfus Affair.”

Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini was an Italian nationalist and the founder of Italian Fascism. He ruled Italy from 1922 – 1925 as Prime Minister, and from 1925–1943 as il Duce, the Fascist dictator. Mussolini’s Fascist takeover of Italy was an inspiration and example for Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany.

HIAS

The relief organization HIAS has assisted refugees fleeing persecution since its founding in New York City in 1881. During the years of Nazi rule, between 1933 and 1945, HIAS estimated that it helped approximately 250,000 people flee from persecution in Nazi-occupied Europe. Today, HIAS continues to advocate on behalf of refugees worldwide.

Swastika flag rises over Versailles and Paris

The German western campaign into the Low Countries and France shattered Allied lines. Within six weeks, Britain evacuated its forces from the Continent and France requested an armistice with Germany. Paris, the French capital, fell to the Germans on June 14, 1940. In this footage, triumphant German forces raise the swastika flag over Versailles and over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Versailles, the traditional residence of French kings, was deeply symbolic for the Germans: it was the site of both the declaration of the German Empire in 1871 and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. The Treaty of Versailles had imposed humiliating peace terms on Germany after its defeat in World War I. Germany would occupy Paris for the next four years, until 1944.