Curiosities about World War II and the Holocaust

Curiosities about World War II and the Holocaust

One of the lesser-known Holocaust facts is that there was anti-Semitism in Germany long before the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler came to power. Anti-Semitism is discrimination and hatred towards Jews.

Multiple Choice

Anti-Semitism has occurred throughout Europe at different times in history. There was historical precedence for the Holocaust in pogroms. Pogroms are riot-like events where groups of people of a particular ethnicity or background are threatened and killed. Where did the first Pograms occurred?

• Pogroms occurred most notably against Jews in Germany at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s.

• Pogroms began occurring after the Russian Empire, which previously had very few Jews, acquired territories with large Jewish populations from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman Empire during 1772–1815.

Anti-Semitism

In Germany, anti-Semitism was also building momentum at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. Political leaders from some parties were including hate-speech against Jews as part of their rhetoric.

In particular, there was a Völkisch movement which was based on the ideology that Jews were the enemies of the Aryan race. The Völkisch movement was defeated in elections in 1912 and disappeared. However, their ideology lived on in later German political parties, including the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi Party.

Multiple Choice

When did the nazi party came to power?

• in 1922.

• in 1933

• in 1945

• in 1918