The so-called “Final Solution” set a goal of eliminating all European Jews. By the time Germany surrendered to the allies in 1945, 6 million of the estimated 8 million Jews in Europe had been murdered.
At first Jews were required by law to wear a yellow star, which identified them as Jews. Then they were forced to live in walled compounds within their city called “ghettos.” Eventually, though, they were sent to “re-location” camps with names like Buchenwald, Treblinka, Dacchau and Auschwitz. In some cases, these facilities were work camps. In others they were “death” camps.
The conditions were so harsh and depressing in these places that many simple gave up their will to live. But others fought for survival with one thing in mind: they wanted “to live to tell.” Their mission was to tell the world about this event, in part so something like this would never happen again.
One such survivor is Elie Wiesel, who was a teenager when he was separated from his mother and sisters and sent to Auschwitz and later Buchenwald. Since the war, Wiesel has spent his life teaching about the Holocaust and working against discrimination and racial intolerance. He has written over 50 books, the most famous of which is Night, a simple yet powerful retelling of his and his father’s experiences in the camps.
This photo shows the kind of conditions people lived in in the camps. These wooden bunks were the beds and, remarkably, this photo shows the young Elie Wiesel.
Consider these questions:
How do you think people become intolerant of races and genders?
If you were a parent of a young child, how would you raise him/her to be open-minded while at the time to have the values you think are important?
History Picture of the Day 
