The Holocaust was the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews and other minority groups by Nazi Germany. It began in 1941 and ended in 1945, spanning six years. During that time, more than 11 million people died—two-thirds of them were Jewish.
The Nazis targeted Jews, Romani people, homosexuals, and others they considered undesirable. They killed their victims in gas chambers, mass shootings, and starvation. The Holocaust resulted in the death of two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population.
After World War II ended and the Nazis surrendered, many survivors faced immense challenges: physically and emotionally. They had lost their homes and families to the war; they were left with physical scars from their experiences; they were traumatized by what they had seen during their time in concentration camps or ghettos; some lost limbs or suffered from mental illness as a result of what happened to them during the Holocaust; many experienced guilt for not being able to save more people or for surviving when others did not; some struggled financially because they no longer had jobs or apartments back home where they could earn income for themselves or their families; many struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
