The End
The Holocaust ended on August 14th 1945. Allied forces such as Britain, the U.S and France slowly but surely started to push enemy lines back and began to take the upperhand. Allied armies began to liberate the concentration camps one by one freeing many prisoners and putting a stop to the Genocide. Liberation of the camps started in July of 1944 near Lublin Poland, where Soviet forces overwhelmed German guards and took control of the concentration camp known as Majdanek. Soviets also overran the killing centers of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. By the time the Soviets had reached these camps and took over it was already to late, most of the Jewish people living in Poland had perished. A great movement in the liberation of the camps and in the history of the Holocaust was the liberation of the Auschwitz killing center in January of 1945. When Soviet forces arrived they found that most of Auschwitz had been destroyed by the Germans to hide the evidence of the mass murders commited there. Even so Soviet forces found several thousand prisoners alive along with hundreds of thousands of mens suits, over 800,000 womens dresses and over 14 thousand pounds of human hair. The rest of the prisoners held there by the Germans were marched westward away from Auschwitz and into southwestern Poland to the other killing center Belzec which was later libertaed. In the months to follow more and more camps were liberated by allied forces leading to the surrendering of the German army and the Axis powers (Italy, Japan). The Genocide eneded due to the combined forces of the Allied powers. The Holocaust and World War 2 had ended.
Consequences
After the War many associated with Hitler, The Concentration Camps, and the Genocide were took into questioning and most were found guilty. The consequences set out by the Allied powers were stated that:
Major offenders - Death or life in prison
Actinist (military criminals, profiteers) - 10 years in prison
Lesser offenders (young children) - 3 years in prison
Nazi Followers - Hefty fine
Those who were sentenced to death were taken to the crematoriums at the concentration camp Dachu located in Germany (first concentration camp built), or they were hanged. These executions happened on October 16th, 1946. The man in charge of these executions was U.S army leader John Woods. All the ashes were later dumped in a stream/river in Munich Germany. Here are some of Hitlers excessors and followers and there punishment for the crimes they commited. The numbers 1-4 represent the severity of the crime commited. Here is a basic meaning to each of the numbers and what they repesent in the court.
Four charges:
(1) a common plan or conspiracy to seize power and establish a totalitarian regime to prepare and wage a war of aggression;
(2) waging a war of aggression;
(3) violation of the laws of war;
(4) crimes against humanity, persecution, and extermination.
· Martin Bormann, aide to Hitler. Found guilty and sentenced to death in absentia. Declared officially dead by a West German court in 1973.
· Hans Frank, governor general of Poland. Found guilty of counts 3 and 4. Hanged.
· Hermann Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe. Found guilty on all four counts. Sentenced to death by hanging, committed suicide in his cell just hours before his execution.
· Alfred Jodl, chief of the operational staff of the High Command of the Armed Forces. Found guilty on all four counts. Hanged.
· Erich Raeder, commander in chief of the German navy. Found guilty on counts 1, 2, and 3. Sentenced to life in prison; released in 1955.
· Fritz Sauckel, director of slave labor. Found guilty on counts 3 and 4. Hanged.
These are only some of the people associated with Hitler and the war. Now that the war is over Germany was punished by the Allied powers by splitting Germany into 4 sections controlled by the U.S, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Germany lost land and had to pay reperations to the Allies for the damage they caused. In 1948 the U.S government set up what was called the Marshall plan to help get Europes economy back up and running. 18 nations received 13 billion dollars worth of food, machinery and other goods. Now with the war over it was time to make peace. In April of 1945, 50 countries signed a charter that gave birth to the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization meant to bring nations together to solve problems with diplomacy, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people.The total death count based on researchs for the Holocaust was 11 million deaths and for WW2 the total was over 60 million making WW2 the deadliest war that ever struck the planet earth. Over 2.5% of the population had been lost due to this war. Now with everything done and over, peace agreements made it was time to rebuild and re connect the world and to live in peace with other nations.
Major offenders - Death or life in prison
Actinist (military criminals, profiteers) - 10 years in prison
Lesser offenders (young children) - 3 years in prison
Nazi Followers - Hefty fine
Those who were sentenced to death were taken to the crematoriums at the concentration camp Dachu located in Germany (first concentration camp built), or they were hanged. These executions happened on October 16th, 1946. The man in charge of these executions was U.S army leader John Woods. All the ashes were later dumped in a stream/river in Munich Germany. Here are some of Hitlers excessors and followers and there punishment for the crimes they commited. The numbers 1-4 represent the severity of the crime commited. Here is a basic meaning to each of the numbers and what they repesent in the court.
Four charges:
(1) a common plan or conspiracy to seize power and establish a totalitarian regime to prepare and wage a war of aggression;
(2) waging a war of aggression;
(3) violation of the laws of war;
(4) crimes against humanity, persecution, and extermination.
· Martin Bormann, aide to Hitler. Found guilty and sentenced to death in absentia. Declared officially dead by a West German court in 1973.
· Hans Frank, governor general of Poland. Found guilty of counts 3 and 4. Hanged.
· Hermann Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe. Found guilty on all four counts. Sentenced to death by hanging, committed suicide in his cell just hours before his execution.
· Alfred Jodl, chief of the operational staff of the High Command of the Armed Forces. Found guilty on all four counts. Hanged.
· Erich Raeder, commander in chief of the German navy. Found guilty on counts 1, 2, and 3. Sentenced to life in prison; released in 1955.
· Fritz Sauckel, director of slave labor. Found guilty on counts 3 and 4. Hanged.
These are only some of the people associated with Hitler and the war. Now that the war is over Germany was punished by the Allied powers by splitting Germany into 4 sections controlled by the U.S, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Germany lost land and had to pay reperations to the Allies for the damage they caused. In 1948 the U.S government set up what was called the Marshall plan to help get Europes economy back up and running. 18 nations received 13 billion dollars worth of food, machinery and other goods. Now with the war over it was time to make peace. In April of 1945, 50 countries signed a charter that gave birth to the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization meant to bring nations together to solve problems with diplomacy, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people.The total death count based on researchs for the Holocaust was 11 million deaths and for WW2 the total was over 60 million making WW2 the deadliest war that ever struck the planet earth. Over 2.5% of the population had been lost due to this war. Now with everything done and over, peace agreements made it was time to rebuild and re connect the world and to live in peace with other nations.