The Holocaust was a time when many Jews and other “undesirables” lost their lives because of Hitler and the Nazis. The genocide lasted twelve years, from 1933 to 1945, and approximately eleven million lives were lost during this period. Even though the Holocaust is over, learning about it helps us understand how power can be abused. Adolf Hitler was an Austrian who became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Before becoming Chancellor, he worked in the German government and manipulated the laws to put him in power and make what he was going to do legal. Hitler was able to motivate the German people when they felt like the weakest country after the First World War. Once he gained the support of the people, he began to convince people that there were certain types of people who were causing their problems and that they needed to be eliminated. At that time, people did not know that eliminating certain types of people would lead to the Holocaust. The Holocaust primarily targeted Jews and also included Gypsies, Poles, the disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and others. Camps were set up in conquered countries and treated prisoners like slaves, forcing them to work for the benefit of Nazi supporters. Around 15,000 camps were established during this period, including labor camps, concentration camps and extermination camps. Stereotypes about targeted groups justified the elimination of these specific types of people so that Germany could become a strong nation again. The events of the Holocaust were made legal so that people in other countries would not suspect that something horrible was happening in Germany, for a while. The Tripartite Act, the agreement between Germany, Italy and Japan to work together. .... middle of paper ...... what happens to them and their families. Learning about the Holocaust helps us see how we have changed over the years because of these events and helps us understand how lucky we are to live in this time. By studying the Holocaust, we have learned how people were affected by the Nazis and new German laws. This historic event helped us realize that having misconceptions about a group can ultimately lead to major problems. It also teaches us that power can be abused and people will suffer if the problem is not recognized in its early stages. Studying the Holocaust helps us learn that everyone is different and that we must learn to accept everyone's differences so that hatred toward certain people does not cause the same event to happen again. Knowing the events of history helps us take steps to prevent the worst things from happening again..