THE NAZI YEARS OF PERSECUTION 1933-1945
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Majdanek death camp
Hell on earth

APATHY ABROAD

In 1938, representatives of 32 nations gathered in Evian, France to consider ways of rescuing Jews from the persecution of the Nazi regime. Only one country, the Dominican Republic, evidenced willingness to open its doors. The rest, including the United States, continued their restrictive immigration policies. Between 1933 and 1943 fewer than 350,000 European refugees were granted entry visas to the United States even though quota limits were going unfulfilled. It is estimated that if the U.S. had made full use of its already authorized quotas, more than one million lives would have been saved.

HELL ON EARTH

The Nazis targeted and murdered two-thirds of the Jews of Europe, and well over five million other people, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma, Slavs, Blacks, homosexuals, disabled people, political opponents, and artists. The destruction and human tragedy resulting from World War II are almost immeasurable. The death toll has been estimated at 40 to 50 million, more than half of them civilians.



Majdanek watchtower.

The extermination camp was bounded by electrified barbed wire. The sign reads: "Warning! Death Zone!"