the final solution
"The Final Solution" was the Nazi's plan for extermination of the Jews. It most often refers to the extermination camps, first built in 1933. These camps separated Jewish families and worked them to death. The old, sick, and most children were killed in gas chambers disguised as showers on arrival. The Final Solution was a twisted kind of Nazi enlightenment, a series of answers for the one question the Nazis asked themselves, "How do we annihilate the Jews completely?" In the beginning, they used deportation to rid Germany of the Jews, but there were simply too many. Later methods included the Einsatzgruppen and gassing vans. Although the Nazis never fully exterminated the Jews, the death toll of the Holocaust was remarkably high. It was the largest genocide in history. Horrifying survivor accounts of this event reminds us why it is important to learn about the Holocaust: to prevent anything similar from ever happening. Learning about the Holocaust will help us know when to get involved early in order to stop a travesty, instead of turning our backs on those who need help.