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The Final Solution is the term used by the Nazis for their plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe. The Nazis used a poison gas, called Zyklon B, to eliminate millions of people, including Jews, Russian P.O.W.’s and Roma (gypsies). Thousands more were killed through starvation, dehydration, disease and exposure to the elements.
No, the Nazis hated anyone who did not fit into their ideal for the perfect Aryan race. Millions were arrested and sent to concentration camps, including Jews, Roma and Sinti (gypsies), Poles, the mentally and physically handicapped, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others who resisted the Nazis.
Both Jews and non-Jews did resist the Nazis, using both violent and passive resistance, from the very beginning. However, by the time many people realized they needed to resist, the Nazis had successfully created an atmosphere of extreme fear and intimidation that people found difficult to fight.
Throughout Europe, there were more than 2,000 concentration camps: slave labor camps, transit camps and death camps. People died in every camp from disease, starvation, exhaustion and murder. However, only 6 camps were designated as “death” or “extermination” camps: all 6 were located in Poland and were built with the specific design of large-scale gas chambers. These camps were Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka.