Holocaust Historical Terms and Genocidal Process

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key historical terms, legal events, and the three stages of the genocidal process of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust

The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of European Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

The "Final Solution"

The Nazi policy of coordinated and state-sponsored mass murder of the Jewish population of Europe.

Wannsee Conference

The meeting held by Nazi officials to coordinate and implement the logistics of the "Final Solution."

Undesirables

A categorization used by the Nazis to identify groups they deemed inferior or a threat to their society, including Jews, Roma, Sinti, and people with disabilities.

Nuremberg Race Laws (1935)

Legislation that defined Jews by blood and stripped them of German citizenship, removing their basic legal rights.

Kristallnacht (1938)

The "Night of Broken Glass," a state-sponsored series of violent pogroms against Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues across Germany and its annexed territories.

Ghettos

Segregated and enclosed districts of a city where the Nazi regime forced the Jewish population to live under crowded and miserable conditions.

Killing Centers

Establishments specifically designed by the Nazi regime for the efficient and systematic mass murder of human beings.

Aryan Race

A Nazi racial concept that posited a hierarchy in which non-Jewish people of Germanic descent were considered the "master race."

Auschwitz Album

A rare photographic record documenting the arrival and selection process of Jewish people at the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center.

Antisemitism

The prejudice, hatred of, or discrimination against Jews.

Collaborator

An individual or organization that assisted the Nazi regime in the persecution and murder of targeted groups.

Genocide

The deliberate and systematic killing of a large group of people, especially those belonging to a specific ethnic, national, or racial group.

Stage 1 (1933-1939)

The initial period of the Holocaust involving legal discrimination and social exclusion, including the passage of the Nuremberg Laws and the events of Kristallnacht.

Stage 2 (1939-1941)

The second period of the Holocaust following the invasion of Poland, characterized by the forced relocation of Jews into ghettos.

Stage 3 (1941-1945)

The final period of the Holocaust characterized by the transition to mass murder and the operation of killing centers across occupied Europe.