A far-right political philosophy or form of authoritarian government that is characterized by strong nationalism and a strictly regimented society under dictatorial rule. Fascism opposes democratic liberalism, communism, and socialism and accepts violence if it advances nationalism. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was the first formally elected fascist, soon followed by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.
Also called “Aryanization,” expropriation refers to the practice of seizing Jewish property by the Nazi government, who then auctioned the property to “Aryans.”
The name of the ship that sailed from France to Mandate Palestine with over 4,500 Jewish refugees in July 1947. British troops prevented the Exodus from landing in Mandate Palestine and forced refugees onto one of three deportation ships that returned them to Europe. Upon arrival in France, passengers refused to disembark and mounted a 24-day hunger strike before being returned to DP camps in Germany by the British government. The incident provoked protests in Europe and the United States, drawing attention to the situation of Jewish DPs.
During the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany in 1941, mobile killing units called Einsatzgruppen operated behind German military lines to secure newly occupied territory, covering the entire length of the eastern military front from the Baltic coast in the north to the Black Sea in the south. The Einsatzgruppen were special units of the German SiPo (Security Police) and SD (Sicherheitsdienst) under the command of RSHA chief Reinhard Heydrich. Aided by units of the SS, the Wehrmacht, and local authorities, Einsatzgruppen murdered between 1.5 and 2 million Jews, as well as Communist party officials, Roma, and others perceived as enemies in mass shooting operations, and later using gas vans. [...]
As Allied armies advanced on Nazi Germany in 1944 and 1945, hundreds of thousands of prisoners were forced to evacuate on foot from concentration camps into Germany. Those who could not keep up were shot, others died of exhaustion. Between 250,000 and 375,000 prisoners died on these so-called “death marches."