• Germany and Adolf Hitler invaded Poland which lead to Britain and France to declare war. The war started on September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945.
• The Holocaust killed six million jews, 1.5 million were kids. The methods they used were in gas chambers, shooting, starving them, diseases, and mass bombings.
• The main target was jews, but not only jews; they also targeted were Roma (Gypsies) and Sinti, those with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses, Men who were homosexual or bisexual, Men who were accused of being homosexual, people of color, soviet prisoners of war, and others of different backgrounds.
• The Nazis believed they would rule for 1,000 years. They were actually in control of Germany for 12 years.
• Many Holocaust survivors, including some of those who came to Houston after WWII, were never held in concentration camps. They survived in hiding, in ghettos, by fleeing into the Soviet Union, or by passing as non-Jews.
• The places were called killing centers, which were Chełmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka II, and Auschwitz camp.
• Most Jewish victims of the Holocaust were not from Germany but from Eastern Europe.
• When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Jewish people made up less than 1% of the German population.
• The Nazis came into power legally, surprisingly.
• The Swastika was publicly displayed as their version of the symbol, which is now banned in Germany. There is, however, an exception to this rule, as its use in Buddhist and Hindu temples is permitted, where it originally symbolizes good luck and well-being.
• The Nazis didn't invent concentration camps, however the idea of the camps were to hold civilians considered enemies of those in power had precedent in several other places first, including South Africa, Cuba, the Philippines, Namibia, and the United States.
• The earliest victims of Nazi mass murder were people with disabilities. The Nazis saw people with disabilities as a “burden” and killed them using gas chambers that were located at hospitals in Germany. As the Nazis invaded most of Europe, the program expanded to target people with disabilities in multiple countries and they were no longer able to work in concentration camps.
• Hitler was raised in a Catholic household and didn't have Jewish ancestors.
• People around the world knew about the Holocaust while it was happening. The leaders of the Allies received reports and ultimately decided that ending WWII was the best way to end the Holocaust. Reports of mass murder also appeared in newspapers, including in the U.S.
• Only about 10% of the Germans who worked at Auschwitz were ever put on trial.
• Most concentration camp survivors weren’t liberated in the same place they spent most of the war because they were put on death marches toward the center of Germany in the last days of WWII.
• Antisemitism still continues today (the hatred of jews)
• The Nazi’s approach to citizenship laws and their restrictions on marriage between people of different “races” was inspired by race laws in the United States.
• “Nazi” is short for “National Socialist German Workers’ Party,” But The Nazis weren’t actually socialist or supportive of workers. They picked words they believed would get Germans to support them.
• Jewish people resisted the Nazis in a wide variety of ways, including combat fighting, mutual aid, spiritual resistance, and recording evidence.
• In the aftermath of the Holocaust, many countries decided that they could not leave it up to individual countries to protect the rights of their citizens. This was the birth of the modern human rights movement, beginning with the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Some deny that the Holocaust ever happened.
• The main Allied Powers were the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, and France. The Axis Powers were Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy.
• More civilians died than soldiers, due to bombings, massacres, famine, and genocide.
• The United Nations (UN) was created in 1945 to prevent future global conflicts.
• The Cold War began shortly after between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
• War Crimes Trials: Nuremberg Trials prosecuted Nazi leaders for crimes against humanity.
• Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin were the key Allied leaders during most of the war.

Major Events

• Blitzkrieg: Which was Germany's invasion of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, the Soviet Union, and parts of North Africa. (September 1, 1939)
• Battle of Britain: An Aerial battle between Germany and the UK, with the Royal Air Force successfully defending against the German Luftwaffe.
• Pearl Harbor: On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. naval base; the U.S. entered the war.
• D-Day(Doomsday): Allied invasion of Normandy, France – the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki: In August 1945, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan, leading to Japan's surrender.
• Enigma Code: The Allies cracked Nazi codes, helping to shorten the war.
• Women in the War: Played a major role in factories, nursing, and even combat (e.g., Soviet female snipers and pilots).
• Technology boost: WWII accelerated developments in radar, jet engines, computers, and medicine (e.g., penicillin).

Battles

• Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943)
• Where: Soviet Union
• Significance: Turning point in the Eastern Front; Soviet victory ended Germany’s eastward expansion.
• Casualties: 2 million(combined)
  • Battle of Midway (June 1942)
• Where: Pacific Ocean
• Significance: The U.S. Navy defeated Japan’s fleet; turning point in the Pacific Theater.
• Result: Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers.
  • D-Day / Normandy Invasion (June 6, 1944)
• Where: France
• Operation Overlord: Massive Allied amphibious assault; led to the liberation of Western Europe.
• Forces involved: 56,000 Allied troops on Day 1.
  • Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944 – Jan 1945)
• Where: Belgium
• Germany's last major offensive in the West.
• Result: Allied victory; heavy losses on both sides.

Weapons and Technology

• Infantry Weapons
• Germany: MP40 submachine gun, Kar98k rifle
• US: M1 Garand rifle (semi-auto), Thompson SMG ("Tommy Gun")
• Soviet Union: PPSh-41 (high fire rate), Mosin-Nagant rifle

Tanks

• Germany: Tiger I, Panther
• US: Sherman tank
• Soviet Union: T-34 (widely regarded as one of the best tanks of the war)

Aircraft

• British: Spitfire (iconic fighter of the Battle of Britain)
• US: B-17 Flying Fortress (heavy bomber), P-51 Mustang (long-range escort)
• Germany: Messerschmitt Bf 109, first operational jet fighter – Me 262

Other Innovations

• Radar: Used to detect incoming aircraft.
• Codebreaking: The British Ultra team cracked the German Enigma code.
• V-2 Rockets: First ballistic missiles, used by Germany to bomb London.
• Atomic Bombs: Developed by the U.S. through the Manhattan Project.

Major people in the War

• Winston Churchill (UK): Prime Minister, famous for his defiant speeches and leadership during the Blitz.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA): U.S. President for most of the war; led the U.S. into war after Pearl Harbor.
• Harry S. Truman (USA): Became president in 1945; authorized the use of atomic bombs on Japan.
• Joseph Stalin (USSR): Dictator of the Soviet Union; led brutal campaigns but played a major role in defeating Germany.
• Charles de Gaulle (France): Leader of the Free French Forces after Nazi occupation.

The Axis Powers

• Adolf Hitler (Germany): Dictator, initiated WWII, responsible for the Holocaust and Nazi expansion.
• Benito Mussolini (Italy): Fascist dictator; joined Hitler but was overthrown in 1943.
• Emperor Hirohito (Japan): Symbolic emperor; real power held by military leaders like Hideki Tojo, the prime minister.

Resistance Movements

• French Resistance: Sabotaged German rail lines, aided D-Day with intelligence.
• Polish Home Army: Largest resistance in Nazi-occupied Europe.
• Yugoslav Partisans (led by Tito): Fought both Nazis and domestic fascists.
• German Resistance: Failed plots to kill Hitler (e.g., July 20 Plot, led by Claus von Stauffenberg).

Propaganda

• Posters
• Films
• Radio
• Newspapers
• Television