This escape was significant because it was among the first to be organized by the illegal camp resistance movement, and with the help of the local population. This process of co-ordination was repeated through almost all aspects of government policy, which helped to align existing institutions to be sympathetic (and obedient) to Nazi ideology. This, in turn, allowed the Nazis to continue to push the boundaries of, and slowly radicalise, persecution.

She's been terrorised by terrorists in hell, but I WILL make her better': Doting father of kidnapped Emily Hand vows to make her better as he reveals his daughter spent her ninth birthday running from missile strikes in Gaza The most active, direct and deadly collaboration took place in the countries occupied by, or aligned with, the Nazis across Europe. Those selected for work were tattooed with a number when they arrived, had their hair shaved and were forced to wear a striped uniform. People were forced to do hard labour in very difficult conditions. When they became too frail to work, they were sent to the gas chambers. As the historian Donald Bloxham wrote, ‘The very decision to go to war presupposed a racial mindset…everything that happened in war was liable to be interpreted in that light: frustrations were the cause for ‘revenge’; successes provided opportunities to create facts on the ground’ [Donald Bloxham, The Final Solution A Genocide, (United States: Oxford University Press, 2009), p.174]. In communities across Europe where the Germans implemented the “ Final Solution to the Jewish Question,” they needed the help of people with local languages and knowledge to assist them in finding Jews who evaded roundups. As German and local police found willing helpers lured by the opportunity for material gain or rewards, Jews in hiding in countries from the occupied Netherlands to occupied Poland faced daunting odds of survival. A Range of Helping ActsHe then stayed with his mother in the German capital working as a gravedigger – despite his tender age – until they were both deported to Auschwitz in 1943.

Various forms of public identification and exclusion. These included antisemitic propaganda, boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses, public humiliation, and obligatory markings (such as the Jewish star badge worn as an armband or on clothing). Mr Geve remained with his mother until their deportation to Auschwitz, where he was taken off to the men's camp as one of 18,000 prisoners there and given a tattoo with the number 127003. He said: 'But I was just called 003 in Auschwitz; that was my name for more than two years' This internal duplication meant that many elements of the regime were forced to compete with each other for power. Each office took increasingly radical steps to solidify its favour with Hitler, and in turn, its authority. The process is often referred to as ‘working towards the Führer’: the idea that the Nazi state attempted to anticipate and develop policy in line with Hitler’s wishes, without him being directly involved. Goebbels’ organisation of Kristallnacht can be used as an example of ‘working towards the Führer’ – Hitler did not directly authorise the event, but it was carried out with his racist ideology and wishes in mind. This was often made possible with the collaboration of local police and government organisations. Following their defeat to the German army, France was controlled by the German government. However, at times, French authorities went beyond what they were asked to do by their German occupiers. Marshal Philippe Pétain, a French general who had fought in World War One, became head of state. His government brought in many antisemitic laws and policies. Pétain also opened several concentration camps in France, and his government participated in the murder of Roma people. The Nazis started using forced labour shortly after their rise to power. They established specific Arbeitslager (labour camps) which housed Ostarbeiter (eastern workers), Fremdarbeiter (foreign workers) and other forced labourers who were forcibly rounded up and brought in from the east. These were separate from the SS-run concentration camps, where prisoners were also forced to perform labour.Nazi Germany did not perpetrate the Holocaust alone. It relied on the help of its allies and collaborators. In this context, “allies” refers to Axis countries officially allied with Nazi Germany. “Collaborators” refers to regimes and organizations that cooperated with German authorities in an official or semi-official capacity. Nazi Germany’s allies and collaborators included: A concentration camp had been established at Majdanek in 1941. In the spring of 1942, following the Wannsee Conference, the camp was adapted to become an extermination camp by the addition of gas chambers and crematoria. Most often individuals contributed to the Holocaust through inaction and indifference to the plight of their Jewish neighbors. Sometimes these individuals are called bystanders. Who were the other victims of Nazi persecution and mass murder? To help cope with the unimaginable trauma he had endured, Mr Geve - who later joined his father who had escaped to England - recorded his memories by depicting them on paper. Teenagers in many communities became involved when they enjoyed their newfound power to harass with impunity Jewish classmates or even adults to whom youth were generally taught to defer—thereby contributing to the isolation of Jews.

On the home front in Germany, some civilians actively collaborated with the Nazis to implement their antisemitic persecutory polices, such as denunciating Jewish neighbours or colleagues, or helping to implement antisemitic laws. The SS leaders chose not to confront the Roma directly and withdrew. After transferring as many as 3,000 Roma to Auschwitz I and other concentration camps in Germany by mid-summer of 1944, the SS moved against the inmates on August 2 and killed between 4,200 and 4,300. Most of the victims were ill, elderly men, women, and children. The camp staff killed virtually all in the gas chambers of Birkenau. A handful of children who had hidden during the operation were captured and killed in the following days. Approximately 21,000 of the 23,000 Roma and Sinti sent to Auschwitz died there. Fate of Roma in German-Occupied Areas of Europe The invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 further escalated lethal actions towards Jews. In the lead up to the invasion, Imprisonment in the Nazi concentration camps was usually indefinite, and whilst (initially) some people were released in just a few days, most endured weeks, months or years of detention. Sanitation and facilities were extremely poor across all camps. Brutal treatment, torture and humiliation was commonplace.

in 1919. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to admit complete responsibility for the war; pay large amounts of For the first time, more than 80 of his sketches are presented alongside his narrative of events in The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz, published this week. The story of Mr Geve's experiences was told this week by the Jewish News and is now being re-published by MailOnline