The Holocaust
The Act
Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered approximately six million Jews, along with hundreds of thousands of Roma, disabled people, political opponents, and others. Methods included mass shootings by Einsatzgruppen, ghettos, and purpose-built extermination camps using gas chambers and crematoria. The killing was bureaucratic, industrial, and totalizing.
The Response
The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (1945–1946) prosecuted major Nazi leaders for crimes against peace, war crimes, and the newly articulated category of crimes against humanity. Twelve defendants were sentenced to death. Subsequent trials, denazification processes, and the establishment of the Genocide Convention followed. The Holocaust remains the paradigmatic case of modern genocide and the foundation of international criminal law.