Starting in 1941 and 1942, Nazi authorities began to deport Jewish people en masse to concentration camps. Jews from all parts of Nazi-occupied Europe were packed into trains
and transported to camps located throughout Germany and Poland. Nazi intentions were
clear. They used the phrase "Final Solution" to describe their "answer" to the "Jewish
question;" that is, the planned mass murder of European Jews and others they deemed
inferior. Upon arriving at these camps, Jewish people became prisoners. Families were torn
apart, and men and women were separated into different living quarters. Nazi officers took
away their clothes and belongings, shaved their heads and tattooed identification numbers
on their arms. Jewish prisoners were then forced into hard labor. Conditions in the camps
were horrible. Many people froze to death or died from disease or starvation. Prisoners who
were too old or young to work were killed. Some prisoners were also subject to gruesome
medical experimentation that was often lethal. The Nazis also established death camps that
were designed for one specific purpose: mass murder. At these centers, Nazis killed large
groups of prisoners in gas chambers. Later, their bodies were burned or dumped in mass
graves.
Based on the passage, by 1942,
А
Germany had surrendered, ending World War II.
B
US forces had freed prisoners from concentration camps.
parts of Europe, including Poland, were under Nazi control.
D
the Nazis had stopped deporting Jewish people to death camps.