Six million Jews were systematicly annihilated by the Nazi regime during World War 2, most of them in concentration camps. In 1933 approximately nine million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be occupied by Germany during the war. By 1945 two out of every three European Jews had been killed. The European Jews were the primary victims of the Holocaust, but they were not the only group singled out for persecution by Hitler’s Nazi regime. As many as one-half million Gypsies, at least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled persons, and more than three million Soviet prisoners-of-war also fell victim to Nazi genocide. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Social Democrats, Communists, partisans, trade unionists, Polish intelligentsia and other undesirables were also victims of the hate and aggression carried out by the Nazis. Auschwitz-Birkenau became the killing centre where the largest numbers of European Jews were killed. After an experimental gassing there in September 1941 of 850 malnourished and ill prisoners, mass murder became a daily routine. By mid 1942, mass gassing of Jews using Zyklon-B began at Auschwitz, where extermination was conducted on an industrial scale with some estimates running as high as three million persons eventually killed through gassing, starvation, disease, shooting, and burning.

There are a number of estimates of the number of victims of the holocaust. Most of the sources agree that it was more than 6 million people. Every method that can be imagined was utilized at one point in time or another. Firing squads were used, but the SS felt that the costs of bullets was too high to be efficient. They tried poison gases, including Zyklon-B, which is a very effective lethal gas. Inmates were also used as test subjects for Nazi doctors who would toss people into freezing water to see how they reacted to cold. They really didn't care whether they lived or died, they just needed the test subject. There were horrible tests performed on many of the inmates. If you want to get a sense of some of the methods used, go to the web site for the National Holocaust Museum in Washington. I haven't been there, but I did get to tour several of the death camps when I lived in Europe as a kid, so I don't need a museum to show me how bad they were. I was able to meet many of the survivors, and the stories are beyond belief.

Gassing, firing squads, experimentation, torture and starvation are a few of the methods Hitler used in his death “camps”. Terror was out of control and not only in the camps but everywhere. Hitler was a terrorist who instilled fear in every corner of the Earth. No one knows for certain how many died in the camps but estimates reach 5 to 6 million. There were millions of victims outside of the camps too and with his collaborators Hitler did a systematic extermination of many non-Jewish groups. Hitler basically targeted anyone including handicapped people or religious protestors. There was no stopping his hatred and today the horror the Jews endured is remembered but many tend to forget about the Czechs, Serbs, Greeks, Gypsies, British, Norwegians, Australians, Ukrainians, United States, Russians, Dutch, Italians, French, Poles and Canadians who died fighting this war. The numbers of civilian and military deaths shook the world. There are many more countries to be mentioned here. There are reports that 1.3 million men, women and children were murdered in outdoor massacres. Reports show that directly or indirectly Hitler murdered a total of 20 – 50 million people.

11.590.000 people died in the Concentration Camps. 5.980.000 Jews, (of which 3.000.000 were Polish Jews), 3.000.000 Non Jewish Poles. 1.800.000 Soviet Prisoners of War, 250.000 Gypsies. The other 560,000 were made up of European (Non Soviet)Communists, as well as Socialists, Social Democrats, Liberals, Homosexuals, Jehovahs Witnesses, Freemasons, Mentally Handicapped, Physically Handicapped, and so called German/Austrian "criminals". So called because most were made up of people who were unafraid, or foolhardy, to speak out against Nazi attrocities. These would include German/Austrian Catholic and Lutheran Bishops and clergy, Trade Unionists, Austrians who publically stood up against Anchluss. And Freethinkers everywhere. Anyone who denies this ever happened will have to answer to a Greater Judge to any that sit upon this Earth.

Any more than zero was too many. The fact that it was millions is just a horror beyond contemplation.

how many people were killed completely. i'm doing a school report about auschwitz and really need to know. like all of the people including jews catholics. i need it all please.

There were over 4 Million Catholics murdered by Nazis. Catholics were specifically targeted by Hitler well before WWII starting in the 1930s. The Jews suffered close to 6 million and the Catholics suffered close to 5 million. This is the main reason the Jewish people never attempted to disguise themselves as Catholics during this time. The Catholics did in other countries have immunity but suffered a great deal when caught hiding their Jewish brethren. In my home state one of our own Catholic Priests was suffered to swallow nitric acid while he had to watch the Nazis shoot family in front of him. They were of course all Catholic. He suffered from a raspy voice all his life but continued to draw the Lord thru Holy Communion for the remainder of his life. May God Rest His Soul... OBTW/ Wiki_answers is a front for brazenly rewriting history to fit secular ideology.