Introduction to World War 2

We recently wrapped up our Language Arts Literature Unit for Tolerance. Within that unit we learned the importance of tolerance and how when people lack it, chaos is caused which was demonstrated by the devastating Yugoslavian War. This war occurred in the 1990's and destroyed the economies and governments of entire European regions. We also learned about another war that occurred 50 years earlier and was also due to lack of tolerance which is World War 2. This war was caused by Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany in the 1940's. He took control of Germany among many other European countries and is currently known for his attempted "Final Solution" which was to kill everyone who wasn't your stereotypical Christian (preferably blonde haired, blue eyed) German. It is common knowledge that he specifically targeted Jews but people of other faiths and beliefs like gypsies, homosexuals, and non-Caucasian ethnicities were also mistreated by Hitler and his Nazi Party. We only touched lightly on World War 2 and how toleration was a big factor into it but will be pursuing this topic more during the second semester in both Language Arts and Social Studies. For this unit we read parts of Anne Frank's diary and the experience of a 15 year old girl who visited the concentration camps on a school field trip. I am very excited to delve more into this topic though! I am extremely interested in the Holocaust and am already extremely familiarized with the subject as I did my National History Day project on it last year and have a few ancestors who lived in the concentration camps because they openly practiced the Jewish faith. I think that reading about Anne Frank was a great start to this intriguing topic!