How the Holocaust Started The Jews had faced persecution long before the Holocaust began. Anti-Semitism otherwise known as prejudice against Jews has existed since ancient times. Many early Christians mistrusted Jews because the Jews remained faithful to their own traditions and refused to convert to Christianity. Persecution of the Jews because of their religious beliefs persisted for hundreds of years. In the mid-1500's, the religious reformer Martin Luther issued ferocious attacks against the Jews for not adopting his new religion. During World War 1 the Jews said that they would help the Germans only if they would give them some land that now we call Israel. The Germans didn't accept the deal and they ended up losing the war. In 1933 the new German head of government, Adolph Hitler was elected. During his rule he gained more and more power. Soon he referred to the Jews as "venomous" and called for violence against them and in many cities, the Jews were forced to live in separate communities called ghettos. Also they had to pay special taxes, and they were not allowed to own land or to enter certain occupations. This started to happen because Hitler persuaded the Germans that it was the Jews fault that there was a lot of poverty and the Jews were rich. Then Hitler started killing millions of Jews in concentration camps, and the American goverment and its allies did little until it was too late.
