The Holocaust: What does it mean? Published May 6, 2011 By Tanya Wilk Kirtland AFB Chief's Group Kirtland Air Force Base -- Between 1933 and 1945, the German government led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party carried out the systematic persecution and murder of the European Jewsish population. The Holocaust began in 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany and ended in 1945, when the Nazis were defeated by the Allied powers The term "Holocaust," originally from the Greek word "holokauston" which means "sacrifice by fire," refers to the Nazi's persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people. The Hebrew word "Shoah," which means "devastation, ruin or waste," is also used for this genocide In addition to Jews, the Nazis targeted Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and the disabled for persecution. Anyone who resisted the Nazis was sent to forced labor or murdered. The term "Nazi" is an acronym for "Nationalsozialistishe Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" ("National Socialist German Worker's Party"). The Nazis used the term "the Final Solution" to refer to their plan to murder the Jewish people It's estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million of them were Jews. The Nazis killed approximately two-thirds of all Jews living in Europe. An estimated 1.1 million children were murdered in the Holocaust. The Kirtland Rising 6 and Chiefs' Group will arrange a display from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 12 and 20 at the Base Exchange commemorating the Holocaust.