Indeed, in many European countries, including France and Germany, there have recently been attacks on Jewish individuals as well as businesses and organizations. Today, due in large part to the Holocaust, there are only an estimated 1.4 million Jews remaining in Europe – down from an estimated 9.5 million at the beginning of the war, in 1939.Īnti-Semitism long predates the Holocaust and is still alive today. Only one of these eight other options, “leading an ethical life,” ranked almost as highly (69%) as “remembering the Holocaust.” Those surveyed also were asked about whether other aspects of Jewish life (such as observing Jewish law or being part of a Jewish community) were important to their Jewish identity. The war came to a close in August 1945 when the Japanese surrendered.Ībout three-quarters (73%) of American Jews say remembering the Holocaust is an essential part of being Jewish, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey. Seven decades after the end of World War II, most American Jews say remembering the Holocaust is essential to what being Jewish means to them, personally.Ībout 6 million European Jews (roughly two-thirds of the continent’s Jewish population at the time) were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, which began in about 1941 and ended in May 1945 when Germany was defeated by the Allied Powers. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images Hundreds of miles of freeways and roads were constructed to accommodate the tremendous growth in housing and new types of postindustrial and technology based industries.Six memorial candles lit in honor of the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust, part of a remembrance in Denver of the 70th anniversary of the Allied liberation of the concentration camps in Europe. Along with the population growth came the need for more educational facilities, shopping areas, and means of transportation. Approximately six million housing units were constructed in California during the thirty year period following World War II, which was made possible by government regulations, increasing wealth, more job opportunities, and new, quick methods of construction. By 1962, California had become the most populous state in the union and had grown to 19.95 million by 1970. On the eve of the war, California's population had already doubled since the 1920s, to 3.4 million. So great was the need for housing that military barracks, Quonset huts, trailers, and other quick-built facilities were used for housing. While jobs were plentiful in California cities during and after the war, housing was not. Runaway growth in suburban tract housing, consumer goods, and high rise office space forcibly pushed California toward its future role as the fifth largest economy in the world.Ĭalifornia experienced unprecedented military, technological, and industrial growth before, during, and after the war, which in turn led to massive increases in migration, population, jobs, and the development of sprawling industrial, urban, and suburban areas. In the post-war years there was a desperate need for housing for the prodigious number of workers who continued to migrate to the state. Southern California became the nation's leading producer of aircraft and second only to Detroit in automobile production, while the Bay Area became the leader in technological developments.Ĭalifornia's burgeoning economy necessitated the extensive development of roads, freeways, and bridges. The vast federal defense spending prompted continuous growth in other industries and manufacturing jobs. By war's end, California had 140 military bases that spurred government spending in the defense industry during World War II, and which continued throughout the Cold War. These words of California Governor Earl Warren could not have been more accurate. "The war has caused us to actually jump into our future."
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