The Nazis decided, rightly or wrongly, that the Jews of Germany were potentially hostile to the Third Reich and to the prosperity of the German nation. Having determined that the Jews were potential subversives, what did they do? They rounded them up and put them into holding camps called "concentration camps", along with all the other groups the Nazis believe were undermining the German state. There was nothing special about the Jews. They were put in with Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, communists, Catholics, and radicals.

The camps were humanely run. Problems arose with disease and vermin infestations, because the Jews, in particular, were uncommonly filthy (no, I'm not making this up -- read what General Patton had to say about the cleanliness of Jews). In order to control disease, the Germans shaved the heads of inmates (to get rid of lice) and fumigated all the clothing and bedding (to kill fleas, bedbugs, and other vermin). Hospitals in the camps took care of those who got sick. They were not made to return to work until they had completely recovered.

As a further measure to fight against disease, the bodies of those who died at the camps were creamated. Dead bodies are a source of disease, particularly during epidemics. There was nothing sinister about cremating the dead. It was a clean and modern way to dispose of the bodies. But many of the Jews were superstitious. They did not cremate their dead, they buried them. Crazy rumors spread, and we know these rumors today as the Holocaust.