The Holocaust lasted from 1933 to 1945. It began when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, marking the start of systematic persecution of Jews and other groups by the Nazi regime. The most intense period of mass murder, known as the "Final Solution," took place between 1941 and 1945 during World War II, when approximately six million Jews were systematically killed. The Holocaust ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945