Holocaust refers to the overall prosecution, murdering and mistreatment of Jewish people, that culminated in mass murder. It does not specifically only mean the mass murder at the end of the war.
It was not kept a secret from the populace that the Nazi regime was anti-Semitic from the start. There were discrimatory laws enacted openly that obviously people knew about.
Holocaust refers to the overall prosecution, murdering and mistreatment of Jewish people, that culminated in mass murder. It does not specifically only mean the mass murder at the end of the war.
It was not kept a secret from the populace that the Nazi regime was anti-Semitic from the start. There were discrimatory laws enacted openly that obviously people knew about.