Reflect on what you know…

1. In a complete sentence, write down ONE fact that you already know about the Holocaust.

The History of the HolocaustThe History of the Holocaust

What is the Holocaust?• “The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-

sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

• ‘Holocaust’ is a word of Greek origin meaning ‘sacrifice by fire.’

• The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were ‘racially superior’ and that the Jews, deemed ‘inferior,’ were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community” (USHMM).

Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany

• Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party, was elected Germany’s chancellor in 1933 and head of state in 1934.

• Hitler promoted anti-semitism and took advantage of a country desperately in need of national unity and leadership.

• Through propaganda, Hitler led many of the people of his country to seize control of nearby nations and put into effect the “final solution.”

• The “final solution” was to rid the world of the races he considered to be inferior, primarily the Jews.

• http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/resource/pdf/naziIdeologycover.pdf

• Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, which means “my struggle.”

• When it became clear that the war would not go his way, Hitler committed suicide.

Nazi Propaganda• Propaganda is the spreading of ideas, information, or

rumors to further one’s cause (Merriam Webster)

• Hitler and the Nazi party used the media to convince Germans that Jews were unfit and that belonging to Hitler and the Nazi party was best for the German and the world.

• Through propaganda, Hitler became the necessary leader, children were taught to hate all non-Aryans, the enemy was defined, the nation was rallied, and the Nazi party wrote the news in a way in which they liked (USHMM)

• http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/

Nuremberg Laws• These laws deprived Jews of their rights.

• They were denied German citizenship and deemed subjects of the state.

• Jews and Germans could not marry each other.

• Jews could not vote or hold a government office.

• Their passports were stamped with a red “J” for Jew, and they were forced to adopt Jewish names.

• This set the precedent of persecuting not for religion but for racial identity.

Concentration and Extermination Camps

• Concentration camps were places where enemies of the Nazis were enslaved, tortured, and killed.

• Millions of prisoners died in the concentration camps through deliberate mistreatment, disease, starvation, and overwork, or were executed as unfit for labor. More than three million Jews died in them, usually in gas chambers, although many were killed in mass shootings and various other means.

• Prisoners were transported in inhumane conditions by rail freight cars, in which many died before reaching their destination. The prisoners were confined to the rail cars, often for days or weeks, with little or no food or water. Many died of dehydration in the intense heat of summer or froze to death in winter (wikipedia, USHMM).

World War II• Occurred between 1939-1945

• Involved most of the world’s nations organized into two opposing groups--the Allies and the Axis

• The war began when Nazi Germany began to invade and take over other nations. The Allies were worried Germany and its Axis members would attempt to take over the world.

• Allies--Great Britain, USSR (Russia), USA, France, China, and others

• Axis--Germany, Japan, Italy, and others

• 70 million dead (Wikipedia)

Victims of the Holocaust• Victims were mostly European Jews but also included the handicapped, gypsies,

Communists, and others

• 6 million were killed, though the exact number is unknown. It is thought that 1.5 million of those were children.

• The world outside Nazi Europe received numerous press reports in the 1930s about the persecution of Jews. By 1942 the governments of the United States and Great Britain had confirmed reports about the Final Solution - Germany's intent to kill all the Jews of Europe. However, influenced by antisemitism and fear of a massive influx of refugees, neither country modified their refugee politics. No specific attempts to stop or slow the genocide were made until mounting pressure eventually forced the United States to undertake limited rescue efforts in 1944.

• In Europe, rampant antisemitism incited citizens of many German-occupied countries to collaborate with the Nazis in their genocidal policies. There were, however, individuals and groups in every occupied nation who, at great personal risk, helped hide those targeted by the Nazis (Death Camps).

Anne Frank--Childhood

• Born June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany, to Otto and Edith Frank. Her sister, Margot, was three years older. The family is Jewish and German.

• In 1933, the family moves to the Netherlands. All was well until May 1940 when Germany invades the Netherlands.

• On June 12, 1942, Anne turns 13 and receives her favorite gift--a diary (Anne Frank).

In Hiding• The family is called-up to go to a work camp in Germany

or be arrested. The Franks and their friends have been anticipating this and have a hiding place (the secret annex) ready.

• People in hiding: the Franks, the Van Pels (Van Daans), Peter Van Pels, and Fritz Pfeffer

• The people in hiding are helped by Otto’s four employees: Miep Gies, Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler, and Bep Voskuijl (Anne Frank).

Betrayed

• Friday, August 4, 1944, the police arrive to take those in hiding. The family has been betrayed.

• Miep and Bep are left behind and save Anne’s diaries.

• The 8 people in hiding are taken to Westerbork were they are put to work (Anne Frank).

Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen

• In September, all 8 are sent to Auschwitz. They are expected to perform heavy labor.

• Mr. Van Pels cannot keep up and is gassed.

• Anne and Margot are sent to Bergen-Belsen. Their mother must remain at Auschwitz and dies of exhaustion.

• Mrs. Van Pels is later sent to Bergen-Belsen where she dies.

• Anne and Margot contract typhus and die in March 1945, only a few weeks before the camp is liberated by Allies.

• Otto Frank is liberated from Auschwitz and survives. Peter is taken prisoner and dies from exhaustion (Anne Frank).

The Diary• When Otto returns to Amsterdam, he hears of his wife’s

death and searches for information about Margot and Anne. On July 18, 1945, he finds out they are dead.

• Miep hears the news as well and gives Otto Anne’s diary.

• After reading the diary and discovering Anne’s wish to publish a book after the war, Otto decides to fulfill her wish and publishes the diary.

• The diary is published in multiple languages and is made into a play and movie (Anne Frank).

Secret Annex

• The secret annex was a rear house attached to an office building in Amsterdam. It was hidden by a quadrangle of houses surrounding it.

• They lived on the second and third floors and only visited the street level floor during non-business hours (Anne Frank Diary Reference)

• They stayed for 2 years and 1 month.

• Anne’s father ran his business out of the front office building (Anne Frank Diary Reference).

• The secret annex was preserved by concerned people in Amsterdam and is now a museum (AnneFrank.org).

Genocide• In 1948, the term “genocide” is created and declared an

international crime.

• Genocide is defined as acts done with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnical, or religious group.

• Genocide continues to occur in today’s modern world.

• DR Congo, Chechnya, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Burundi have all recently practiced or suffered from genocide

• Sudan (the region of Darfur) are currently practicing and suffering from genocide TODAY (USHMM).

Works Cited

• Anne Frank. Anne Frank Museum Amsterdam. 16 April 2010 <http:www.annefrank.org/content.asp?pid=2&lid=2>.

• “Holocaust Victims.” Gates to Hell: Nazi KZ Camps. 2010. Ed. Louis Bulow 16 April 2010 <http://www.deathcamps.info/new_page_7.htm>.

• Morinne, Suzanne. “The Secret Annexe.” Anne Frank Diary Reference. 6 Aug 2005. 15 April 2010 <http://www.annefrankdiaryreference.org/annexe.htm>.

• "propaganda." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Merriam-Webster Online. 18 April 2010 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda>.

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust MemorialMuseum Web site. 13 April 2010 <http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit focus/women_02>.