The Holocaust

1932-1945

Lives lost: 6 million

Facts obtained from: <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org>

Where it all began…

In 1932, Adolph Hitler ran in the German presidential election and lost to Field Marshall Hindenburg.

In January of 1933, Hitler

was appointed as the

German Chancellor.

At the same time…

The weekly publication Der Stürmer, devoted primarily to anti Semitic propaganda and promoting hatred against the Jews, published since 1923 as the organ of the Nazi party, becomes the official organ of the party in power. The motto of the paper is "The Jews are our misfortune."

One month later…

First concentration

camp, Dachau, was

established in Germany.

Hitler persuaded the German president to oppress all non-Nazi parliament members, therefore gaining control over all of Germany.

April, 1933

There was a boycott of all Jewish shops in Germany, instigated by Chancellor Hitler.

This action was also directed against Jewish physicians and lawyers. Jewish students were forbidden to attend schools and universities.

Also that April…

The Gestapo was created. It was the “Task Force's” job to round

up all the Jews and other “undesirables” living within Germany's newly conquered territories, and to either send them to concentration camps or put them to death.

The Gestapo

The army units within the Gestapo were taught many torture techniques, and were also taught many of the practices that German doctors in Dachau tested on the inmates of concentration camps.

The Gestapo operated without any restrictions by civil authority, meaning that its members could not be tried for any of their practices. Its members knew that whatever actions they took, no consequences would arise

Swastika

In September of 1935,

the Swastika became the official flag of Germany.

The Swastika symbolized the hatred of the Jewish religion and the rise of power of the “white elitists.”

A month after the flag was first flown, all Jews lost their right to vote and hold public office.

October and April 1937

This month began the systematic takeover of Jewish property.

In April 1937, the “Social Action Arrest” forced all “previously convicted” Jews, (including those prosecuted for traffic violations), to be committed to concentration camps (approx. 1,500 people).

The Hardest Times

For years after, Jewish communities were evacuated and the people were taken to concentration camps where they were subject to cruelty and unusual punishments.

Families were split up, and mass graves were the final resting place of millions of innocent Jewish human beings.

1944

This is perhaps the bloodiest of years. Millions of Jews are killed in concentration camps; and the first female gas chamber is used.

Hitler is being accused, but has done a good job of keeping his genocide a secret from the rest of the world.

April, 1945: Hope?

Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escape from Auschwitz and carry detailed information about the death camp to outside world.

With the invasion of Normandy already underway, and hope on the horizon, the famous Anne Frank family is found and arrested by the Gestapo.

1945: Rescue at last

Once the world found out about what was really going on in Germany, forces from around the world helped to aid the victims.

With the discovery of concentration camps by opposing armed forces, the Battle of the Bulge, and many other operations, Adolph Hitler refused punishment by taking his own life in on April 30, 1945.

Survivors

Those Jews who survived the camps were rescued and were able to tell their stories and search for lost loved ones.

Still, some people around the world denied that such an atrocity could ever occur in the twentieth-century.

Today, despite all the evidence, some people still refuse to believe that the Holocaust ever happened.

Elie Wiesel: 1928-Present

Survivor of the Holocaust and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Author of some forty books about his experience in the Holocaust.

He was born in 1928 in Romania, but has lived in New York as an adult until the present.

At 80 years old, he is still an outspoken advocate for peace.

Words to know:

Penury- extreme poverty; destitution.

Kabbalah- A body of mystical teachings of rabbinical origin, often based on an interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Talmud- the collection of Jewish law and tradition

Anti-Semetic- hating Jews