The HolocaustThe Holocaust

What is the Holocaust?What is the Holocaust?The word comes from the Greek languageMeant a sacrifice totally burned by fireCurrently can be used to describe a large scale slaughterWhen capitalized, refers to the murder of six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany (1933-1945)Genocide: the deliberate and systematic destruction of an entire people who belong to one racial, political, cultural, or religious group

Anti-SemitismAnti-Semitism Prejudices and discrimination toward Jewish people Is the root of the Holocaust Jews were subject to discrimination, because they did

not believe that Jesus was the son of God and Jews were believed to be responsible for Jesus’ death

Modern historians recognize that the Roman government executed Jesus

Jews were also used as scapegoats in Europe for many things (i.e. the Plague)

Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler

Born April 20, 1889 in Austria Moved to Germany in 1913 Fought in WWI and was

wounded twice Returned to Germany after the

war was lost

Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler Joined the National Socialist

German Workers’ Party (the Nazi party) in 1919

Published Mein Kampf in 1925Explicitly revealed Hitler’s views towards Jews (pg. 9)

Committed suicide on Apr. 30, 1945 weeks before Germany surrenders

Rise of the Nazi PartyRise of the Nazi Party

Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on Jan. 30, 1933

Feb. 27, 1933: German parliament building set on fire

This led to Hitler convincing his cabinet to declare a state of emergency in the country and, therefore, suspending civil liberties (freedom of press, speech, and assembly and loss of individual privacy)

Forces of the Nazi PartyForces of the Nazi Party Nazi Storm Troopers

(Sturmabteilungen)- called SA; were in the streets and took care of Nazi opposition

Protective Squad (Schutzstaffel)- called SS; elite group that eventually ran concentration camps- were the private army of the Nazi party

Secret State Police (Geheime Staatspolizei)- called Gestapo; non-uniformed; identified and arrested political opponents and other lawbreakers

Forces of the Nazi PartyForces of the Nazi Party Special Action Groups

(Einsatzgruppen)- firing squads that eliminated Jews in conquered areas

Order Police (Ordnungspolizei)- uniformed police that assisted the Special Action Groups and aided in the Final Solution

Nazi RacismNazi Racism

Hitler was obsessed with racial purity Believed that the Germanic race was superior The ideal person was blond, blue-eyed, and tall Nazi party wanted to limit reproduction of inferior

races

Nazi RacismNazi Racism Started forced sterilizations in 1933 Gypsies, handicapped, and

African-German children were targeted

Viewed Jews as a race, not religion Measured skull size, nose length,

and hair and eye color

Nazi RacismNazi Racism

Harassment of JewsHarassment of Jews April 1, 1933: First nationwide

boycott of Jewish businessesPut graffiti on store fronts and posted guards outside businessesLasted just a dayOne week later, laws restricting employment were passedNazis spread propaganda and hate of Jews to children through textbooks

Harassment of JewsHarassment of Jews Nuremberg Race Laws: 1935; made Jews

second class citizensTook away voting rights; could not hold public officeMarriage was restricted between Jews & non-JewsJew defined as one who descended from at least three Jewish grandparents

Harassment of JewsHarassment of Jews

Nov. 9, 1938: Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)

Polish born Jews were forced to leave countryHerschel Grynszpan’s parents were forced to leaveIn rage, Herschel killed a minor official at the German embassy in Paris

Harassment of JewsHarassment of Jews Nov. 9, 1938: Kristallnacht (Night

of Broken Glass)The Nazis struck back by carefully planning a pogroms of Jewish stores91 Jews were killed throughout Germany30,000+ Jewish males were sent to concentration camps1000 synagogues were burned and demolished7500 businesses were burned

Harassment of JewsHarassment of Jews

Sept. 1941: Law to wear Star of David

Oct. 1941: Jews not allowed to leave homes without permission

Other Victims of the HolocaustOther Victims of the Holocaust

GypsiesWere targeted as racial inferiorsWere rounded up, fingerprinted, and placed in special camps

Other Victims of the HolocaustOther Victims of the Holocaust Jehovah’s Witnesses

Were targeted because their religion prevented them from showing obedience to any governmentSent to concentration camps

Other Victims of the HolocaustOther Victims of the Holocaust

HomosexualsTargeted because their behavior was abnormal and could not further the German race by reproducingWere arrested and sent to concentration camps

Other Victims of the HolocaustOther Victims of the Holocaust Incurably ill

Viewed as useless to societyT-4 program was implementedMentally retarded, physically handicapped, mentally ill targeted for murderSelected victims were sent to gas chambers in Germany and Austria

Other Victims of the HolocaustOther Victims of the Holocaust

Incurably illInfants and children were killed by lethal injection or by starvationPublic protested in 1941 and the program was “officially” stopped but continued in secret until 1945.200,000 + were murdered between 1940-1945

Other Victims of the HolocaustOther Victims of the Holocaust

Victims, Jews and not, were located through a government census

Identity cards were issued that were marked with “J” for Jewish or used color to identify other groups of people

World War IIWorld War II

Hitler wanted German domination of Europe Austria added to Reich in Mar. 1938 Western Czechoslovakia in the following year Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invaded Poland

This officially started the war when England and France came to Poland’s defense

World War IIWorld War II

Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, USA, & Russia

Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, & Japan Germans had conquered France, Belgium,

Luxembourg, Holland, Denmark, and Norway by 1940

Europe during WWIIEurope during WWII

World War IIWorld War II June 22, 1941: Germany invades Soviet Union

and the Special Order Groups start mass murders

Dec. 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Dec. 11, 1941: War declared on USA by

Germany June 6, 1944: Allied powers invade Western

Europe

World War IIWorld War II

Jan. 17, 1945: Soviet troops enter Auschwitz

Apr. 1945: USA liberate Buchenwald & Dachau

May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders and war ends

The GhettosThe Ghettos Jews were confined to ghettos

throughout German occupied Europe

The ghettos were overcrowded, dirty, and running rampant with disease

Jews were given very little food (pg. 36)

Many died in ghettos

The Warshaw GhettoThe Warshaw Ghetto

January 898

February 1,023

March 1,608

April 2,061

May 3,821

June 4,290

July 5,550

August 5,560

Death Tolls in the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland, 1941

The Final Solution to the Jewish Question in EuropeThe Final Solution to the Jewish Question in Europe

Wannsee ConferenceJan. 20, 1942Nazi officials and others met at Wannsee to discuss the total extermination of Jews in EuropeMobile killing squads were already in operationNo one at the conference objected

The Final Solution to the Jewish Question in EuropeThe Final Solution to the Jewish Question in Europe Deportations

Jews were rounded up and sent to six camps in PolandMost deportees were immediately murderedJews were transported using trainsTrains designed to hold 8 horses or 40 soldiers; 120-130 people were transported in themMany died on the trip

The Final Solution to the Jewish Question in EuropeThe Final Solution to the Jewish Question in Europe

Death CampsWhen arriving at one of the death camps, Jews were sent through a selectionBabies, young children, pregnant women, the elderly, the handicapped, and the sick were immediately sent to their deathsGas chambers were usually the chosen method of execution

The Final Solution to the Jewish Question in EuropeThe Final Solution to the Jewish Question in Europe

The Final Solution to the Jewish Question in EuropeThe Final Solution to the Jewish Question in Europe

Death CampsVictims were led to believe that they were being prepared for workBodies were disposed of by sonderkommando (special commando) who were Jews that were chosen to burn the bodies of executed Jews

Death Camp InformationDeath Camp InformationCAMP VICTIMS KNOWN SURVIVORS

Chelmno 60,000 3 Belzec 600,000 2 Sobibor 250,000 64 Treblinka 900,000 Under 40 Maidanek 500,000 Under 600 Auschwitz 1,100,000 Several thousand, because it

was both a concentration camp and a death camp

Estimated Numbers of Jews Murdered during the Holocaust

Estimated Numbers of Jews Murdered during the Holocaust

Poland 3,000,000Soviet Union 1,316,000Hungary 569,000Romania 287,000Czechoslovakia 149,150Germany 141,000Netherlands 100,000France 77,320Greece 67,000

Estimated Numbers of Jews Murdered during the Holocaust

Estimated Numbers of Jews Murdered during the Holocaust

Yugoslavia 63,300Austria 50,000Belgium 28,900Italy 7,500Luxembourg 1,950Norway 762 Denmark 51 Finland 7 Total 5,858,940

The Nuremberg Trials: 1945-49The Nuremberg Trials: 1945-49 After the war, some of the people responsible for the

Holocaust were brought to trial. Twenty-two Nazis were brought to trial

Twelve were sentenced to deathThree were sentenced to life imprisonmentFour were sentenced to lesser prison termsThree were found innocent

Most of the Nazis used the defense that they were simply following orders.

Hitler committed suicide prior to the trials

Why learn about the Holocaust?Why learn about the Holocaust?Poet and philosopher George

Santayana once said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.“

Other incidences of genocide have happened in lesser scale.

Native Americans Rwanda