World War II Background Information

For The Diary of Anne Frank

The United States and World War II

• The United States was involved in two fights: Europe and Japan…

• Pearl Harbor: Dec. 6, 1941– Japanese planes attacked US fleet in

Hawaii

– 2000 US soldiers died

– 21 ships and 300 planes destroyed

The War With Japan

• Atomic Bomb: August 6 and 9, 1945– US dropped bomb on Hiroshima, Japan– killed 70,000-140,000 people– 100,000 died from radiation– Japan surrendered August 14th

• Japanese Internment Camps in the US– thousands of distrusted Japanese-

Americans were moved

Allies

• United States

• France

• United Kingdom

• Soviet Union

• Germany

• Italy

• Japan

Axis

Because we are studying Anne Frank’s diary,

let’s take a closer look at the German

side of WWII…

Germany and the Treaty of Versailles

• Allies forced Germany to sign the treaty

• Blamed Germany for WWI and took away territories

• Germany was ordered to pay for damages in Europe

Rise of Nationalistic Groups

• Inflation – financial hardship, loss of faith in the

government

• Bad feelings after Treaty of Versailles• National Socialist German Worker’s

Party, (led by Adolf Hitler) grew

Political Changes

• Nazis were the largest party in Germany’s legislative body in 1932

• In 1933 Hitler convinced President von Hindenburg of the Republic to appoint him Chancellor of Germany

Political Changes Continued

• Hitler demanded “emergency powers” for four years (and was granted the powers)

• Government gave in to Hitler

• Within two months of becoming Chancellor, Hitler became Germany’s ruler and began his racist practices

Hitler Claimed…

• “For the first time in history, a civilized nation has full gun control. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future.”

- 1935

Hitler Took Over…

• And signed a non-aggression treaty with Stalin (Soviet Union)

•Poland•Denmark•Norway

•Holland•Belgium•France

(by force)

Liberation• Took six years• Combined forces of United States,

Soviet Union, England and underground forces

• D-Day: June 6, 1944 The US entered the war in German occupied France

• May 7, 1945 Germans surrendered– Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945

Holocaust• “The systematic, state-sponsored

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

-ushmm.org

• Targeted anyone who was “different”

• Over 11,000,000 people died

• Greek origin: meaning “sacrifice by fire”

Adolf Hitler

• Dictator of Germany

• Leader of the Nazi party

• Blamed Jews for Germany’s bad economy – Jews were prominent in

international banking

Nazi

• National Socialist German Worker’s Party

• Abolished democratic institutions, outlawed other parties

• Created SS and Gestapo – encouraged demonstrations against Jews

• Based ideas on feelings of racial superiority

Aryan Race

• Hitler deemed this “the master race” – he decided which personal qualities

were desirable in a person

• “pure-blooded Germans”• “superior”• Blonde, blue eyes, pale skin

– But wait… Hitler had dark hair and brown eyes!

Anti-Semitism

• Prejudice against people of the Jewish faith

• Anti-Jewish

• Encouraged by Nazis through propaganda (advertising to push an idea)

Judaism

• Monotheism: belief in one God

• Based on the idea of “do to others what you would want them to do to you”

• Follow the Hebrew Bible

• Traditions include: Sabbath, prayers, holidays

Racist Practices

• Jews could no longer…

…work in government jobs, universities, schools, radio, movies, theater or journalism, business.

… practice law or medicine.

…go to school with non-Jewish children.

… marry or work for non-Jewish people.

Racist Practices Continued• Books burned

• Jewish shops smashed

• Boycotts on Jewish businesses

• Jews had to wear the Star of David to identify themselves

• Had to live in ghettos

SO… Jews tried to flee the country or hide from the Nazis

Ghettos• Enclosed city districts where Jews were

forced to live (isolation)• Miserable conditions • At least 1,000 ghettos in German-

occupied countries• To “control and segregate” Jews• Assisted in the attempt at a systematic

destruction of Jewish people

Concentration Camps“Death Camps”

• Places of mass murder and slave labor• Located all over Europe• Six million Jews killed• Five million Gypsies, Slavs, Poles• Forced to work extremely hard• Not enough food • Died of hunger, exhaustion, shot,

gassed or brutally killed

Genocide• Violent crimes against specific groups with

intent to destroy the group’s existence

• Systematic murder

• “Destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves” –ushmm.org

• Term was created after the Holocaust

Auschwitz

• Concentration camp

• Poland

• Responsible for killing the most Jews

• A picture is worth a thousand words

References

• Teacher Created Materials: A Guide for using Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl in the Classroom

• Scholastic: Teaching the Diary of Anne Frank• www.ushmm.org (United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum) Feb. 21, 2008• Notes from Carrie Wagner• McDougal Littell Literature and Language 8th

grade• Pictures from various internet sources