02/05/2018
1
WWII – The War in Europe
Unit 8 Lesson 4
Notebook Pg. 90
Hitler and the Holocaust
• Hitler wanted to reorganize Europe along racial lines
• Germans new ruling class, others slaves
• Others (Jews, Gypsies, Poles) exterminated
– Seen as inferior race
– Jews blamed for WWI and economic devastation after
– Deaths• Jews: 6 million
• Soviet POWs: 3 million
• Polish: 1.8 million
• People with disabilities: 250,000
• Roma (Gypsies): 196,000‐220,000
The Holocaust• Anti‐Semitism prejudice against Jews
• Nuremberg Laws– 1935: Loss of citizenship, can’t marry Germans, no voting,
required more “Jewish” names, passport had red J
– 1936: can’t be teachers, journalists, farmers, or actors
– 1938: can’t be lawyers, doctors, or own a business
• From ghettos (had to wear a yellow Star of David) to concentration camps to extermination camps and the Final Solution– Brought in cattle cars, heads shaved, sent into “showers”, then burned
in large ovens
– Others works to death
02/05/2018
2
US Policy during the Holocaust
• Few concrete steps taken against Holocaust even when FDR received proof from Jewish leaders
• War Refuge Board
• Rejected plan to bomb Auschwitz
• Enormity of the crime not grasped until camps liberated
Hitler Invades Soviet Union
• Invadingwas always the plan
• Believe that German army would quickly defeat Soviets
– Could then focus on Britain without fear of invasion on the eastern front
• Made rapid progress
• Stopped outside Moscow due to bitter cold winter and insufficient supplies
Battle of the Atlantic
• German U‐boats (submarines)
– Attacked ships
– Disrupted coastal trade
– Entered costal waters
• Even Jacksonville Beach!!!
• Allied Victory
– Convoy system
– Use of radar, sonar, and new ships
02/05/2018
3
North Africa and Italy
• Wanted a “Second Front” in Europe to relieve German pressure on the Soviet army
• Churchill proposed postponing the invasion• Remembered heavy loses of Britain during WWI
• Wanted time to build forces (US troops not ready)
• Let Germany exhaust themselves
• Focus on North Africa instead
– Advisors against this and suggested focus on Japan
– FDR “Germany First” strategy
North Africa and Italy
North Africa
• Most fighting took place in the desert between tanks
– Germany and Italy trapped in Tunisia
– Surrendered May 1943
Italy
• Landed in Sicily in July 1943
– Mussolini overthrown in September 1943
• German army took up positions previously held by Italians
– Amphibious landing on Salerno(mainland Italy) September 1943
– Fierce resistance and high casualties
Battle of Stalingrad• Hitler decided to invade
– For resources
– Located on Volga River
• Stalin’s troops had new tactics to counter Blitzkreig
– Germany surround but ordered not to retreat
• Ran out of food and ammunition and eventually surrendered
– 1 million deaths total
TURNING POINT!Hitler is now on the defensive!
Tehran Conference
• Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
– November 1943
– Tehran, Iran
• Allies promised to invade France spring 1944
• Stalin promised to declare war on Japan when Germany surrendered
– Would also attack Germans from the east
02/05/2018
4
D‐Day aka “Operation Overlord”• June 6, 1944
– Allied troops gathered in Britain
– Led by Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Started with airplane bombing missions to weaken German positions
– Invaded Norman coast of France• Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword, Juno
• 4,400 ships crossed the English Channel
• Successful but with heavy casualties
then now
Omaha Beach
Battle of the Bulge• Paris liberated 2 months after D‐Day
• German army launched surprise counterattack at Ardennes Forest– Invaded Antwerp, Belgium
– Tried to divide and defeat US and Britain
– Six weeks of fighting
• African American troops sent into combat for 1st time
– Bloodiest action by US forces during the war
• 19,000 killed; 62,000 wounded; 26,000 MIA
• Hitler’s last attempt to win the war failed– vigorous resistance, Allied reinforcements, bitter cold weather,
unfavorable terrain
Collapse of Nazi Germany• American & British invade from the West,
Soviets entered Poland in the East
– Warsaw uprising August 1944 savagely repressed and Soviets watched from sidelines
• Hitler committed suicide at underground bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945
– FDR died of a heart attack on April 12, 1945
• Germany’s military leaders surrendered
– May 7‐8 V‐E Day or “Victory in Europe” Day
