The Holocaust Unit 3 Section 3 Part 5

A. Nazi Anti-Semitism Anti-semtism- hostility or prejudice towards Jews Anti-Semitism not new Hitler believed that Germans descended from the Aryans All of Germany’s problems, Hitler blamed on the Jews

B. Hitler in Power When Hitler was elected as chancellor of Germany, he began passing anti-Semitic laws In 1935, the Nuremburg Laws stripped Jews of German citizenship -also took away many civil rights -Jews not allowed to marry Germans, etc.

C. Attacks on Jews Not all Germans agreed with Hitler, but few resisted Violent attacks against Jews broke out across Germany November 9 th and 10 th 1938, anti-Jewish riots Jewish businesses were burned down or destroyed Jewish synagogues were also burned down -called Kristallnacht 26,000 Jews during this time were hauled off to concentration camps

D. Flight From Germany Kristallnacht sent a strong message to Jews to get out of Germany Over 100,000 Jews managed to leave Some were too poor to move Some countries, even the U.S. were unwilling to take in too many immigrants

E. Toward the Final Solution Before WWII, 9 million Jews lived in Germany Hitler’s SS (secret police) made it a point to jail or annihilate the Jewish population The first way in which Hitler did this was to round up Jews into Ghettos -poorest parts of German cities -this was meant to starve them out -the worst Ghetto was in Warsaw, Poland

Another method of dealing with Jews was sending them to concentration camps for work Condition in the camps were horrific Workers had to perform difficult labor, given little or no food Punishment for even minor offenses was death

A. The Final Solution From the 1 st days of WWII, Nazis mass-murdered Jews After taking towns, Jews were often round up and shot on sight This was usually done by the Einsatzgruppen, which were Nazi killing squads After invading the USSR, he began designing death camps -camps specifically for execution This was what the Nazi’s called their Final Solution The killing of an entire race of people is called genocide

As Jews arrived at concentration camps, Nazi doctors would separate them into two groups Those fit to work were sent into the camp for labor Those unfit to work (women and children) were sent to the extermination chambers The most common method of execution was gas Some inmates might also be subject to medical experimentation

B. The American Response U.S. limited immigration due to job competition None knew the extent of Hitler’s plans In 1942, The U.S. began to hear rumors of Hitler’s final solution, but at first was skeptical 1944, FDR created the War Refugee Board – Took all measures top rescue victims of enemy oppression – Able to save about 200,000 Jews from Nazis

Hitler killed between 5 and 6 million Jews during what is called the Holocaust As allies liberated countries from German control, they discovered the camps Following WWII, many of Hitler’s surviving generals were put on trial and executed Called the Nuremburg Trials