THE HOLOCAUST 15.4 Mrs. Stoffl

Roots of the Holocaust Nazis were racist Jews + other “undesirables” Considered Aryans to be the superior Those of German, Nordic, + Anglo-Saxon blood

Divisions of Race To Hitler Aryans (Germanic)=Culture Creating Middle (Non German)=Culture Maintaining Jews - Culture Destroying Untermenschen (subhuman)- undesirable elements that need to be eliminated Gypsies =, Jehovah Witnesses=, Homosexuals=, Handicap, beggars, or those deemed “work shy” = Habitual Criminals =, Political Prisoners =

Hitler Preaches Hate Hitler’s Mein Kampf and overall ideology preached hate + discrimination from the beginning Violent sense of anti-Semitism blaming Jews for the loss in WWI, communism, + inflation (G. Dep)

Nazis Begin Persecution Hitler – German Chancellor in 1933 First encouraged Germans too boycott Jewish businesses + forbade Jews from many jobs 1935 – Hitler creates the Nuremberg Laws Denied Jews German citizenship Banned marriage b/w Jews and non-Jews Segregation in society (yellow stars) Hitler indoctrinated the Germans (especially youth) that Jews were polluting German society Huge anti-Semitic campaigns

Violence Erupts on Kristallnacht A Jewish refugee killed a German diplomat in Paris  Nazis ordered attacks on Jews In Germany, Sudetenland, Austria Secret police + Nazi military destroyed: 1,500 synagogues 7,500 Jewish businesses Killed more than 200 Jews, injured 600, 1000s arrested Kristallnacht – Night of Broken Glass (11/9/38)

Jewish Refugees Face Obstacles around 130,000 Jews fled Nazi controlled areas - including Albert Einstein Many countries were not taking immigrants due to the Great Depression St. Louis – ship carrying 900 Jewish refugees headed for Cuba 22 allowed to stay Rest were refused in the U.S. 600 died in concentration camps

Nazis Adopt the “Final Solution” Hitler’s “Final solution to the Jewish question.” Systematic extermination of all Jews living w/in the Third Reich This is cultural/group genocide

Nazis Build Concentration Camps 1933 – Hitler opens the first concentration camps (Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald) Initially designed to be work camps to promote the success of the Third Reich All “undesirables” + political opponents sent there Put in uniforms with triangular insignias to illustrate “who” prisoners were

Nazi Concentration Camps Death by starvation a daily occurrence Doctors performed medical experiments on the prisoners (Dachau) Often killed or deformed the prisoners Thousands died due to these horrendous circumstances

Millions Are Murdered in Death Camps January 1942 – Wannsee Conference, Nazi leaders decided to carry out the “Final Solution” Plan to exterminate over 11 million Jews Started to design concentration camps into death camps for systematic killing Transported thousands by train to the camps

Millions Are Murdered in Death Camps Nazis forced prisoners into death chambers Carbon monoxide or insecticide Zyklon B pumped in Thousands of prisoners shot at camps w/o the killing technology 11 million+ killed in the Holocaust 6 million Jews Other groups targeted were Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, disabled people, and Roma.

Gas Chamber

Auschwitz MM killed Buchenwald Labor camp and medical experiment

Milgram Obedience Study Long Short

The Allies and the Holocaust Many question why the rest of the West did not intervene sooner… Very difficult and highly debated question

Early Response Was Weak Immigration policy in many nations was very strict If relaxed many more refugees could have been saved Why did the U.S. refuse the Jewish refugees Anti- Semitism Apathy Great Depression Underestimation of Hitler’s genocidal plans

American Government Takes Action 1942 – News floods the world media about the mass killings April 1943 – Bermuda Conference held to discuss the rescuing of the Jews Early 1944 – FDR established the War Refugee Board Work w/ Red Cross to save thousands of Eastern European Jews

American Government Takes Action Stalin (though closest) did not show concern U.S. + G.B. expressed sympathy + helped to some extent BUT focused primarily on taking down Hitler War Refugee Board encouraged the bombing of the railroad lines BUT Allies were more concerned with defeating the Axis Powers

Allied Soldiers Liberate the Camps Allies liberated the concentration camps Finally, Americans understood the atrocities that happened there… Intense imagery The Jewish community’s intense nationalism after the Holocaust paved the way for the 1948 State of Israel Truman formally recognized the new country