Road to Hitler’s “Final Solution” The Holocaust Road to Hitler’s “Final Solution”

History of Anti-Semitism Early animosity because they were first monotheistic faith 13th Century BC – Enslaved in Egypt 722 BC – Assyrians took them into captivity 586 BC – Babylonians invaded & destroyed their temple in Jerusalem & took them in captivity

Anti-Semitism continued… 198 BC – Syrian Greeks turned their temple into a shrine for Greek God Zeus & executed Jews 19 CE – Romans expelled Jews from Rome; heavily taxed them & forced them to move (Diaspora) Approx. 200 CE – Blamed for Jesus’s death & creates tensions with Christians (followers of Jesus)

Anti-Semitism continued… 1096 CE – Christians on the way to the crusades against the Muslims, attacked Jewish areas (10,000 slaughtered in 6 months during First Crusade) 12th Century CE – Jews had very limited way of making $ because they couldn’t own land, so they become moneylenders. The Catholic Church considered it a sin to charge interest for lending $  stereotype of Jews

Anti-Semitism continued… Mid-14th Century CE – Blamed for deliberately poisoning the wells causing the Black Death plague 1480 CE – Spanish Inquisition – religious courts that punished non - Christians. Spanish forced Jews to convert, or must leave. Late 1800s – In Poland & Russia, Jews were murdered in organized gov’t mass killings called pogroms

How the Holocaust began 1933 Hitler gains control of Germany Hitler used the history of European anti-Semitism (discrimination against Jews) Blamed Jews for problems Used propaganda to get support Persecution became Nazi gov’t policy in 1933

Nuremberg Laws 1935 Banned Jews from gov’t jobs Deprived German Jews of their rights of citizenship Jews could not have relationships with Aryans Charts were created to determine who was Jewish

A “full Jew” was someone with 3 Jewish grandparents

Laws continued… Gov’t contracts could not be given to Jewish businesses “Aryan” doctors could only treat “Aryan” patients Jews had to wear a bright yellow Star of David on their clothes at all times A large letter “J” had to be imprinted on their passports

“Germans! Defend Yourselves! Do not buy from Jews!”

Kristallnacht November 9, 1938 “Night of Broken Glass” Nazi violent attack on the homes, businesses, & synagogues within the Jewish communities across Germany Around 100 Jews killed Hitler blamed the Jews for the violence

Refugees As Jews realized that violence would only increase, many went to other countries France accepted 25,000 Britain accepted 80,000 40,000 to Latin America 100,000 to the U.S. Then all refused Jews

Ghettos Hitler ordered Jews in all countries under his control to be moved into ghettos (segregated Jewish areas) Ghettos were closed in with barbed wire, wooden fences, and brick or stone walls They were very overcrowded, filthy, & disease ridden The goal was for the Jews inside to starve or die from diseases

Ghettos continued… Guards were stationed at all openings Jews were not allowed to leave the “Jewish residential districts” Penalty for leaving was death Nazis established 356 ghettos between 1939 – 1944 Warsaw was the largest ghetto, it held 400,000 Jews

Forceful move to a Ghetto

Forceful move to a Ghetto

Entrance to a Ghetto

Guards for the ghetto

The wall around a ghetto

The wall around a Ghetto

The “Final Solution” Hitler decided to implement a faster way to kill Jews 1942 - “Final Solution” was Hitler’s program of genocide (systematic killing of an entire people) Hitler sent SS killing squads to round up the Jewish people Took them to isolated areas, and shot them into mass graves

“Final Solution”… However, bullets were too costly and the process was not fast enough SO…. Others were taken to two types of camps Concentration camps were the forced labor camps Extermination camps were designed for mass murder Doctors determined who would die that day Used gas chambers and ovens for mass killings

“Work Will Set You Free” Gates at Auschwitz

Forced Labor on 200 calories per day

…6 weeks later

Gas Chambers

Wedding Rings

Ovens

Jewish population before, and after the Holocaust

Victims 6 million Jews (1.5 million were children under 12) 5 million “other undesirables” TOTAL: 11 Million