The Holocaust 1938-1945

What is “a holocaust”? an act of mass destruction and loss of life (especially in war or by fire); Example: "a nuclear holocaust.” wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn The word origin is originally from the Greek language, meaning “total destruction by fire.”

What was “The Holocaust”? The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, government-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews and six million other minorities by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. (United States Holocaust Museum) The Holocaust was the worst modern-day genocide. Genocide means the murder of a specific racial or ethnic group; “ethnic cleansing.”

What began the Holocaust? Germany experienced a terrible economic depression after losing World War I (1914-1918)

Treaty of Versailles: 1919 In addition to the billions of dollars Germany had already spent on World War One, the Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to make reparations (payments) to the allied countries and took away some of Germany’s land. This impoverished Germany even further.

The Rise of the Nazi Party The National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) was a small political party that gained power and influence by promising to make Germany stronger and more powerful than ever through hard work, unswerving loyalty, and the creation of a “racially pure” citizenry. Adolf Hitler’s biography, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) explained these ideas and its publication helped the party gain more influence. They gained control of Germany in 1933.

Jews were easy scapegoats. A scapegoat is someone who is blamed for someone’s problem. In this case, the Jews were blamed for Germany’s financial crisis. It seemed to the Nazi party that the Jews were thriving financially while the rest of Germany was having such hard times. Anti-semitism (persecution of Jews) had raged throughout Europe since Medieval times, so this was nothing new. The Nazi party was able to gain power in Germany by fanning the flames of anti-semitism that had been smothered in recent years. They promised to rebuild Germany and make it stronger than ever….but first, they had to get rid of the people who were weakening the country…the Jews.

Anti -Semitism Aryan Race This is the term given to political, social and economic agitation against Jews. In simple terms it means ‘Hatred of Jews’. Aryan Race This was the name of what Hitler believed was the perfect race. These were people with full German blood, blonde hair and blue eyes.

Nuremberg Laws: The First Step *marry non-Jews *vote or run for political office *own businesses *serve in the military *attend school with gentiles (non-Jews) *go to restaurants or other public places owned by non-Jews. *practice medicine or law for non-Jews. *drive cars and later, ride bicycles. And many others. First written in 1935 in the German city of Nuremberg, these laws stripped Jews of their citizenship rights. Jews were no longer able to: Nazi guards hold signs saying, “Germans! Protect yourselves! Don’t buy from Jews!”

The Yellow Star Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David on their clothing whenever they appeared outside of their homes. This identified them as Jews and subjected them to scorn and discrimination by the public.

Kristallnacht The Night of Broken Glass November 9–10, 1938 The Nazi party was dissatisfied with the Nuremberg laws; they wanted to send a stronger message to the Jews of Germany. On November 9, the German government staged a 30-hour riot that attacked Jewish businesses and synogogues. In just a 30 hour time period: 267 synagogues were destroyed, 7,500 Jewish businesses were looted, and at least 91 people were killed. They also vandalized Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes. 30,000 Jews were sent to Buchenwald, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen, where hundreds died within weeks of arrival.

Aftermath of Kristallnacht A destroyed synagogue in Berlin People being arrested during Kristallnacht. You can see buildings burning in the background.

The Ghetto: the Next Step The word “ghetto” has been around since medieval times in Europe. It’s an enclosed area of a city where Jews were forced to live. Hundreds of ghettos were set up in Nazi-dominated countries, and Jews were forced to leave their homes and live in these unsanitary, overcrowded places. Conditions were terrible and people died by the hundreds daily. However, Jews set up schools for children and tried to survive. People smuggling food into the Warsaw Ghetto.

Images from the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland Nazi guards supervise. Death by starvation and disease. Overcrowded conditions,yet trying to celebrate Passover and maintain hope.

The Final Solution After Kristallnacht, Hitler stepped up the violence and began his plan to exterminate all the Jews of Europe. He set up concentration camps, many in occupied Poland, to kill millions of Jews and other undesirables quickly, cheaply, and efficiently. Most people were deported by cattle cars, a torturous experience itself, where people were denied seats, food, water, light, restrooms, and were packed in like sardines. Some didn’t survive the ride. Children being deported to Chelmno concentration camp. People spilling out of cattle cars, weakened and terrified by the journey.

Arrest of small child at Warsaw Ghetto Arrest of small child at Warsaw Ghetto. Deportion to concentration camps.

“Work makes you free.” Slogan upon entering Auschwitz. Auschwitz was the largest and most brutal of the camps; approx. 1 million of the 6 million Jews were murdered here.

A MAP OF THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND DEATH CAMPS USED BY THE NAZIS. There were concentration camps and death camps. If you went to a death camp the chances of coming out alive were virtually nil. Even at concentration camps though you were likely to die from the appalling conditions. Or, if you were very young, old, or incapable of hard labour, it was likely you would be transferred to a death camp too. Anne Frank died at Belsen from Typhoid. Leonard Leher's mother and sisters were sent to Sobibor. YOU MAY ASK "WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE WHO WERE SENT TO PLACES LIKE THIS?" THEY WERE CHILDREN JUST LIKE YOU. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE WAS THEIR RACE AND THE RELIGION THEY FOLLOWED.

Upon entering the concentration camp, the people were separated into males and females. Then, both groups were “selected”—for slave labor, if healthy enough, or for immediate death if too sick, too old, or too young to work. Selection

Mass Execution (before the use of gas chamber and crematoriums) Often, the prisoners had to dig their own graves just moments before being killed.

A group of children selected for the gas chamber.

Medical Experiments Dr. Josef Mengele and other medical doctors used concentration camp prisoners for “medical” experimentation. These brutal experiments included injections into the eyes to change color, amputations, burning and freezing skin, pressure chambers, testing drugs, performing surgeries without anesthesia. Mengele was most interested in twin studies and tortured many twin children. These people were put to death afterwards so they would not reveal any information. Mengele was known as “The Angel of Death” because of the power he held over so many people’s lives.

Gas Chambers and Crematoria The Nazis were continually trying to find the least expensive and most efficient manner of killing people and disposing of the bodies. The shootings and mass graves were expensive, time consuming and messy so they invented the gas chambers. Prisoners were marched into hermetically-sealed chambers that looked like shower rooms. Instead of water, poison gas poured from the openings. After the people in the chamber died, their bodies were burned in the crematorium. Modern day photos of gas chamber (left) and crematorium (right) at Auschwitz museum. Survivors often say that the smell of burning bodies was a daily reminder of death in the camps.

Inside the Barracks

Percentage of Jews killed in each country AUSTRIA 35% POLAND 91% USSR 36% NORWAY 45% BELGIUM 45% LUXEMBOURG 55% ESTONIA 44% ROMANIA 84% A Total of 6,000,000 Jews HUNGARY 74% YUGOSLAVIA 81% BOHEMIA 60% How did they manage to get together all these Jews to kills them? How did they kill them when they had them? To begin with there were concentration camps. LATVIA 84% NETHERLANDS 71% LITHUANIA 85% GERMANY 36% FRANCE 22% GREECE 87%

Aftermath

Other Minorities in the Holocaust Gypsies (Roma) peoples Homosexuals People with physical or mental disabilities Jehovah’s Witnesses German-Gypsy family at a concentration camp.