1941-1945 The Holocaust

Genocide Genocide is the deliberate and systematic murder/extermination of an entire racial, ethnic, religious, cultural or national group.

The Holocaust There have been many massacres/genocides during the course of world history. The Holocaust (the Shoah – Hebrew for destruction; Greek for “Burnt whole”) refers to the murder of 6 Million European Jews in concentration/death camps during WWII. There were 9 million Jews in Europe pre-WWII.

The Holocaust The word Holocaust was given to the killing of the 6 million Jews because it was a war of extermination designed to wipe out an entire group of people. Hitler’s “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem” decided at the Wansee Conference (1942) Systematic, deliberate genocide

The Holocaust (1941-45) What is unique about Hitler’s “Final Solution of the Jewish Problem,” was the Nazi’s determination to murder without exception every single Jew who came within grasp, and the fanaticism, ingenuity, and cruelty with which they pursued their goal.

The Holocaust (1941-45) There were also many non-Jews in concentration/death camps: Russians POWs Soviet and Polish civilians Gypsies (Roma + Sinti) The mentally and physically ill (the disabled + the elderly) Political prisoners (communist/socialist) Religious opponents to the Nazi party (Jehovah's Witnesses) Homosexuals

The Holocaust (1941-45) For a total of 17 million people killed. There were 60 million World War II deaths.

Ghettos and Camps Recently researchers have cataloged some 42,500 Nazi ghettos and camps (vs. an expected 7,000 camps and ghettos) throughout Europe, spanning German-controlled areas from France to Russia and Germany itself, during Hitler’s reign of brutality from 1933 to 1945.

Documented Camps The documented camps include not only “killing centers” but also thousands of forced labor camps, where prisoners manufactured war supplies; prisoner-of-war camps; sites euphemistically named “care” centers, where pregnant women were forced to have abortions or their babies were killed after birth; and brothels, where women were coerced into having sex with Nazi German military personnel.

The Numbers Astound 30,000 slave labor camps 1,150 Jewish ghettos 980 concentration camps 1,000 prisoner-of-war camps 500 brothels filled with sex slaves 1,000s of other camps = euthanizing the elderly and infirm, performing forced abortions, “Germanizing” prisoners or transporting victims to killing centers

Urban Examples In Berlin alone, researchers have documented some 3,000 camps and so-called Jew houses, while Hamburg held 1,300 sites.

The Auschwitz Gate: Over 2 million people were killed at Auschwitz

Caption translation at the main gate at Auschwitz = Work Will Make you Free

The Jewish special train transfers (via the German National Railway) on the platform at Auschwitz: The majority of these people would be immediately sent to the gas chambers

The Remnants

Men’s Barracks at Auschwitz

Inside The Men’s Barracks

The Men of Auschwitz: Wasting Away to Death

The Children/Youth of Auschwitz

The Women of Auschwitz

Life in a Death Camp

“Life” in a Death Camp

Digging your Own or Others Graves

A Mass Execution of Women

Execution at the Side of a Mass Pit of Bodies

The Mass Pits: Layers Upon Layers of Human Bodies

Witness to an Execution: Prelude to what is next for the Witnesses

An Nazi Soldier about to Murder a Mother Protecting her Child in Vain

The Emaciated Bodies in Transport to the Pits or Crematoriums

The Emaciated Bodies in Transport to the Pits or Crematoriums: A “Normal” Nazi Day at Work

Attempting to Get All the Bodies into the Burning Pit of Humans

To the Gas Chambers at Auschwitz

The Gas Chambers

Piles of Bodies after a Gassing in the Gas Chamber

The Auschwitz Crematoriums

The Ovens = The Crematoriums

Survivors show the Allies the Ovens

The Remnant Clothing of those Dead = to be Repurposed in the Nazi forces or the German Public

Remnant Shoes of the Dead

Remnant Blankets of the Dead

The Death Marches = Nazi would Walk the Remaining Prisoners away from the Incoming Allies and either eventually Abandon Them or Shoot Them

Nazi Human Experiments The Nazi human experimentation were a series of medical experiments on large numbers of prisoners (many children) by the Nazi regime in its concentration camps during WWII. Dr. Josef Mengele was the most preeminent of the Nazi doctors who mostly practiced on children who were twins. German physicians carried out such experiments at Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, Ravensbrück, Sachsenhausen and Natzweiler concentration camps.

Nazi Human Experiments Prisoners were coerced into participating: they did not willingly volunteer and there was never informed consent. Typically, the experiments resulted in death, disfigurement, or permanent disability.

The Experiments List Experiments on twins Bone, muscle, and nerve transplantation experiments Freezing experiments Malaria experiments Mustard gas experiments Sea water experiments Sterilization experiments Experiments with poison Incendiary bomb experiments High altitude experiments

Mengele’s Test Subjects: Children

Rescuers Despite the indifference of most Europeans and the collaboration of others in the murder of Jews during the Holocaust, individuals in every European country and from all religious backgrounds risked their lives to help Jews. Bert and Anne Bochove, who hid 37 Jews in their pharmacy in Huizen, an Amsterdam suburb, pose here with their children. The two were named "Righteous Among the Nations." The Netherlands, 1944 or 1945.

Rescuers Rescue efforts ranged from the isolated actions of individuals to organized networks both small and large. Oskar Schindler saved more than 1200 Jews. Schindler is also among the named “Righteous Among the Nations”.

Ann Frank: a German born Jew was in hiding in her father’s offices in Amsterdam from 1942 until 1944 – she was 15 year old and died in Bergen-Belen Concentration Camp after they were betrayed. Ann wrote in her diary throughout the ordeal - it is now a book: The Diary of a Young Girl/The Diary of Anne Frank

Holocaust Chronology, 1945 Jan 27, 1945 - Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz. By this time, an estimated 2,000,000 persons, including 1,500,000 Jews, have been murdered there. April 29, 1945 - U.S. 7th Army liberates Dachau.

Holocaust Chronology, 1945 With liberation across Poland and Germany, the Allies discover a secret: The Nazi German genocide of Jews and “others.” WWII in Europe ends on May 8TH , 1945.

Liberation

Bury the Dead with Respect

Holocaust Memorial in Poland

Displaced Persons From 1945 to 1952, more than 250,000 Jewish displaced persons (DPs) lived in camps and urban centers in Germany, Austria, and Italy. These facilities were administered by Allied authorities and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA).

Displaced Persons Among the concerns facing these Jewish DPs in the years following the Holocaust were the problems of daily life in the displaced persons camps, Zionism, and emigration.

Postwar Efforts at Revenge Never before in the history of warfare had leaders legally charged other leaders for their immoral acts during the war (charged with “war crimes”).

Postwar Efforts at Revenge After, WWII the Allied powers decided to place on trial the highest-ranking Nazi officers were charged with “crimes against humanity”. Allied forces had attempted to do this after WWI, but had released them on the grounds that they “were just following orders”.

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg Trials (1945-46) were a series of military tribunals, held by the main victorious Allied Forces of WWII, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany at the Palace of Justice (not bombed + had a courtroom and jail; Nuremburg = symbolic birthplace of Nazism).

The Palace of Justice: Nuremburg, Germany

The Trials

On the Stand

Sentences One hundred and seventy seven Nazis were indicted for crimes related to the war, but more importantly for crimes committed during the Holocaust.

Sentences Of the one hundred and seventy seven who were brought to trial, only three were acquitted. Several expressed repentance, many others continued to believe in and stand by their actions during the war.

Sentences Several of the guilty (12) were sentenced to death (hanged) while others were given lengthy prison sentences. Several are in hiding or on the run to this very day.

They Got Away Many of the masterminds of the Holocaust committed suicide at the end of the war (i.e. Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler).

They Got Away Hitler killed himself in Berlin at his Fuhrerbunker with his wife Eva Braun (April 30, 1945). Goebbels and his wife plus 6 children also took their lives at the Fuhrerbunker (May 1, 1945). Himmler was scheduled to stand trial but committed suicide before it could begin (May 23, 1945). Goering committed suicide the night before his execution (October 15, 1946).

We say never again but there have been many more genocides since the Holocaust . . . Do we really mean it? Do we really care?

The Holocaust: Never Forget 1941-1945 The Holocaust: Never Forget