World War II, The Holocaust, and Anne Frank

Adolf Hitler Hitler served in World War I. He joined the National Socialist German Worker’s Party and soon became its leader. January 30, 1933 - Adolf Hitler becomes the Chancellor of Germany. He had a magnetic personality and was a persuasive speaker.

Hitler’s Mission Hitler’s primary goal was to exterminate all Jews whom he considered to be “Untermenschen” (sub-human). Hitler was influenced by several books that promoted the idea that the Aryan race was superior to all others. He also believed that the Jews had a secret conspiracy to take over the world. Hitler eventually wrote his own book, Mien Kampf (My Struggle).

Aryan A term used by the Nazis to describe Caucasians of non-Jewish descent. The Nazis believed that the ideal Aryans, blond-hair and blue-eyed North Europeans, were a master race destined to rule the world.

Hitler’s Power The Schutz Staffel (SS) was a protection squad created in 1925 to serve as Hitler’s personal bodyguard. In 1929, Heinrich Himmler was appointed to SS leadership, and the organization was eventually expanded to become the Nazi Party’s prime security organ. By the time WWII began in September of 1939, the SS controlled all police agencies, concentration camps, and some elite combat troops (the Waffen-SS).

Why did so many people support Hitler? Hitler came to power at a time when Germany was looking for a hero, someone to give them an answer for all of their problems. Germany was humiliated after WWI. The Germans were also greatly affected by the Depression. Hitler told the Germans things that they wanted to hear. He made it seem as though he had all of the answers.

Scapegoat A person, group, or thing that bears the blame for the mistakes or crimes of others. Hitler made Jews a scapegoat by blaming them for Germany’s unemployment and economic decline.

Nazism The political doctrine of the Nazi Party. Nazism advocated anti-Semitism, racism, one-party rule, anti-communism, rigid authoritarian dictatorship, extreme nationalism, and militarization, while urging a destiny of world leadership for Germany.

Anti-Semitism Acts or negative feelings against Jews which take the form of prejudice, dislike, fear, discrimination, and persecution.

Bystanders, Perpetrators, and Victims Bystanders - Individuals or governments who were indifferent to the persecution of the victims of the Holocaust. Bystanders failed to come to the aid of Jews and other persecuted groups. Perpetrators - In the Holocaust, those persons, agencies, or governments who assist in or gain from the persecution of others. Victims - In the context of the Holocaust, those groups singled out for persecution and/or extermination by the Nazis: Jews, Gypsies, political dissenters, leftists, homosexuals, and other ethnic religious groups.

Prejudice and Racism Prejudice – A negative, inflexible attitude toward a group of people (ethnic or religious) impervious to evidence or contrary to argument. In most cases racial prejudice is founded on suspicions, ignorance, and irrational hatred of other races, religious groups, or nationalities. Racism – The belief that a racial group is inferior because of biological or cultural traits.

How did the persecution start? The Nuremberg Laws In 1935 the Nazis gave legal force to their anti-Semitism by implementing these laws that excluded Jews from German society, deprived them of their citizenship rights, removed them from their jobs, expelled them from schools and universities, and prohibited them from marrying non-Jews under the penalty of death.

Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) “The Night of Broken Glass” On November 9, 1938 the Nazi police and collaborators subjected Jews to an onslaught of anti-Semitic violence. Nazis vandalized and burned Synagogues and Jewish businesses and randomly terrorized Jews. This event signaled the beginning of the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people.

Ghettos The term used to describe the compulsory “Jewish Quarter,” the poor sections of cities where Jews are forced to reside. These areas, surrounded by barbed wire or walls, confined people in overcrowded conditions where they were forced into heavy labor and provided little to eat.

Concentration Camps Prisons where the Nazi regime sent people considered by them to be dangerous. Some concentration camps were “killing centers” that employed poison gas to systematically kill hundreds of thousands of people. Prisoners were typically worked or starved to death. Persons held in the camps were political and religious dissidents, resistors, homosexuals, as well as racial and ethnic victims of the Nazi regime and its collaborators. More than 100 camps existed.

Death Camps Killing centers in occupied Poland designed specifically for the murder of Jews, Gypsies, and other people found undesirable by the Nazis. The 6 death camps were: Chelmno, Auschwitz, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, and Maidanek.

Holocaust (1933-1945) Literally means “burnt offering” or “an offering to God that is entirely consumed by fire.” The Nazi term was “The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem.”

Holocaust cont. The Holocaust – The systematic, bureaucratic annihilation of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators during WWII. Although Jews were the primary victims, up to one-half million Gypsies and at least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled persons were also victims of genocide (the deliberate and total extermination of a culture). In addition, three million Soviet prisoners of war were killed because of their nationality. Poles and other Slavs were targeted for slave labor, and as a result, tens of thousands perished. Homosexuals and others deemed “anti-social” were also persecuted and often murdered. Also, thousands of political and religious dissidents such as communists, socialists, trade unionists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses were persecuted for their beliefs and behavior.

Statistics 6 million Jews died in the killing centers, 4 million others 66% of European Jews were slaughtered (1/3 of all Jews worldwide) A total of 55 million people died in World War II