: Germany was suffering from the economic and physical turmoil left behind after WWI. The Nazi party and their leader, Adolf Hitler, began to spread their ideas of nationalism, militarism and a racially “pure” Germany Hitler faced time in prison after trying to overthrow political leaders in Munich – while in prison, he wrote his famous Mein Kampf which would become the basis for the Nazi Party’s racist views and extermination practices Nazi Party grew to almost 110,000 members by 1932

: The first concentration camp was created at Dachau Nuremburg Laws were passed: these laws stripped Jews of their civil rights as German citizens and separated them from Germans legally, socially, and politically – defined by ancestors November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht “The Night of the Broken Glass” Nearly 1000 synagogues were set on fire, 7,000 store fronts were raided and 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps

POEM BY AVA

: Nazi’s started initiating the ghetto’s: the first step to confine non-Aryians before sending them to concentration and/or death camps The Concentration, Death and other camps started being used for the annihilation of Jews and other “undesirables” As the “Final Solution” became known, more resistance by the Jews came about (religious practices in ghettos and camps, runaways, guerilla warfare, etc) Finally, in 1945, the Allied forces liberated the Jewish people after Germany’s surrender – though 6,000,000 Jews alone perished before anyone could save them

"Jewish Quarter" Ghettos were usually established in the poor sections of a city, where most of the Jews from the city and surrounding areas were subsequently forced to reside. Often surrounded by barbed wire or walls, the ghettos were sealed. Established mostly in eastern Europe (e.g., Lodz, Warsaw, Vilna, Riga, or Minsk) The ghettos were characterized by overcrowding, malnutrition, and heavy labor

A Ghetto Living Quarter The Warsaw Ghetto: blockaded by walls

There were concentration camps, forced labor camps, extermination or death camps, transit camps, and prisoner-of-war camps All of the camps were brutal in their own way, some worse than others (gas chambers, physical labor, harassment, malnutrition, mutilation, etc) Anyone who tried to escape, disobey orders, question the Nazi’s or who could not work anymore were shot on the spot Some people tried to help the Jews, ex. Oskar Schindler The most infamous death camp was at Auschwitz, Poland

Auschwitz: “Work Makes Freedom” A Crematorium in Auschwitz

Holocaust Museums have been made in Israel and Washington, D.C. to remember all those who we lost in this terrible tragedy Not just Jews – gypsies, mentally and physically handicapped, non-Aryians, homosexuals Not the only Holocaust – genocides have occurred elsewhere, ex. Rwanda

Saturday, July 15, 1944 It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I'll be able to realize them! --The Diary of a Young Girl, eds. Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler, p. 332

People today believe that the Holocaust did not happen. Based on evidence, what do you think? What does this event, and genocides like it, say about mankind? Who is to blame for this atrocity? Where were the allies, bystanders, etc?

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