THE HOLOCAUST

THE BEGINNING Holocaust: the Nazi attempt to kill all Jews under their control result of racist ideology of Nazis – any undesirables were persecuted; only the Aryan race should survive (Germanic, Nordic, Anglo-Saxon blood) Anti-Semitism – hatred of Jews – Hitler blames them for all Germany’s problems: things like communism, abstract painting, and defeat in WWI Begins with an economic attack – boycott Jewish businesses, bars Jews from civil service jobs, banking, stock exchange, law, journalism, and medicine Nuremberg Laws come next – denies German citizenship to Jews, bans marriage between Jews and non-Jews, segregates Jews at every level of society Hints there will be a ‘Final Solution to the Jewish question’

KRISTALLNACHT Nov. 9, 1938 – known as Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) happened after a Jewish refugee killed a German diplomat in Paris – Nazi officials order attacks on Jews in Germany, Austria, and Sudetenland (all he had conquered at that point) secret police and military destroy 1500 synagogues and 7500 Jewish-owned businesses, kill 200 Jews, injure 600 and arrest 1000s

OTHER OBSTACLES Between , 129,000 Jews flee Germany and Austria, including Einstein More may have left, but really weren’t welcomed in other countries Due to Depression and lack of jobs and anti-Semitism, The U.S. and other countries shut their doors – The St. Louis sails with 900 Jews and can’t find anyone to take them – return to Germany and their eventual deaths

THE FINAL SOLUTION Genocide: the willful annihilation of a racial political, or cultural group 1933 – first concentration camp opens – areas include Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and Buchenwald All ‘enemies of the state’ were placed in camps – each designated by color-coded patches Purple: Jehovah’s Witnesses Yellow: Jew Pink: homosexual Red: Political Prisoner Blue: Immigrant Green: Criminal Black: ‘antisocial’ Included anyone who spoke out against Hitler – labor leaders, socialists, communists, ministers, priests, Gypsies, beggars, physically and mentally disabled and many others

Prisoners were tattooed with numbers (numbers make them not human) and dressed in vertically striped uniforms Within prison walls, guards could do as they pleased – Death by starvation and disease was an everyday occurrence; doctors conducted horrible experiments Poland was home to large groups of Jews – Warsaw, Lodz, and other cities – Jews were forced to live in crowded areas known as ghettos; additional camps were constructed By 1942 – Nazi officials were ready to move ahead with the Final Solution – extermination of 11,000,000 Jews – some camps, especially in Poland, were designated as death camps largest death camp was Auschwitz, also Treblinka, Maidenek, Sobibor, Belsec and Chelmno forced into death chambers that were pumped in carbon monoxide and showers that released deadly insecticide – human fat was turned into soap; hair was woen into wi, slippers, etc; cash, gold fillings, wedding rings were stripped from the bodies – bodies were then burned Some were simply lined up and shot By 1945 – 6 million Jews had been murdered; 5 million others had died

ALLIES RESPONSE TO THE HOLOCAUST Could it have been prevented? – relaxed immigration policies might have helped; our State Dept made a conscious effort to block Jewish immigration – why? As the horrors of the camps begins to be reported once we enter the war, and effort is made to rescue Jews; not until 1944 did FDR respond by establishing the War Refugee Board – working with the Red Cross saving many Jews, especially in Romania and Hungary Stalin had no concern over the death camps, although his country is the closest As our soldiers began to liberate the camps, Americans began to get the whole picture – leads ti support of an independent Jewish homeland – in 1948 when the Jewish community proclaimed the State of Israel, President Truman immediately recognized the nation