The Holocaust On a separate piece of paper, take notes as you go through the following slides and visit the websites provided. When you are finished, write a paragraph (5-7 sentences) which answer the following question: Could a tragedy such as the Holocaust happen today? Use information from your notes to support your answer.

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out-- because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out-- because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out-- because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Stereotype: A simplistic, firmly held belief, often negative, about individual characteristics generalized to all people within that group. Propaganda: The deliberate spreading of ideas or information, true or untrue, with the purpose of manipulating public opinion to gain support for one’s cause, or discourage support for another Racism: a set of beliefs based on perceived “racial” superiority and inferiority; a system of domination that is played out in everyday interactions, and the unequal distribution of privilege, resources and power. Anti-Semitism: Hostility toward Jews as an ethnic or religious group, often accompanied by social, economic, and political discrimination.

What? Attempted genocide - Attempted genocide -(Genocide is the destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group) - to create a “better Germany” - to create a “better Germany” - for the world to be more pure - for the world to be more pure - to create a “super race” - to create a “super race”

Who? Victims: (targeted groups) Victims: (targeted groups) Jews, gypsies, other minorities, handicapped, homosexuals, educated, Russians, Polish, communists, socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses Jews, gypsies, other minorities, handicapped, homosexuals, educated, Russians, Polish, communists, socialists, Jehovah’s WitnessesPerpetrators: Nazis (political party) led by Hitler The S.S. (secret police) and Gestapo (S.S. officials) Collaborators: Concurrent majority -those who agreed Bystanders – those that chose to do nothing to prevent it

Why? Gave the Germans someone to blame for their predicament United them in a common cause – a common enemy A way for Hitler to gain power People went along with it…. Collaborated on racial hate Many people didn’t know what was going on

Before the war began, boycotts, anti-Jewish laws, and persecution were meant to drive Jews out of Germany. After Germany invaded Poland, Polish and Western European Jews were deported to ghettos. Once Germany invaded the Soviet Union, German forces began to kill entire Jewish communities in an effort to find a “complete solution of the Jewish question.” Hitler’s “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem was to murder every European Jew.

FAQs When did the “Final Solution” actually begin? While thousands of Jews were murdered due to discrimination by the Nazi’s, the systematic murder of Jews did not begin until the German Invasion of the Soviet Union in June Did the Jews in Europe realize what was going to happen to them? Since the Nazi’s did not publicize the “Final Solution” nor speak about it, and every attempt to fool the victims was made to minimize resistance, the European Jews were not aware of the Final Solution. Also, the notion that human beings--let alone the civilized Germans-- could build camps with special apparatus for mass murder seemed unbelievable in those days. How many died? How many camps were there?

How many camps were there? Why didn’t they fight back? How many were saved by others? What did the U.S. know? (America’s response to Holocaust)

On the same paper as your notes, write a paragraph which answers the following question: Could a tragedy such as the Holocaust happen today? Use information from your notes to support your answer.