The Holocaust

Learning Target When I leave this class, I can… Define the term holocaust and genocide. Describe anti-Jewish policies passed by the Nazis in the 1930’s Identify Hitler’s “Final Solution” program

Genocide The Systematic and purposeful destruction of a racial, political, religious, or cultural group. Examples Armenian (100, ,000 killed and many forced to convert to Islam) Rwanda (1994: almost 1 million) Cambodia ( approx 1.7 million) Holocaust (6 million Jewish people)

Holocaust Comes from Greek word: holocaustos Religious animal sacrifice that is completely consumed by fire Biblical word: “shoah” : calamity Destruction Modern Times: Genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during WWII.

Background Information…

1930’s Germany Mood = grim Lacked confidence Weak government Economic depression Lost WWI

Adolf Hitler Powerful / spellbinding speaker Attracted people who were desperate for change Appealed to the unemployed, young people, members of lower middle class

1924 …. Nazis = practically unknown only 3% of vote 1932 …. Nazis won 33% of vote 1933…. Hitler was appointed chancellor (the head of the German government)

Elements Leading to the Holocaust Totalitarianism combined with Nationalism History of Anti-Semitism. Defeat in World War I Hitler’s belief in the Master Race The Final Solution

Totalitarianism Centralized control by an autocratic authority and the political concept that the citizens should be totally subjected to an absolute state of authority

Nationalism Loyalty and devotion to a nation; and a sense of national consciousness exalting one’s nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.

Anti -Semitism This is the term given to political, social and economic agitation against Jews. In simple terms it means ‘Hatred of Jews’. Aryan Race This was the name of what Hitler believed was the perfect race. These were people with full German blood, blonde hair and blue eyes.

The “Inferior” : Not Just Jews Gypsies Disabled Slavic people (Poles, Russians, and others) Communists Socialists Jehovah’s Witnesses Homosexuals

For hundreds of years Christian Europe had regarded the Jews as the Christ -killers. At one time or another Jews had been driven out of almost every European country. The way they were treated in England in the thirteenth century is a typical example. In 1275 they were made to wear a yellow badge. In Jews were hanged in the Tower of London. This deep prejudice against Jews was still strong in the twentieth century, especially in Germany, Poland and Eastern Europe, where the Jewish population was very large. After the First World War hundreds of Jews were blamed for the defeat in the War. Prejudice against the Jews grew during the economic depression which followed. Many Germans were poor and unemployed and wanted someone to blame. They turned on the Jews, many of whom were rich and successful in business. Jews were a SCAPEGOAT

Between 1939 and 1945 six million Jews were murdered, along with hundreds of thousands of others, such as Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled, and the mentally ill.

The Final Solution: Euphemism Plan to annihilate the Jewish people Stages: 1. Nazis seize power. 2. State-sponsored anti-Jewish legislation, boycotts, “Aryanization,” and street violence (Kristallnacht) 3. Forced Immigration / Transportation 4. Establish Ghettos 5. Labor Camps / Concentration Camps / Death Camps 6. Mobile Killing Units 7. Gas Chambers

Terms to Know Gestapo: Secret State Police: Formed in Was permitted to question and imprison “suspects” without due process. Nuremberg Laws: Two laws enacted in 1935 which removed the rights of citizenship from Jews and others who were not of “German or related blood.”

Ghettos During WWII, enclosed areas in which Jewish people were forced to live Isolated Jews Separated Jewish communities from non- Jewish population Toward goal of removing Jewish population Final Solution: Deporting residents to concentration camps or death camps

Concentration Camps Term “concentration” : confining a group of people to one place Dachau: 1 st camp: “political prisoners” 1,2000 camps and subcamps were run Prisoners worked to produce goods Sold their goods for profit After beginning of WWII, camps became sites for mass murder

Treatment in Concentration Camps Many died due to maltreatment, starvation, overwork, dehydration, or executed as unfit for labor. Transported in inhumane conditions by rail freight cars

Auschwitz Largest Network of concentration and extermination camps Up to 1.1 million died there Poles, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, and other nationalities Died in gas chambers, forced labor, infectious disease, individual executions, medical experiments, starvation.

“Work Makes Free”

Auschwitz Children

Execution Wall

Liberated in 1945 by Soviet Troops

T-4 Euthanasia Program Physicians killed about 275,000 deemed “incurably sick.” Physically or mentally handicapped Trying to reach “racial hygiene” Lethal injection; carbon monoxide

Extermination Camps Death Camps Not Labor Camps Systematically killing millions by gassing Zyklon-B

Near the end… Allied troops moving across Europe Nazis begin shipping out prisoners on death marches Attempted to burn / cover evidence Soviet forces were the first there in July 1944 U.S. Forces liberated more than 20,000 prisoners at Buchenwald April 1945 British Forces liberated Bergen-Belsen mid-April 1945: 60,000 prisoners in critical conditions

Auschwitz Liberated in 1945 by Soviet Troops More than 800,000 women’s Outfits Hundreds of Thousands of men’s Suits 14,000 pounds of Human hair