1. A Brief History of the Holocaust

2. Holocaust
“Holocaust” is used to refer to the systematic and government-sponsored killings of Jewish people
“Holocaust” also means “sacrifice by fire”

3. Holocaust con’t During WW II Nazi Germany murdered 6,000,000 Jews
about 2/3 of the entire European Jewish population
11,000,000 people altogether including
homosexuals
disabled people
Polish people
Russians
gypsies
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Communists
Socialists

4. Genocide “Geno” is the Greek term for race
“cide” is the Latin term for killing
“Genocide” became a word in 1944 to describe the mass killings of the Jewish race

5. The Rise of Hitler
Hitler fought in World War I, stayed in politics, and transformed the German Workers Party into the National Sozialismus Party (or NAZI Party)
The Wall Street Crash in 1929 greatly affected Germany and Hitler blamed Jews and Communists for Germany’s struggles
Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and President in 1934

6. NAZI Beliefs
Germany should rearm (after WWI) and take back what it had lost at Versailles
The German race (blond-haired, blue-eyed Aryans) were a superior race.
Anyone else was racially impure and should be removed from Germany. Hitler called the Germans the “master race.”
The master race needed more living space.

7. Propaganda
To convince Germans that Jews were inferior, Hitler began a massive propaganda campaign as early as 1930

9. Anti-Jewish Laws
1933:
Jews were deemed unfit for state service, and could no longer be employed by the state
The number of Jewish students allowed in German universities is restricted
1935:
Jews are not allowed to have sexual relations with those of German blood
Jews lose their political rights
Even if people did not practice Judaism, or identify themselves as Jewish, if they had three or four Jewish grandparents they were also considered Jewish

10. Anti-Jewish Laws con’t:
Jews must register their property
Jews who own businesses are forced to sell them for next to nothing to Germans
Jewish doctors can no longer treat non-Jews; Jewish lawyers can no longer practice law
Jews barred from cinemas, theaters, sports facilities, universities, and places designated as “Aryan”
1939:
Jews without Jewish first names are required to change their names
Jews must carry identity cards
Jews’ passports must be stamped with a “J”

11. Jewish Ghettos Nazis forced Jews to live in ghettos—enclosed areas
Ghettos isolated Jews from the non-Jewish population and from other Jewish communities
Ghettos were closed off by barbed wire or wood fences. Often Jews were killed if they tried to leave their ghetto
Ghettos were unsanitary and extremely crowded. Inhabitants suffered from lack of food, clothing, medicine, and starvation.
The largest ghetto was in Poland. About 450,000 Jews were forced to live in a 1.3 mile area.

12. The Final Solution In 1941: a plan to murder all European Jews
Euphemisms
Nazis began destroying the 800 ghettos, killing Jews in the ghettos, or transporting them to killing centers or concentration camps

13. Transportation to Concentration Camps
Jews and others were forced into large railway cars to be transported to concentration camps.
several days
standing room only
no food or water
People who were crushed to death or died in transport were left in the cars with the living.

14. Concentration Camps
harsh conditions with no regard to the legal norms of arrest and imprisonment
little food and clothing
Eventually all known Jews were sent to concentration camps
Gas chambers were built at four camps (although never used at Dachau) as a means of killing Jews; crematoriums or incinerators were also used

15. Gas Chambers
In 1939, Nazis began experimenting killing disabled people with gas using carbon monoxide
Nazis began using gas chambers after guards began suffering from fatigue and mental anguish from mass killings; gas chambers was also less costly than using ammunition, and a more efficient way of achieving the “Final Solution”
In 1942, permanent buildings were raised in camps.

17. Concentration Camps, Con’t.
During , the Nazi party needed money and began creating sub-camps for each of the major concentration camps
Sub-camps used to make money to support the Nazi campaign
Those who were not able to work, such as the elderly, infirm, and children were immediately sent to the gas chambers or the crematoriums

18. Concentration Camps, Con’t.
Concentration camps were also the sites of medical experiments that were not safe enough to be performed on “people”
Doctors performed these experiments on prisoners against their will

19. Concentration Camps, Con’t.
Marking system:
Political prisoners wore red inverted triangles
gays wore pink triangles
Jehovah’s Witnesses wore purple triangles,
Poles wore blue triangles
Criminals wore green triangles
Jews wore gold stars.
If a person was a gay Jew, he or she would wear a yellow triangle with a pink one over it to create the star of David.

20. Anne Frank
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who grew up during the Holocaust in Germany
When anti-Semitic laws began being passed her father mover her family to Amsterdam
In July of 1942, Anne’s sister Margot was ordered to report to a work camp, so her entire family went into hiding. Anne was 13.
For 25 months, Anne, her family, and a few others lived in a small space above her father’s office.

21. Elie Weisel
In 1944, Elie and all the inhabitants of his town (Sighet in Hungary) were forced into a ghetto
May 16, 1944: transported to Auschwitz, the worst of the death camps
April 11, 1945: liberated from camp

22. Why study the Holocaust?

23. Recent Occurences of Genocide
Bosnia-Herzegovina:   - 200,000 deaths
Rwanda: 1994 -
Hutus killed 800,000 Tutsis in 100 days
Darfur (2003-present)