1. Holocaust

2. Phase 1– 1933-1935 Attempt to boycott Jewish businesses
Elimination Jews from civil service
Nuremburg Laws
“Don’t buy from Jews; Shop in German businesses!”

3. Phase II – 1939 Nazis begin to identify Jewish assets
Jewish ghettos established
Ghettos - a provisional measure until German leaders determined what to do w/ Jews

4. Phase III – The Final Solution - 1941
Begins with invasion of Russia
Hard to know exactly when
Hitler did not commit his name to written documents
All European Jews would be rounded up and killed.
Goebbels

5. Death Camps Began construction in Oct 1941
Poland and Czech.
Different than concentration camps
Upon arrival
Divided into workers and non workers
Showers - Zyklon B

6. What did Germans Know?
German people told Jews were being resettled East
The Final Solution was veiled in secrecy
Why?
Felt German people would be unprepared for the truth
Were concerned about allied propaganda
SS/Gestapo needed to round up the Jews quietly

7. What did Allies Know? Some reports smuggled out of Poland in 1942, 43
Hard to believe - Germans fought under accepted rules of war
Concrete evidence not obtained until 1944

8. What Should They Do? Bomb the camps?
Would prevent continuation of murders, but Allies would kill innocents
Solution: End the war as quickly as possible and liberate these camps.

9. Losses Four million Jews will die in Death Camps
Two million will be murdered by SS as they emptied villages
Estimates of total Jewish deaths range from 6-8 million.