1. The Holocaust
“Survival is both an exalted privilege and a painful burden.”
-Gerda Weissmann Klein
During the Holocaust, Hitler’s Nazis kill 6 million Jews and 5 million other “non-Aryans.”
World War II targets more civilians than any other example of modern warfare, spurring a worldwide push toward a focus on humanitarianism and human rights

2. Policy of “Emigration” (1933 -1941)
Prior to Hitler’s rise to power, there were approximately half a million Jews living in Germany (1% of German pop.)
1933: 38,000 Jews leave Germany (mostly for neighboring European countries – France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland)
Many of these individuals would’ve been politically active or successful in business (dismissal of Jews from civil service jobs, boycotting of Jewish businesses and book burnings)
Many of these refugees would be later taken and sent to concentration camps when the Nazis invaded and occupied most of western Europe
Fairly steady emigration rates for the next 5 years until 1938
The escalation of persecution and the nationwide Kristallnacht resulted in a flood of visa applications, and sparked a refugee crisis
By 1939, 282,000 Jews had left Germany and 117,000 from annexed Austria
By 1941, only 163,000 Jews remained in Germany, most of whom were murdered in Nazi camps and ghettos during the Holocaust

3. Why didn’t more Jews leave Germany between 1933 and 1938?
Despite the fact that emigration was the official Nazi policy, the Nazi regime did not make emigration easy, levying a heavy emigration tax (brought in 342,000,000 in revenues to the Nazi regime in 1938/39) and restricting the amount of money that could be transferred abroad from German banks. Only about 10 marks ($4 USD) in cash could be taken with emigrants
In addition, most destination countries would only accept a limited number of Jewish refugees, sparking the need for the Evian Conference in France to address the situation. 32 countries attended. In the end, only the Dominican Republic agreed to extend their existing immigration quotas to accept more European Jews. Most countries cited the worldwide economic depression as the reason for their refusal
By the end of 1939….
Great Britain: 40,000
United States: 95,000
Palestine: 60,000
Latin America: 75,000 (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia)
Canada: Less than 5,000

4. 1939: U. S. Coast Guard prevents Jewish refugees on the St
1939: U.S. Coast Guard prevents Jewish refugees on the St. Louis from landing in Miami. The refugees were likewise refused entry in both Cuba and Canada before being forced to return to Europe
Presence of anti-Semitic social elements
Desire to avoid greater competition for jobs during the Depression
Fear of “enemy agents”

5. The Holocaust Begins Racist Beliefs
Hitler and Nazis say Aryans—Germanic peoples—are “master race”
They launch the Holocaust—systematic murder of Jews and other non-Aryans
Anti-Semitism
Nazis tap into long-held negative feelings of many Europeans against Jews
1935 Nuremberg Laws take away the citizenship rights of German Jews
“Night of Broken Glass”
Kristallnacht—“night of broken glass,” November 9, 1938
Jewish homes, businesses, synagogues attacked; 100 Jews killed and 30,000 Jewish men were subsequently sent to concentration camps
“Atonement” fines imposed on Jews – forcing them to pay the German gov’t for the damage to their own property
Confiscation of all Jewish property and assets by the Nazi regime soon followed

6. Stars, Triangles, and Markings
Those Jewish prisoners who were targeted by the Nazis and sent to the camps were required to wear one of these on their uniform.
See detailed legend at:

7. The Holocaust Begins Policy of “Isolation” (1939 – 1941)
Hitler has all Jews moved to designated, gated cities
They are forced to live in ghettos—separate Jewish areas
Hitler hopes that Jews in ghettos will die of disease, starvation

8. The “Final Solution” (1941 – 1945)
“Final Solution”—Hitler’s final plan for the treatment of Jews
Chooses genocide—systematic killing of an entire people
The Killings Begin –1941 “Einsatzgruppen”
Nazis in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union create killing squads
They shoot Jewish men, women, and children in mass executions
Other Jews were sent to concentration camps or slave labor prisons

9. continued The “Final Solution”
The Final Stage
By 1942, Nazis were building huge, efficient extermination camps
Camps separate strong from weak people
The “strong” or fairly healthy, were often put to work
The weak (mostly women, children, elderly, sick) were killed immediately
The Survivors
Nazis kill about six million European Jews during the war
Fewer than four million survive

10. 1941: Nazis build 6 major death camps in Poland Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek, Chelmno, Belzec 3.5 million European Jews were murdered at these camps. What groups did the Nazis single out for extermination?
All non-Aryans, including Jews, Slavs (Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, etc), Russian POWs, Roma peoples (also called “gypsies”), communists, socialists, social liberals, Freemasons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, LGBT population, developmentally disabled, mentally ill, physically disabled, the incurably ill
The ultimate goal: to create an Aryan super race

11. First They Came - Pastor Martin Niemoller (Confessing Church)
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialist And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me

12. Righteous Persons of World War II
Oskar Schindler (German industrialist, saved 1,100 Jews)
Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portugese consul in Bordeaux, France, granted 30,000 visas out of Vichy France, 10,000 to Jewish refugees)
Raoul Wallenberg (Swedish diplomat, saved over 10,000 Jews while serving in Budapest)
Sempo Sugihara (Japanese diplomat to Lithuania, saved 1,800 Jewish refugees)
Righteous Persons of World War II
Many non-Jews risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis. In recognition, the “Knesset”, or Israeli Parliament, formed the committee of Yad Vashem to bestow on these individuals the title of “Righteous Persons”.
By 2001, 18,269 individuals had been honored with this title.

13. Japanese War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
Rape of Nanking
Torture/murder of POWs
Battaan Death March
Unit 731 (medical experiments on living subjects)
Sexual slavery of over 200,000 “comfort women”
Many members of the Japanese high command were sentenced to death or life imprisonment for war crimes.

14. Civilian Air Raids (Germany and Japan)
Allied War Crimes –
Civilian Air Raids (Germany and Japan)
Mistreatment, Torture and Murder of POWs (Dachau, Normandy invasion, Allied invasion of Germany)
Use of nuclear weapons and murder of non-combatants
Mass rape of German and Austrian women during Allied occupation
Many people would argue that discussing Allied war crimes alongside Axis war crimes is a false equivalency.
Others state that remembering that Allied forces committed war crimes during World War II as well, for which no one was prosecuted, helps lead us toward a more objective conception of World War II.
“People should be understanding if a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometers through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman or takes some trifle”.
-Joseph Stalin

15. The Nuremberg Trials “I was only following orders”.
24 high-ranking Nazi officials, ministers, military leaders and industrialists put on trial (12 sentenced to death and most of the rest were imprisoned for 10 years to life)
Nearly 200 more lesser leaders also found guilty in later trials
Crimes:
Crimes against the peace (planning and waging an aggressive war)
War Crimes (acts against war customs, Eg. Killing hostages/prisoners, plundering of private property, destruction of civilian areas
Crimes Against Humanity (murder, genocide, unlawful deportation or enslavement)

16. Japanese War Crimes Trials
November 4, 1948:
25 out of 28 high-ranking Japanese officials found guilty by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
7 executed, including Hideki Tojo and most of the rest received life in prison
Additional tribunals outside of Japan (in East and Southeast Asia found almost 5000 other Japanese guilty of war crimes, more than 900 executed
Some believed that Emperor Hirohito should have been tried as well, but U.S. authorities protected him, seeing him as a symbol of Japanese unity and continuity
The Nuremberg Trials and the Japanese War Crimes Trials set a legal precedent that would be used later for the development of a body of international law. (United Nations, International Criminal Court (ICC)

17. Discussion Question: Short Assignment:
Listen to the following podcast from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Discussion Question:
What is the greatest value in studying the Holocaust?
Short Assignment:
Research, collect and document a Holocaust narrative that resonates strongly with you. Include a proper bibliographic reference. Discuss in your documentation the historical value that the narrative adds to studies of the Holocaust.
Survivors share their thoughts on the importance of speaking out about their experiences.
What person’s perspective resonates strongly with you?