1. 'We knew nothing about what was going on'
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?

2. Who was responsible for the Holocaust?
Take a survey…
Who was responsible for the Holocaust?
You have 30 seconds on your own to write down in rough the
answer to the question above.

3. Take a survey… what do we think?
Hitler Hitler and the Nazis Hitler and the SS and/or other named individual Hitler and the Germans / Germany Hitler, the Nazis and Germany Hitler, the Nazis and the SS Nazis with no reference to Hitler Germans / Germany / German people Nazis and Germans A relevant answer that did not fit the categories Inaccurate answer

4. Take a survey… what do 6,897 students think?
In 2015, UCL Centre for Holocaust Education surveyed students from a variety of schools from all over England to find out about their knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust. Question 42 asked; “Who was responsible for the Holocaust?” They had a blank box to record their answers, just as you have just done. 6,897 students from all around England gave an answer to this question. What do you think they said? What might the most popular answers be?

5. Take a survey…
what do 6,897 students think?

6. Case study
Enquiry; What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?

7. Reflection
Look back at the evidence you have gathered and consider how you would now respond to the enquiry question. Select 3 or 4 pieces of evidence that would either support or counter the initial quote, ‘We knew nothing about what was going on’, and be ready to explain how and why they do?
At the beginning of the lesson, you were asked a broader question from the survey, ‘Who was responsible for the Holocaust?’ From this investigation, what would you now say, and why?

11. Resources: Evidence Record Cards

12. Evidence Record Card: Document 94
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
1946
Ordinary Germans
What does Eugon Kogon say about popular German knowledge of the concentration camps?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 94

13. Evidence Record Card: Document 95
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
1936
A Nazi magazine reports on Dachau
Think about how the camps are described in this source. What words are used?
Think about how the inmates are described in this source. What words are used?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 95

14. Evidence Record Card: Document 96
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
January1939
Radio Broadcast by Heinrich Himmler
Think about how the camps are described in this source. What words are used?
Think about how the inmates are described in this source. What words are used?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 96

15. Evidence Record Card: Document 97
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
After the war
German witnesses
What does the teacher say ‘everyone’ knew about in Nordhausen, even if they later denied this?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 97

16. Evidence Record Card: Document 98
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
June 1942
Local Profiteers
What does Gretel Meier ask of the Camp Commandant at Flossenburg, and why?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 98

17. Evidence Record Card: Document 99
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
The final months of the war
Civilian perpetrators
What does a former Nazi official testify to?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 99

18. Evidence Record Card: Document 100
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
After the war / 1944
Looking Away
What did a civilian in Danzig see every morning?
How did she react?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 100

19. Evidence Record Card: Document 101
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
After the war /
Aid in occupied Europe
What does an Auschwitz survivor say about aid he received?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 101

20. Evidence Record Card: Document 118
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
April 1945
The German Population – A document about a church proclamation in Weimar
What did US soldiers make hundreds of inhabitants of the German city of Cologne do?
What was their reaction?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 118

21. Evidence Record Card: Document 119
What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
1979
Popular Opinion - A letter sent to a German TV station after it had broadcast the TV series ‘Holocaust’
What was his reaction to seeing the TV program?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Document 119

22. What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?
Date
Description
Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps
Implications
Any further questions?
1987 interviews
Interview with Christa M., born in 1930 in Germany
What does Christa M. say about what knowledge people had of the camps at the time?
Your Name:
Your Group:
Evidence Record Card: Video Testimony of Christa M. (from 0.00 to 1.43)

23. ‘We knew nothing about what was going on’ What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?