1. The Holocaust

2. Anti-Semitism: “The Longest Hatred”
intense hatred of Jewish (Semitic) people
the heart of Nazism
widespread in Europe for a very long time
led to the Holocaust – the systematic murder of European Jews during World War II by the Nazis
Jews were scapegoats

3. Why did Europeans hate or distrust Jews?
there is no definitive answer to this question
religious and cultural differences made Jews stand out among other Europeans
they were often viewed as more intellectual and successful and less nationalistic and patriotic
many Jews were very well educated, very prosperous

4. Why did Hitler and the Nazis hate Jews?
again, no clear definitive answer
possible identity crisis – Hitler may have “found himself” or his “calling” in his hatred of Jews and other non-German groups
possibly it was exposure to Völkisch (anti-Semitic ideas in Austria) thinking during his youth
what is known is that anti-Semitism was the heart and soul of Nazi ideology

5. Hitler’s Claims
Germans or “Aryans” were the master race and all others were inferior
inferior groups included:
Jews
Gypsies
Poles
Russians/Slavs
communists
homosexuals
the physically and mentally handicapped
the Nazis wanted to eliminate those inferior groups and other undesirables

6. Jewish Persecution in Germany
Nuremberg Laws
passed by the Nazis in 1935
denied German citizenship to Jews
prevented Jews from marrying non-Jews
Jews were forced to wear the Star of David as identification
Kristallnacht – “Night of Broken Glass”
November 9, 1938
huge race riots all over Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland
Jewish synagogues and businesses were destroyed
about 100 Jews were murdered and about 30,000 Jews were arrested and put in concentration camps

7. The “Final Solution”
this was Hitler’s plan of genocide – to kill all Jews
it was carried out by Nazi death squads – special mobile killing units
the Einsatzgruppen were elite SS and Nazi troops attached to the regular military whose job was to locate and exterminate any and all Jews

8. The Camps
many Jews and political prisoners were sent to concentration camps – basically prison camps where they were used for slave labor
starting in 1942, the Nazis built camps for the specific purpose of killing Jews – these were the death camps
in the death camps, Jews were taken to huge gas chambers and executed – then cremated in huge ovens

9. The Camps
the first concentration camp to open was Dachau in March of 1933
the death camps were ordered built by Heinrich Himmler in 1942 as part of the Final Solution
there were six death camps
Auschwitz-Birkenau (the largest)
Belzec
Chelmno
Majdanek
Sobibor
Treblinka

10. Results of the Holocaust
camps began to be liberated in summer 1944
around 6 million Jews were killed and 3 million or more survived
up to 6 million more were killed in addition to the Jews (Poles, Russians, disabled people, etc.)

11. Nuremberg Trials and Aftermath
trials of 22 Nazi leaders for “crimes against humanity”
military tribunal from 23 countries conducted the trials
10 of the Nazi leaders were hanged and had their bodies burned at a concentration camp
others received penalties of life in prison and some were set free
Zionism (support for a Jewish state) increased after the Holocaust
Israel became a country in 1948 as a response