1. The Holocaust “Shoah”

2. Holocaust
Defined as the systematic state-sponsored killing of approximately six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during WWII
Germans called it the Final Solution

3. Holocaust Over 11 million murdered About 6 million were Jews
2/3 of all Jews in Europe, 1/3 of ALL
Others included gypsies (Romas), Jehovah’s Witnesses, mentally & physically disabled, homosexuals, POWs, other enemies of the state

4. The UNITED STATES - Kentucky
1912: city bldg. permits issued for housing must be in designated areas of the city for certain races
1915, 1932: separate schools for different races
1918: separate prisons for different races
1932: different races may not live in the same apt bldgs.
1932: different races not allowed to marry; includes Native Americans
1948: Blacks are not allowed to obtain a post graduate degree in health care (no doctors)

5. Persecution Begins
April 4, 1933 first action against Jews-boycott of Jewish businesses
1935- Nuremberg Laws
Denied all Jews citizenship
Denied other civil liberties
Prohibited marriage between Jews and Germans

6. Persecution Begins Other anti-Jewish laws the next few years included:
Exclusion from public places like parks
Fired from government jobs
Register property
Prevented Jewish doctors from working on anyone not Jewish

7. Persecution Kristallnacht- November 9-10, 1938
Night of violence, physical attacks on Jews
Pillaging/burning synagogues
Breaking windows/destroying Jewish businesses, looting stores
30,000 Jews arrested, sent to concentration camps
1939 Jews ordered to wear yellow Star of David

8. Ghettos
Most run-down section of a city where the Jews were forced to live
Many had barbed wire or walls preventing escape
Jews were deported from all over Europe to live in the ghettos

9. Ghettos
Life in the ghetto was regulated by a “Judenrat” (Jewish Council)
Major ghettos in Lodz, Minsk, Riga, Vilna, and Warsaw (largest)
Warsaw population of the ghetto estimated at 400,000 (about 1% died each day)

10. Ghetto
Trains brought in to “liquidate” ghettos, transport to camps, as many as 1000 per day
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
April 1943, Nazis attempting to “liquidate” ghetto
Held out for 28 days, longer than some countries

11. Nazi Camps
Nazi Germany had many types of camps- concentration, labor, POW, extermination, transit
One of the first, Dachau, opened March 20, 1933
most camps were concentration for political prisoners

12. Nazi Camps Most people transported in cattle cars (RR)
No food, water, toilets, ventilation
Longest transport took 18 days
Often too crowded- had to wait in open for next train for days

13. Nazi Camps
After Kristallnacht, persecution of Jews more organized, many sent to camps-transit and concentration
Eventually Jews sent straight to extermination camps
Extermination camps designed to kill quickly and efficiently

14. Concentration Camps Prisoners subjected to hard work Given little food
Crowded-sleep 3-4 per bunk, no mattress or covers
Torture common
Medical experiments conducted- Dr. Josef Mengele (“Angel of Death”)
Death frequent

15. Extermination Camps
Nazis built six extermination camps-Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz, Majdanek- all in Poland
All used gas chambers except Chelmno (used vans)

16. Extermination Camps
Prisoners told they needed to shower and be disinfected
Undressed and then entered the chamber
Gas (Zyklon-B) was originally an insecticide

17. Extermination Camps
Gas enters lower layers of the chambers, rose toward the ceiling
Took about 20 minutes to kill
Chambers held as many as 2000
Bodies relieved of any valuables, then cremated either in ovens or open pits

18. Extermination Camps Estimated Jewish deaths Auschwitz 1,100,000
Belzec , 500
Chelmno ,000 (1st Jew)
Majdanek ,000
Sobibor ,000
Treblinka ,000

19. Miscellaneous More than half Jewish victims were female
Medical experiments included putting twins together to make Siamese twins, using human skin as lampshades, ways to stop bullet wounds from bleeding out

20. Miscellaneous
First camp liberated by Western Allies was Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945 liberating 41,000
General Eisenhower ordered every citizen of Gotha (nearby town) to tour Buchenwald-mayor hanged himself

21. Miscellaneous
Between approximately 5,000 convicted Nazi war criminals were executed
January 20, 1942 Wannsee Conference-Nazis discussed how to complete exterminations-stepped up frequency