The Holocaust Freewrite or create a concept map in your study guide: What do you already know about the Holocaust?

The Holocaust… as defined by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum A specific genocidal event in twentieth-century history: the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and Jews were the primary victims—6 million were murdered; Gypsies, the handicapped, and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons. Millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war, and political dissidents, also suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi tyranny.

Unit Terminology Assimilation: To accept the culture of another group while giving up one’s own Ghetto: A section of the city in which Jews were required to live, surrounded by walls. Genocide: Total annihilation of a race or ethnic group (coined after WWII as a direct result of how some nationalities/ethnic groups were mistreated during the war).

Unit Terminology Holocaust: Greek root means “burnt hole”; destruction of 6 million Jews and approx. 6 million non-Jews during Aryan Race: The pure Germanic race, used by the Nazis to suggest a superior, non-Jewish Caucasian typified by height, blonde hair, blue eyes. Third Reich: The 3 rd Republic of Germany which began Hitler’s rule in 1933, and ended with his defeat in 1945.

Unit Terminology SS (Shutz-Staffel): est as Hitler’s black-shirted bodyguards; became elite guards of Nazis, trained in brutality and put in charge of concentration camps. Gestapo: Secret police, organized in 1933, to uncover and undermine political opposition. The Final Solution: plan devised in 1941 to speed up the system of killing the Jews and “undesirables” (gas chambers, crematories)

Unit Terminology Selection: Term used when the SS forced prisoners to line up for inspection and decided which prisoners would live and be killed. Allied Powers: Nations fighting Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan (primarily U.S., Britain, and Soviet Union). Axis Powers: Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan (per Berlin pact in 1940), then later Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Unit Vocabulary Terminology Concentration Camps: Est by Nazis; for the imprisonment of all “enemies” of their regime (all political opponents e.g. communists, socialists, monarchists), Jehovah’s Witnesses, gypsies, homosexuals, and other “asocials” –Beginning in 1938, Jews were targeted (before then, only Jews fitting the above criteria were interned in camps). –First 3 established: Dachau, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen

Unit Terminology Mein Kampf (My Struggle): Hitler’s autobiographical book written while he was imprisoned in In it, he propounds his ideas for Germany, Germans having a “superior race” and accusing Jews of being the source of all evil. –The people who read the book (except his admirers) didn’t take it seriously – considered ravings of a maniac

Unit Terminology Nuremburg Laws: 2 anti-Jewish statutes enacted in 1935 during the Nazi Party’s national convention in Nuremburg, taking away Jews’ civil rights. –Deprived German Jews of citizenship and related rights, outlawed marriage of Jews and non-Jews, forbade Jews from employing German females of childbearing age, and displaying the German flag –Carefully defined Jewishness based on bloodlines (even if you had a Jewish grandparent, you would face discrimination)

Unit Terminology (Jewish Terms) Torah: Primary source in the Jewish religion is the Hebrew bible – 24 books in 3 sections (the first 5 books of the Bible) Talmud: A collection of teachings of early rabbis from the 5 th and 6 th centuries. Cabbala: Hasidic Jews also read this commentary on the Torah (more mystical).

Unit Terminology (Jewish Terms) Rosh Hashanah: Marks the new year of the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur: The holiest day of the Jewish calendar, the day in which every individual is judged by God. Passover: An eight-day festival commemorating the freeing of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.

Holocaust History Timeline 1933: - Nazi party takes power in Germany. Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor,or prime minister of Germany.- Nazis 'temporarily' suspend civil liberties -The Nazis set up the first concentration camp at Dachau. The first inmates are 200 Communists. - Books with ideas considered dangerous to Nazi beliefs are burned.

1934 Hitler combines the positions of chancellor and president to become 'Fuhrer' or leader of Germany.' Jewish newspapers can no longer be sold in the streets.

1935 Jews are deprived of their citizenship and other basic rights. The Nazis intensify the persecution of political people that donÕt agree with his philosophy.

1936 Nazis boycott Jewish-owned business. The Olympic Games are held in Germany; signs barring Jews are removed until the event is over. Jews no longer have the right to vote.

1938 On Kristallnacht, the 'Night of Broken Glass,' Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria - 30,000 Jews are arrested. Jews must carry id cards and Jewish passports are marked with a "J." Jews no longer head businesses, attend plays, concerts, etc.; all Jewish children are moved to Jewish schools. Jewish businesses are shut down; they must sell businesses and hand over securities and jewels. Jews must hand over drivers's licenses and car registrations. Jews must be in certain places at certain times.

1939 Germany takes over Czechoslovakia and invades Poland. World War II begins as Britain and France declare war on Germany. Hitler orders that Jews must follow curfews; Jews must turn in radios to the police; Jews must wear yellow stars of David.

1940 Nazis begin deporting German Jews to Poland. Jews are forced into ghettos. Nazis begin the first mass murder of Jews in Poland. Jews are put into concentration camps.

1941 Germany attacks the Soviet Union. Jews throughout Western Europe are forced into ghettos. Jews may not leave their houses without permission form the police. Jews may no longer use public telephones.

1942 Nazi officials discuss the 'Final Solution' - their plan to kill all European Jews to the government officials. –Jews are forbidden to: subscribe to newspapers; keep dogs, cats, birds, etc; keep electrical equipment including typewriters; own bicycles; buy meat, eggs, or mild; use public transportation; attend school.

1943 February: About 80 to 85 percent of the Jews who would die in the Holocaust have already been murdered Hitler takes over Hungary and begins deporting 12,000 Hungarian Jews each day to Auschwitz where they are murdered.

1945 Hitler is defeated and World War II ends in Europe. The Holocaust is over and the death camps are emptied. Many survivors are placed in displaced persons facilities.

1946 An International Military Tribunal (Judicial assembly) is created by Britain, France,the United States, and the Soviet Union. At Nuremburg, Nazi leaders are tried for war crimes by the above Judicial assembly.

1947 The United Nations establishes a Jewish homeland in British-controlled Palestine, which becomes the State of Israel in 1948.

The Sounds of Nazi Germany Nazis reinforced the idea that the German Culture was the greatest in history. –Hitler suppressed all the work of those considered unfit while promoting certain “proper German composers” Some “approved composers: Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Bruckner, Hans Hotter, Herbert von Karajan, and Richard Wagner As you listen, freewrite in your journal: How does the music make you feel? How could it have influenced others during Hitler's time?

Dachau

Buchenwald

Auschwitz

Birkenau

Elie Wiesel Interview