The Holocaust

Perpetrators When: January 30, 1933 – November 20, 1945 Who: Nazi Party (Fascist Germany) Adolf Hitler ( ) Fuhrer of Germany Main Perpetrator of the Holocaust Heinrich Himmler ( ) Chief of Police Minister of the Interior Hermann Göring ( ) Creator of the Gestapo Reinhard Heydrich ( ) Architect of the Holocaust Adolf Eichmann ( ) Major Organizer of the Holocaust

Victims Dead: ~11 million people (6 million Jews, 5 million non-Jews) 1.5 million children Causes: Extermination, Pogroms, Death Marches, Forced Labor Targets: Jews, Gypsies, Poles, communists, homosexuals, Soviet POWs, and the mentally and physically disabled Refugees: Unknown

Concentration Camps

Extermination Camps

Jewish Refugees How many?: 340,000 Jews fled Germany and Austria in Nearly 100,000 found refuge in countries later conquered by Germany. Where did they go?: United States, Palestine, Bolivia, Israel, Great Britain, Sweden, Italy, China under Japanese control How were they treated?: Many Jews were turned away at the border of countries such as the U.S., Sweden, and Spain. If accepted into a country as a refugee, most were not provided basic accommodations or assistance until much later in the war. Who supported them?: The War Refugee Board, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Va'ad ha-Hatsala and the World Jewish Congress. Did they go home?: After liberation, many Jewish survivors feared to return to their former homes. Most who had made it abroad stayed in their host country. Others emigrated to Israel.

Example: S.S. St. Louis May 1939 – S.S. St. Louis sailed from Hamburg, Germany to Havana, Cuba with 937 passengers, mostly European Jews. May 27, 1939 – Cuba allowed only 28 passengers to disembark. Denied permission to land in the United States, the ship was forced to return to Europe. Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Belgium agreed to accept the remaining passengers as refugees. Of the 908 St. Louis passengers who returned to Europe, 254 are known to have died in the Holocaust.

Summary of Genocide - Timeline Jan. 30, 1933: Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany. First concentration camps open within two weeks. July 1944: Russian troops liberate the first concentration camp at Majdanek. May 8-9, 1945: Last concentration camp liberated by Allies. Germany surrenders to Allied Powers officially ending WWII and the Holocaust Nov. 9-10, 1938: Kristallnacht, or “Night of the Broken Glass” occurs in Germany and Austria. July 31, 1941: Preparations for the “Final Solution” begin. May 1940: First extermination camp opens.

What’s Happened Since? November 1944: Raphael Lemkin publishes “Axis Rule in Occupied Europe” where he coins the phrase “genocide.” November 20, 1945: The International Military Tribunal to prosecute Nazi war criminals is opened in Nuremberg, Germany. December 9, 1946: 23 former SS doctors and scientists go on trial before the U.S. military tribunal in Nuremberg. 16 are found guilty, 7 are hanged. September 15, 1947: 21 former SS-Einsatz leaders go on trial before the U.S. military tribunal in Nuremberg. 14 are sentenced to death; 4 are executed. April 11 – August 14, 1961: Adolf Eichmann on trial in Jerusalem for crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Found guilty and hanged on May 31, 1962.

Resources Human Rights Watch: asia/germanyhttp:// asia/germany Journeys Through the Holocaust, USC Shoah Foundation: Video: Persecution of the German-Jews: The Early Years— ons/persecution-german-jews-early-years-– ons/persecution-german-jews-early-years-– United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: