THE HOLOCAUST

WHAT WAS THE HOLOCAUST? The Holocaust was a deliberate, systematic murder of 6 million of Jews, in Europe. The Holocaust is considered a genocide, which is the systematic murder of a group of people based on race, religious beliefs, or ethincity.

In Mein Kampf (1925), Hitler described a racial hierarchy with: Aryans (Germans) at the top Jews, Africans, and Gypsies (the culture- destroying races) at the bottom. HITLER’S PLAN FOR GERMANY

HITLER’S PLAN OF ACTION The Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933 and slowly began their program against the Jews of Germany. In 1933 there were 566,000 Jews living in Germany. Each new year in Germany led to harsher policies directed towards the Jews.

Hitler's goal was to remove the inferior types from Germany, making more lebensraum (living space) for the superior Aryans. The Jews were the special object of his hatred. HITLER’S GOALS

Hitler utilized different methods of propaganda, which is a form of communication used to influence opinions about groups of people. Jews were blamed for all of the problems facing Germans. From an anti-Semitic children's book. The sign reads "Jews are not wanted here"

DISCRIMINATION OF THE JEWS Jews were required to register and wear the Star of David. Nazis stage boycotts of Jewish businesses. The Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935 : Denied Jews of rights of citizenship and voting Prohibited marriage with Aryans Prohibited employment of Aryans as household help

KRISTALLNACHT In November of 1938, the "night of broken glass," many Jewish businesses, synagogues and homes were destroyed by mobs of people fired by propaganda and fueled by their own prejudice and ignorance.

JEWISH GHETTOS By 1939, Jews were forced to relocate to ghettos, the poorest, most dilapidated parts of cities. Overcrowding and diseases spread throughout the community with little sanitation, food, or education.

CONCENTRATION CAMPS From the ghettos, Jews were then forced on ships and trains are sent to concentration, or work camps throughout Europe. On arrival, prisoners were stripped of their possessions, identity and clothes, given uniforms and a number was tattooed on their arm. Prisoners would be shot or tortured for the slightest problem or used for medical experiments.

Those who were unfit to work, such as the elderly, women, children, or the sick were sent to extermination camps, where they were gassed. The gas chamber was used in the extermination camps such as Auschwitz.

EINSATZGRUPPEN Not all Jews were killed in concentration camps, but also mobile killing units known as Einsatzgruppen.. They were squads composed primarily of German SS and police personnel, whose tasks was to murder those perceived to be racial or political enemies of the state, including Jews, gypsies, the mentally and physically disabled.

In 1945 the camps were liberated. In the last days the Nazis were still unwilling to give up the plan to exterminate the Jews. They either executed Jews in the camps as they abandoned them, death- marched them into the interior of Germany, or cut off food and water, leaving them to die.

MASS GRAVES