The Finish & The Day of Judgment Holocaust Power Point #10

The Finish The Number of Jews Dead –The exact numbers of Jews killed in the Holocaust will never be known –Nazi records are incomplete, have been destroyed, or can not be found –They did not keep track of the masses who were marched straight from the deportation trains to the gas chambers –The most common method used to arrive at the figures is to take the numbers of survivors from each country, and then to subtract that from the population before the war

The Survivors Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945 The war in Europe was over The prisoners were freed Europe swarmed with millions of people set free from labor camps, jails, and concentration camps Thousands of miles away from home, they were housed in camps set up for them, the displaced persons’, or DP camps

As Allies liberated the camps, they found tens of thousands of unburied bodies of the dead. Those left alive were remnants of human beings, so sick, so starved and weak, they could not even survive being free They were fed but they had been starved for so long that some of them could not eat anymore Doctors reported that the average prisoner weighed between pounds

The number of homeless Jews grew to over 300,000 Most of the countries occupied by the Nazis were not strong enough to accept thousands of new immigrants, particularly since nearly all were sick in body and in mind and needed care Organizations such as the United Nations, the Quakers, the International Red Cross and several Jewish relief agencies spared nothing in their efforts to restore people to a decent life.

Finding Hope Most survivors wanted to go to Palestine and since it couldn’t be done legally, it was performed illegally –Between 1945 and 1948 almost 200,000 survivors of the Holocaust were brought to Palestine –The true healing had begun It took time, much pain and great determination from Jews and non-Jews alike but three years after the end of the Holocaust, a Jewish homeland came into being –For the first time in over 2,000 years the Jews had something to call theirs, and their as Jews On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born No longer worn as a yellow badge of shame, the Star of David flew as the flag of the Jewish nation

The Day of Judgment: Nuremberg The Suicides –Some Nazi leaders killed themselves before they could be brought to trial –Hitler killed himself as Berlin was falling, on May 1, 1945 –After giving poison to his wife and six children, Goebbels wrote his Final Testament expressing his devotion to Hitler, then took the poison –Himmler disguised himself as an SS enlisted man, but he was recognized and taken prisoner. During a physical exam, Himmler bit down on a vial of poison hidden between his teeth –No grave markers stand for any of them

Trials –One by one, most Nazi leaders were captured within a short time –The location selected was Nuremberg, the city where the great Nazi rallies had been held –The trials lasted from November 1945 to October 1946 –Presiding judge was British Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence –The crimes fell into four categories (1) conspiracy to commit crimes in other categories (2) crimes against peace (3) war crimes (4) crimes against humanity –The testimony and documents filled volumes –Of the 22 defendants only 3 were released; twelve were sentenced to death, three to life in prison, and the rest to prison terms of 10 to 20 years

What Happened to Them? Adolf Eichmann, responsible for so much of Hitler’s Final Solution, went to Argentina where he was captured by the Israelis in 1961 and was executed by them in 1962 Dr. Josef Mengele, the doctor who had conducted cruel experiments at Auschwitz, escaped to South America and lived in hiding until his death Heinrich Muller, an important Gestapo chief, reportedly died when the Russians captured Berlin; rumors spread that he was still alive and living in Argentina, and he was put on the list of most-wanted Nazis in 1973 Martin Bormann, Hitler’s right-hand man, was never found Herman Goering was sentenced to death by hanging, killed himself with poison. Dr. Joseph Mengele Herman Goering