Hitler’s Final Solution

The Mass Murder or Genocide of 1/3 of Europe’s Jews ( ) between 1939 and 1945 HOLOCAUST

Hitler comes to power April – 1 day boycott of Jewish Shops September 1935 – Jewish Newspapers can no longer be sold in the street September 1935 – Nuremberg Laws November 9, 1938 – Kristallnacht - Jews must pay reparations October 1939 – Jews from throughout the Reich are deported to Poland ESCALATION Do you think this theory is valid?

Section 1 Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad. Section 2 Extramarital sexual intercourse between Jews and subjects of the state of Germany or related blood is forbidden. Section 3 Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens under the age of 45, of German or kindred blood, as domestic workers. Section 4 Jews are forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the national colours. NUREMBURG LAWS 1935

Removing Jews from their homes and concentrating them in large urban centers GHETTOIZATION (EARLY WAR)

Population Density The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest ghetto in Nazi occupied Europe, with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km 2 ) located in the heart of the city. 2 Approx. 8.5m 2 per person. 7.2 people per bedroom Hunger No Jew was allowed out of the Ghetto - had to rely on smuggling and stealing food Official rations were set at 253 cal. per day Disease Pluming was often turned off and garbage pick-up would be out of the question – disease flourished LIFE IN THE GHETTO

Under the cover of war in 1941 the Einsatzgruppen followed behind the advancing German Army killing all Jews found in the Soviet Union MOBILE KILLING SQUADS Music and pictures

1942 Operation Reinhard, the systematic deportation of local people to extermination camps. Almost 300,000 people were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto alone to Treblinka over the course of 52 days. In some of the Ghettos the local resistance organizations started ghetto uprisings. None were successful, and the Jewish populations of the ghettos were almost entirely killed. LIQUIDATION OF THE GHETTOS

TRAINS Trains were used to transport the undesirables Goods go out to the front people come back for greater efficiency Often up to 150 people in a freight car (standing room only) for days Death on the Trip Suffocation Exposure Most trains took 4 days – Corfu 18 days – all occupants dead on arrival

Work Camps – Prisoners with useful skills may be sent to work camps - Underfed and worked impossible hours many died from conditions Death Camps Auschwitz and Treblinka People sorted upon arrival Stripped and Shaved Zyklon B gas dropped in from the ceiling Valuables removed from dead bodies before mass cremation 6,000 killed per day CAMP TYPES

Work Menial Tasks – not important 14 hrs. work days Anything less than 100% effort = death – and even then… Work was a method of extermination AT THE CAMPS

Starvation Food rationing typically depended on the work you did Hard labour may earn up to 1,700 cal. Per day 1,300 cal. typical AT THE CAMPS

Experimentation High Altitude – placed in low pressure compartments (68,000 ft) to monitor physiological response before death Freezing – people left in vats of freezing water to take core temp. down to 79  - tried to rewarm them using scalding baths or even forcing sex Bone, muscle and joint transplantation – amputated legs and shoulders from inmates and tried to graft them on to others Sterilization – radiated genitals and injected cervix and uterus with caustic substances Sea water – forced to drink only sea water combined with food deprivation AT THE CAMPS

1. Describe the conditions in the camp. What descriptors were given by the author? Be as specific as possible. Do not simplify your answer with words like “dirty” but use specific references to the text. You might choose to quote specific references from the testimony. 2. What relationships did the author have in the camp? Were they separated from their families? Did they maintain some family relationships in the camp? Did they have friends? What relationships were lost or changed as a result of their experience in the camps? 3. What factors contributed to the author’s survival in the camp? What happened to help them escape “selection”? What was unique about their experience? 4. What were their daily routines in the camp? 5. What touched you the most about their story? GUIDE QUESTIONS