Bell Ringer What was the Holocaust?

Bell Ringer What do you think you know about the Holocaust? What is the “Final Solution?” What is the different between a Concentration Camp and a Death Camp?

CH 24: World War II- Holocaust

Nuremberg Rally Giant rally held in Nuremberg Germany Used as a propaganda tool to help spread Nazi ideas. First systematic restrictions of Jews Held in 1935 when Hitler is Chancellor and President Nuremberg Rally

Nuremburg Laws Section 1 Section 2 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 This concept was unofficially termed Rassenschande - 'defilement of blood'. Supplementary decrees set Nazi definitions of racial Germans, Jews, and half-breeds or Mischlinge --- see the latter entry for details and citations and Mischling Test for how such decrees were applied. Jews could not vote or hold public office under the parallel "citizenship" law.

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 colors. On the other hand they are permitted to display the Jewish colors. The exercise of this right is protected by the State

Section 5 A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 1 will be punished with hard labor. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 2 will be punished with imprisonment or with hard labor. A person who acts contrary to the provisions of Sections 3 or 4 will be punished with imprisonment up to a year and with a fine, or with one of these penalties.

International Concern for Jews Nations of the world were aware of increased anti-Semitism in German controlled areas In 1938 Hitler authorized Kristallnacht, “the night of broken glass.” Nazi supporters destroyed Jewish run businesses, synagogues, and community centers Some 30,000 Jews (mostly community leaders) were arrested and sent to concentration camps Reliable information about “death camps” would not reach the American public until 1942 International Concern for Jews

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.” ~ Martin Niemöller

The Russian military would push towards Germany in the East, and Hitler’s army was trapped in an increasingly small space. It was only once the Russians liberated Poland that many of the death camps were discovered, and the scale of the genocide was understood. Reports of “living skeletons” came in This will be known as the Holocaust, or the German supported systematic killing of Jewish individuals and political dissenters. The Holocaust was viewed as the “Final Solution”

Hitler’s Role: Action T4 (1939-41 [45?]) Nazi Germany’s “Euthanasia Program” during which physicians murdered thousands of people, “judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination.” About 275,000 were murdered under T4 Victims were German

Holocaust Death Totals

WHAT DID THE UNITED STATES KNOW ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST AND HOW DID IT RESPOND? Despite a history of providing sanctuary to persecuted peoples, the United States grappled with many issues during the 1930s that made living up to this legacy difficult. These issues included widespread anti-Semitism, xenophobia, isolationism, and a sustained economic depression. Unfortunately for those fleeing Nazi persecution, such issues greatly impacted US refugee policy, reinforcing an official and popular unwillingness to expand immigration quotas to admit greater numbers of people endangered by Nazi persecution and aggression at a time when doing so might have saved lives.

The surviving top ranking Nazi officials were placed on trial for War Crimes- Nuremburg Trials Arose from the dilemma of what to do to these captured Nazis: Free them, Kill them, or Try them? The trial had international judges, lawyers, witnesses, evidence, etc. In the end of the 23 men placed on trial: 12 received death, 7 prison sentences (10yrs-Life), and 3 were acquitted. Nuremburg Trials

Milgram Obedience Experiment