The Holocaust

The Origins of the Holocaust For hundreds of years Christian Europe had regarded the Jews as the Christ -killers. At one time or another Jews had been driven out of almost every European country. The way they were treated in England in the thirteenth century is a typical example. In 1275 they were made to wear a yellow badge. In 1287 269 Jews were hanged in the Tower of London. This deep prejudice against Jews was still strong in the twentieth century, especially in Germany, Poland and Eastern Europe, where the Jewish population was very large. After the First World War hundreds of Jews were blamed for the defeat in the War. Prejudice against the Jews grew during the economic depression which followed. Many Germans were poor and unemployed and wanted someone to blame. They turned on the Jews, many of whom were rich and successful in business. Jews were a SCAPEGOAT

The Origins of the Holocaust Hitler and the Nazis tap into the long-held feeling of many Europeans; the resentment of Jews This is known as anti-Semitism Hitler and Nazis say Aryans — blonde hair, blue eyed Germanic peoples — are “master race” 1935 Nuremberg Laws take away rights of German Jews Kristallnacht, “the night of shattered glass” occurs in 1938

The Holocaust Begins Fearing more violence and oppression, thousands of Jews tried to leave Germany. Other countries accepted a large number but were unwilling to take all those who wished to leave. Hitler then ordered all Jews in Germany and his conquered lands to live in certain parts of cities called ghettos. Poland, who had the largest Jewish population (over 3 million) in Europe, had especially large ghettos. (Warsaw) By 1940, all German Jews were deported to Poland.

The Ghettos

The Ghettos Hitler hoped that Jews in ghettos would die of disease, starvation Despite bad conditions, many Jews survived in these areas

The Ghettos Sadly, many others do not

The Final Solution To ensure the death of all Jews, Hitler enacts the “Final Solution”. He chooses genocide — systematic killing of an entire people. Germans also turned on many other people — gypsies, Poles, Russians, and those who were mentally or physically disabled, homosexuals, etc. The Germans put the most attention on Jews, however.

The Final Solution There were 3 phases of the Nazi plan to wipe out the Jewish population of Europe.

Phase 1 - Shooting Jews were rounded up and told they were to be relocated. They were then shot, one by one, by the Nazi SS “death squads”. Their bodies were then buried in mass graves. There was competition between group leaders to see who could kill the most Jews

Phase 1 - Shooting

Phase 1 - Shooting

Babi Yar The worst round of executions took place at Babi Yar, a ravine in the Ukraine. The Nazi SS rounded up and executed 33,771 Jews in a single operation in September, 1941. Other people executed were Soviet POW’s and gypsies. An estimated 150,000 people lost their lives at Babi Yar.

Jewish women, some holding infants, wait in a line for their turn to be executed by the Nazi SS at Babi Yar. MASS EXECUTION USING A FIRING SQUAD WAS COMMON. THESE WOMEN HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO REMOVE EVERYTHING, CLOTHES, JEWELLERY, EVEN WEDDING RINGS AND ARE BEING FORCED TO LINE UP AND WAIT FOR THEIR TURN TO BE KILLED. SOME TIME LATER...

A German policeman shoots individual Jewish women who remain alive in the ravine after the mass execution. THEY HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO LIE, FACE DOWN ON THE GROUND AND HAVE BEEN SHOT. THE GERMAN POLICEMAN IS SHOOTING INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE ESCAPED DEATH FROM THE INITIAL ROUND OF BULLETS. THIS IS HORRIFIC BUT WE CANNOT SEE THE INDIVIDUAL FACES OF THOSE KILLED, WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHO THEY ARE OR WHAT THEY REALLY LOOKED LIKE. SO TAKE A LOOK AT THIS NEXT PICTURE...

Portrait of two-year- old Mania Halef, a Jewish child who was among the 33,771 persons shot by the SS during the mass executions at Babi Yar, September, 1941. THIS PICTURE TELLS US A LOT. HER PARENTS ARE OBVIOUSLY WEALTHY ENOUGH TO HAVE HAD A PORTRAIT DONE, SO IT SHOWS US THAT THE STATUS OF THE JEWS DID NOT MATTER TO THE NAZIS. IT WAS NOT JUST THE POOR WHICH WERE KILLED. THEY WERE KILLED REGARDLESS OF WEALTH OR STATUS, THEIR DEATH WAS DETERMINED BY RELIGION AND RACE.

Nazis sift through a huge pile of clothes left by victims of the massacre. Two year old Mani Halef’s clothes are somewhere amongst these. GIVES SOME IDEA OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE. BUT WHY DID THE NAZI WANT THEM TO REMOVE THEIR CLOTHES? WHAT DID THEY WANT WITH THEIR JEWELLERY, CLOTHES, EVEN HAIR?

Phase 2 – Gas Vans Again, Jews were rounded up and told they were to be relocated in vans. The vans were equipped so that the van’s exhaust was piped back into the van. 700,000 Jews were killed using gas vans.

Phase 2 - Gas Vans

Problems with Phase 1 and 2 The Nazis encountered several problems with the executions and gas vans. First, they were both taking too much time. Second, resources such as gas and ammunition were becoming scarce. Third, soldiers involved were beginning to have psychological problems with what they were doing.

Phase 3 – The Camps Nazi leaders decided to drastically speed up the Final Solution. There were two different types of camps: CONCENTRATION CAMPS EXTERMINATION CAMPS Jews from all over Nazi occupied Europe were to be brought here. Camps separated the strong from the weak Strong prisoners were sent to concentration camps and the weak (mostly women, children and elderly) were exterminated immediately.

Prisoner Selection Prisoner selection at Auschwitz - Birkenau

Concentration Camps Millions were gathered and placed in concentration (prison) camps. There were over 100 of these in Nazi-occupied Europe. First camp was opened in 1933, right after Nazis came to power. These prisons used the inmates as slave workers. Many in the camps died of starvation, disease and the harsh conditions. Most often time, prisoners lasted less than half a year.

Concentration Camps

Life in a Concentration Camp A prisoner in Dachau is forced to stand without moving for endless hours as a punishment. He is wearing a triangle patch identification on his chest. A chart of prisoner triangle identification markings used in Nazi concentration camps which allowed the guards to easily see which type of prisoner any individual was.

In 1943, when the number of murdered Jews exceeded 1 million In 1943, when the number of murdered Jews exceeded 1 million. Nazis ordered the bodies of those buried to be dug up and burned to destroy all traces. OBVIOUSLY TOWARDS THE END OF THE WAR THEY TRIED TO COVER THEIR TRACKS. IT WAS NOT GUILT THOUGH AND THEY DID NOT DO THE WORK THEMSELVES. THEY MADE JEWS AND OTHER PRISONERS OF WAR DIG UP THE BODIES AND BURN THEM INSTEAD. Soviet POWs at forced labor in 1943 exhuming bodies in the ravine at Babi Yar, where the Nazis had murdered over 33,000 Jews in September of 1941.

Notable Concentration Camps Ravensbruck – concentration camp for women Buchenwald – one of the largest, deadliest concentration camps. Held over 250,000 prisoners Dachau – very first Nazi concentration camp, held over 200,000 prisoners Women of Ravensbruck

Concentration Camps Heinrich Himmler visits Dachau concentration camp Bodies of starved prisoners at Buchenwald

Death Camps Starting in 1942, the Nazis built “death camps.” Many started out as ordinary concentration camps and were later modified with gassing installations for use on humans At these camps, thousands of Jews were gassed to death in huge gas chambers.

ZYKLON-B Zyklon B poison gas of choice by the Nazis. It was originally used to kill vermin such as rats. The small pellets, were dropped from the ceiling. When in contact with the air, they dissolve into gas.

Notable Death Camps Chelmo – first ever extermination camp Treblinka – said to have executed around 870,000 Auschwitz-Birkenau – most notorious and deadliest death camp

Auschwitz – Birkenau At Auschwitz-Birkenau, over 2 million people died. Around 1.4 million gassed Half million died from starvation or disease Auschwitz was said to have killed around 12,000 people a day!

Auschwitz – Birkenau

Auschwitz – Birkenau

Smoke rises as the bodies are burnt. NO. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE MURDERED GREW ESPECIALLY HIGH, NAZIS BURNED THE BODIES. SO WHAT OTHER METHODS WERE USED TO SYSTEMATICALLY MURDER THESE PEOPLE?

Items taken at Death Camps The Nazis ordered the SS to take all possessions from Jews TEETH WITH GOLD PILES OF GLASSES

Bales of hair shaven from women at Auschwitz, used to make felt-yarn. THESE PICTURES SHOW WHAT THEY WANTED. WERE THE NAZI'S NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS? DID THEY NOT THINK ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF ALLIED COUNTRIES DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING? After liberation, an Allied soldier displays a stash of gold wedding rings taken from victims.

A warehouse full of shoes and clothes taken from the victims

Death Camp Totals

The End of the Holocaust As the war came to and end and it was all said and done, about 11 million people had been killed as a result of Nazi extermination. Around 6 million of the victims were Jewish. Of the 9 million Jews in Europe, fewer than four million had survived the whole ordeal.

Holocaust Death Totals

Percentage of Jews killed in each country AUSTRIA 35% POLAND 91% USSR 36% NORWAY 45% BELGIUM 45% LUXEMBOURG 55% ESTONIA 44% ROMANIA 84% A Total of 6,000,000 Jews HUNGARY 74% YUGOSLAVIA 81% BOHEMIA 60% How did they manage to get together all these Jews to kills them? How did they kill them when they had them? To begin with there were concentration camps. LATVIA 84% NETHERLANDS 71% LITHUANIA 85% GERMANY 36% FRANCE 22% GREECE 87%

Jewish Statistics by Country Jewish population before, Jewish population after Holocaust

Jewish Holocaust Statistics