Aim: Trace the Course of the Persecution of Jews by the Nazis

Setting the Stage for the Holocaust As part of their vision for Europe, the Nazis proposed a new radical order Proclaimed that the German peoples or Aryans were a “Master Race” Nazis claimed that all non-Aryan peoples, particularly Jewish people, were inferior Racist message would eventually lead to the Holocaust: Systematic mass slaughter of Jews and other groups judged inferior by the Nazis 2

The Holocaust Begins To gain support for his racist ideas, Hitler knowingly tapped into a hatred for Jews that had deep roots in European history Jews were targeted as cause for Germany’s failures Some Germans blamed Jews for their country’s defeat in World War I Nazis made the targeting of Jews a government policy 1935: Nuremberg Laws passed Laws deprived Jews of their rights to German citizenship & forbade marriages between Jews & non-Jews Laws passed also limited the kinds of work Jews can do 3

Isolating the Jews End of 1939: Number of German Jews had fled to other countries Many remained in Germany Hitler favored emigration as a solution to what he called “The Jewish Problem” Britain & the USA abruptly closed their doors to further immigration When Hitler found that he could not get rid of Jew through emigration, he ordered Jews under his control to be moved into designated cities called ghettos Nazis sealed off the ghettos with barb wires Teachers taught lessons in secret and scholars kept records to record the truth 4