The Holocaust & Nazi Racial Ideology Ch. 11.3 The Holocaust & Nazi Racial Ideology

The Holocaust State-sponsored systematic murder of six million Jews, more than two million Soviets, and 3 million people belonging to other identified groups, including: political prisoners, Gypsies, Poles, homosexuals, mentally & physically disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, among others. Term: “genocide” coined in 1943 to describe the specific targeting of ethnic/racial groups.

Life Before the Nazis Jews were integrated into German society 0.07% of the population in Germany Less integrated in Eastern Europe Anti-Semitism more “intellectual” in Western Europe; more violent/aggressive in E. Europe: Pogroms

1933 – 1939 Dictatorship under the Third Reich Early Stages of Persecution The First Concentration Camps

1939 - 1945 World War II Murder of the Disabled Persecution & Murder of Jews Ghettos Einsatzgruppen (Mobile Killing Squads)

Post-1945 Postwar Trials Displaced Persons Camps and Emigration Pogroms Palestine & the British Response United Nations, May 18, 1948 Middle East Turmoil

The Holocaust & Nazi Racial Ideology: Basic Assumptions Survival of the race depends on: Race purity: there is a hierarchy of races; some are more valuable than others Seizure of territory to expand population “Race Defilement: Women & Girls, the Jews are your ruin!” (1936)

The Image of Jews in Nazi Racial Ideology Jews are a race Jews were special enemies of the German people Unlike other races, Jews had no living space of their own Jews sought to dominate host peoples by destroying the nation-state and establishing Jewish world domination The goals of Jews, by definition, were the genetic bastardization of all peoples and the elimination of all states

Anti-Semitic Propaganda Nazi stereotype depicting Jews as both money lenders and communists Throughout history the nations defended themselves against Jewish usury! (1936) Vote Christian Socialist: German Christians Save Austria! (1920)

1933 – 1939: Early Stages of Persecution 1933: Hitler appointed Chancellor Dachau opens April 1, 1933 Boycott 1935: Nuremberg Laws Took away Jewish citizenship & civil rights; intermarriage prohibited; all Jews forced to wear yellow Star of David for identification 1938: Kristallnacht Nazi campaign of terror against German Jews; shops & synagogues destroyed; Jews killed & injured; 30,000 Jewish males sent to concentration camps 1939: Invasion of Poland (Sept. 1) marks WWII in Europe Only 500,000 Jews in Germany; to have access to European Jews – Hitler must have a war; seen as an opportunity to progress Nazi racial ideology

Emigration Passengers aboard the “St. Louis”. These refugees from Nazi Germany were forced to return to Europe after both Cuba & the United States denied them entry. The passengers were sent to France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Britain. Early summer, 1939 – by 1940 all those countries except Britain were under Nazi occupation & many passengers of the St. Louis died.

1939 – 1941: Ghettoization & Concentration of Jews (Stage 2) Continuation of identification by racial criteria Expulsion to E. Europe 1939: 1st Ghetto established in Poland after invasion 1940: Lodz & Warsaw are largest ghettos Loss of dignity, dehumanization, loss of privacy, inability to protect family or earn living

Ghettos Ghettos, or confined areas within a city, are established in occupied eastern Europe (1939). Jews from throughout Europe are forced from their homes and required to live in ghettos.

1942 Wannsee Conference In January 1942, 15 top Nazi officials met to discuss plans for extermination of Europe’s 11 million Jews. At that time, 80% of Jews that were to die were still alive; 15 mos. Later they were dead. Year of mass deportations from ghettos to camps.

Deportations

Deportations & Implementation of the Final Solution: 1942 – 1945(Stage 3) Nazis systematically round up Jews throughout Europe and transport them to death camps in Eastern Europe as part of implementation of the “Final Solution”. Six million are killed. The Nazis called this “resettlement” Prior to building of death camps, Nazis used mobile killing squads: Einsatzgruppen Between June 1941 – Dec. 1941 they killed 1mn. Jews, but Himmler, head of SS, was concerned about how long it was taking & the toll on the shooters; led to the Death Camps

Death Camps: Poland Chelmno opened in Dec. ‘41 After Wannsee Conference 5 new death camps opened Sobibor, March ’42, 250,000 Belzec, March ’42, 500,000+ Treblinka, June ’42, 700,000+ Majdenek, June ’42, 125,000 Auschwitz, 1942, 1,500,000+

Auschwitz-Birkenau This was the largest camp & was actually 3 camps; 1st for Polish political prisoners, 2nd built for Final Solution, 3rd (BUNA) for slave labor. The only camp that tattooed. Most prisoners survived only a few weeks or maybe months at Auschwitz. Died of gas chambers, dehydration, starvation, labor, disease, medical experiments, and some by suicide. It was the deadliest camp.

Hungarian prisoners arrive at Auschwitz for selection, May 1944 Prisoners at forced labor at the Siemens factory, Auschwitz 1940 - 44 Hungarian Jews on their way to the gas chambers, May 1944 Bombing Raid on Auschwitz, August 1944

Stage IV: Liberation 1945 Allies liberated survivors of camps; approximately 300,000 Jews

Liberation An American soldier liberates prisoners at Mauthausen Multitudes interned in Displaced Persons Camps in Germany & Italy to find family members Return to home or immigration and resettlement to other countries, especially of those wanting to avoid Soviet regimes: Israel (Palestine), the United States, Canada, Australia, South America Integration into new host countries: struggle & re-adjustment Children being liberated by Soviet soldiers from Auschwitz, January 1945

DP Camps British soldiers guard Jewish refugees on their way to a DP Camp, Germany 1947 As early as 1943, Allied forces began drafting plans to meet the challenge of liberating, rehabilitating, and repatriating the millions of displaced persons (DPs) who would come under Allied control. 6mn. refugees were successfully repatriated; but 1mn. refused to return to their pre-war homes By 1948, the majority settled in the new state of Israel and in the U.S. The last DP Camp closed in 1952. Dining Room at a DP Camp, Germany 1945 Jewish orphans at a DP Camp, Germany 1947

War Crimes Trials 1945 - 1946 International Military Tribunals were held throughout Europe; the most famous were the Nuremberg Trials for Nazi Party Officials judged by each of the 4 Allies The IMT tried 22 "major" German war criminals on charges of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The IMT defined crimes against humanity as "murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation...or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds." Witness testifies to being kidnapped by Germans from Czechoslovakia Opening statements at the IMT in Nuremberg, 1945 Nazi Karl Brandt testifies Defendant’s Dock

Resistance Armed Resistance: Acts of Sabotage Spiritual resistance Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Sobibor & Treblinka Uprisings Jews joined resistance fighters in occupied countries Acts of Sabotage Disrupting war effort in forced labor camps Document forgers, food smugglers Hiding & escape Spiritual resistance Attempts to maintain Jewish identity, history, and culture despite attempts of Nazis to eradicate Jewish life from human memory Underground schools and libraries Documenting the Holocaust L: Survivors of Treblinka Uprising. B: Resistance fighters living/hiding in forest

Quiz Study Guide Vocabulary: Aryan Lebensraum (as 1st “solution” to the “Jewish problem” Genocide Auschwitz Concentration & Death camps (where were they built & why there) Einsatzgruppen Events: Kristallnacht, Nov. 1938 Targets of the Holocaust Final Solution, 1942-45 Two tactics used to implement Types of Resistance Three Stages of the Holocaust Identify each stage by time period & major events What conditions allowed an event like the Holocaust to occur (consider historical stereotypes, political policies & laws, and military situation of the time)