Warm up: Journal Put yourself into these children’s place. How would you feel? What types of emotions/feelings would you have? Have you had any experiences in your life, where you have experienced these emotions? Write a response in paragraph form. Place on a clean sheet of paper!!!

Directions Today you will be taking notes – EVERYTHING written in RED. You will also be keeping a notebook or binder. Throughout class you will answer a series of questions or reflections/prompts (written in BLUE). Answer all in complete sentences. Journal will be collected at the end of class.

Standard SS6H7 The student will explain conflict and change in Europe to the 21st century. b. Explain the impact of WWII in terms of the Holocaust, the origins of the Cold War, and the rise of Superpowers.

THE HOLOCAUST

Vocabulary Holocaust – Killing of millions (6) of Jews during WWII. Anti-Semitism – Prejudice or discrimination towards the Jews. Concentration Camps – Large prison camps used to confine Jews. Ghetto – Section of a city where Nazis forced Jews to live.

How would it feel to have someone come into your home and force you to leave? If you could only take 1 bag (small), what would you put in it?

Between 1939 and 1945 six million Jews were murdered, along with five to six million others, such as Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, disabled and the mentally ill. The Dachau memorial to the Holocaust with triangles to represent the different victim

FINAL SOLUTION This plan had three phases designed to wipe out the Jewish population of Europe “Now judgment has begun and it will reach its conclusion only when the knowledge of the Jews has been erased from the earth!” Nazi Newspaper How would people react if something like this was written in today’s newspaper? Why was it allowed?

Phase 1 = Shooting Jewish people were rounded up and told they were to be relocated They were taken to the woods and were shot one by one their bodies were buried in mass graves

Phase 2 = Gas Vans Again, Jewish people 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, causing carbon monoxide poisoning and suffocation. 700,000 Jews killed in Vans

Problems with Phases 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 munitions 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 Jewish people from all over occupied Europe were brought to these camps.

CONCENTRATION 100 of these camps in Nazi-occupied Europe Prisoners used for forced labor Prisoners usually lasted less than 1/2 year Communists, homosexuals, criminals, social-democrats, artists. First camp was opened in 1933, right after Nazis came to power People were literally worked to death (only eating 200 calories per day)

What can we learn from this passage (moral)? “In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me – and by that time no one was left to speak up.” Reverend Martin Niemoeller, Protestant minister, Germany, and concentration camp survivor What can we learn from this passage (moral)? How could you apply these lessons to your daily lives?

AUSCHWITZ Started operations in January 1940 (Poland) Himmler chose Auschwitz as the place for the Final Solution (Extermination Camp) Had four gas chambers/crematories by 1943 Mass killings with Zyklon B (gas) Commanded by Rudolph Hoess Recorded 12,000 kills in one day

Notice how it has been built to resemble a railway station. Entrance to Auschwitz Notice how it has been built to resemble a railway station. Why would the Nazi’s want their prisoners to think this was a train station and not a concentration camp?

ORDERED TO TAKE ALL POSSESSIONS FROM JEWSISH PRISONERS THE SS AT AUSCHWITZ ORDERED TO TAKE ALL POSSESSIONS FROM JEWSISH PRISONERS 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 at Buchenwald.

The Gas Chambers The Nazis would force large groups of prisoners into small cement rooms and drop canisters of Zyklon B, or prussic acid, in its crystal form through small holes in the roof. These gas chambers were sometimes disguised as showers or bathing houses. The SS would try and pack up to 2000 people into this gas chamber

ZYKLON-B GAS USED TO KILL VERMIN. IT WAS INEXPENSIVE COMPARED TO GAS. DROPPED FROM CEILINGS

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?

Jewish population before, Jewish population after Holocaust STATISTICS BY COUNTRY Jewish population before, Jewish population after Holocaust

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%

The End… The concentration and extermination camps were shut down by the end of the war (1945). The Allies did not know the extent of the camps until this time.

Reflection Why would millions of German citizen’s allow and/or participate in such a horrific event as the Holocaust? What can be done to prevent something like this from happening in the future? In light of the fact that several genocides (Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan) have occurred since, why have we not learned from history?

“Until September 14, 1939 my life was typical of a young Jewish boy in that part of the world in that period of time. I lived in a Jewish community surrounded by gentiles. Aside from my immediate family, I had many relatives and knew all the town people, both Jews and gentiles. Almost two weeks after the outbreak of the war and shortly after my Bar Mitzvah, my world exploded. In the course of the next five and a half years I lost my entire family and almost everyone I ever knew. Death, violence and brutality became a daily occurrence in my life while I was still a young teenager.” Leonard Lerer, 1991 WHY? THIS PICTURE IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT SHOWS A FAMILY WHOSE LIVED THROUGH THIS AWFUL TIME. WE WILL BE LOOKING AT A BOOK CALLED THE SOAPMAKER WHICH TELLS THE STORY OF A YOUNG POLISH BOY'S LIFE THROUGHOUT THE WAR. AFTER ALL THAT HORRIFIC EVIDENCE OF WHAT HAPPENED THERE SHOULD ONLY BE ONE QUESTION ON YOUR MINDS. A QUESTION WHICH WE WILL TRY TO ANSWER OVER THE NEXT FEW LESSONS.... (MOUSE CLICK) WHY.

Journal List 5 things you have learned about the Holocaust. List 2 things you still want to know.