'We knew nothing about what was going on' What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?

Who was responsible for the Holocaust? Take a survey… Who was responsible for the Holocaust? You have 30 seconds on your own to write down in rough the answer to the question above.

Take a survey… what do we think? Hitler Hitler and the Nazis Hitler and the SS and/or other named individual Hitler and the Germans / Germany Hitler, the Nazis and Germany Hitler, the Nazis and the SS Nazis with no reference to Hitler Germans / Germany / German people Nazis and Germans A relevant answer that did not fit the categories Inaccurate answer

Take a survey… what do 6,897 students think? In 2015, UCL Centre for Holocaust Education surveyed students from a variety of schools from all over England to find out about their knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust. Question 42 asked; “Who was responsible for the Holocaust?” They had a blank box to record their answers, just as you have just done. 6,897 students from all around England gave an answer to this question. What do you think they said? What might the most popular answers be?

Take a survey… what do 6,897 students think?

Case study Enquiry; What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?

Reflection Look back at the evidence you have gathered and consider how you would now respond to the enquiry question. Select 3 or 4 pieces of evidence that would either support or counter the initial quote, ‘We knew nothing about what was going on’, and be ready to explain how and why they do? At the beginning of the lesson, you were asked a broader question from the survey, ‘Who was responsible for the Holocaust?’ From this investigation, what would you now say, and why?

Resources: Evidence Record Cards

Evidence Record Card: Document 94 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? 1946 Ordinary Germans What does Eugon Kogon say about popular German knowledge of the concentration camps? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 94

Evidence Record Card: Document 95 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? 1936 A Nazi magazine reports on Dachau Think about how the camps are described in this source. What words are used?   Think about how the inmates are described in this source. What words are used? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 95

Evidence Record Card: Document 96 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? January1939 Radio Broadcast by Heinrich Himmler Think about how the camps are described in this source. What words are used?   Think about how the inmates are described in this source. What words are used? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 96

Evidence Record Card: Document 97 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? After the war German witnesses What does the teacher say ‘everyone’ knew about in Nordhausen, even if they later denied this? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 97

Evidence Record Card: Document 98 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? June 1942 Local Profiteers What does Gretel Meier ask of the Camp Commandant at Flossenburg, and why? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 98

Evidence Record Card: Document 99 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? The final months of the war Civilian perpetrators What does a former Nazi official testify to? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 99

Evidence Record Card: Document 100 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? After the war / 1944 Looking Away What did a civilian in Danzig see every morning?   How did she react? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 100

Evidence Record Card: Document 101 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? After the war / 1942-45 Aid in occupied Europe What does an Auschwitz survivor say about aid he received? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 101

Evidence Record Card: Document 118 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? April 1945 The German Population – A document about a church proclamation in Weimar What did US soldiers make hundreds of inhabitants of the German city of Cologne do?   What was their reaction? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 118

Evidence Record Card: Document 119 What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? 1979 Popular Opinion - A letter sent to a German TV station after it had broadcast the TV series ‘Holocaust’ What was his reaction to seeing the TV program? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Document 119

What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps? Date Description Evidence of the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps Implications Any further questions? 1987 interviews Interview with Christa M., born in 1930 in Germany What does Christa M. say about what knowledge people had of the camps at the time? Your Name: Your Group: Evidence Record Card: Video Testimony of Christa M. (from 0.00 to 1.43)

‘We knew nothing about what was going on’ What does the evidence suggest about the relationship between the wider German public and the Nazi concentration camps?