18.6 The Holocaust and the Defeat of Germany World War II 18.6 The Holocaust and the Defeat of Germany

The Holocaust = Nazi systematic slaughter of “impure undesirables” including Jews 1933 – 9 million Jews in Europe Jewish bankers – blamed for European Depression The Final Solution to the Jewish Question = Annihilate the Jews

Steps of the Final Solution 1. Anti-Jewish legislation – removed Jews from Germany society 2. Establish Concentration Camps 3. Establishment of Ghettos in Poland 4. Mobile killing squads – SS and SD 5. Six Extermination Camps

Military Executions Special death squads follow behind the front – killing Jews, gypsies, and communists in the area Einsatzgruppen – mobile killing units Used shootings and mobile gas units Killed over 1 million Jewish men, women and children

Ghettos Jews were forced to live in walled off parts of cities in misery Densely populated areas Warsaw – 400,000 ppl in 1.3 sq. mi Wear identifying arm patch Often work in forced labor Jews received little food or supplies (253 calories/day)

Concentration Camps & Genocide

Genocide = The deliberate annihilation of an entire people 1941 Germans began constructing concentration camps to perform “the final solution” Move Jews from Ghettos to labor camps and killing centers throughout Europe

The Death Camps Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek, and Auschwitz-Birkenau Jewish men, women, & children were transported to the camps in sealed railroad cars Many immediately killed in gas chambers Bodies cremated in ovens

The Death Camps Others faced forced labor in the camps Josef Mengele – infamous doctor at Aushwitz – chose who lived “Angel of Death” – collected eyes Human experiments performed Freezing, drug testing, sterilization, disease studies

The Death Camps Death Marches – at end of war to avoid allied liberation of Jews Around 6 million Jews died in the camps – 2/3 of pop. 6 million Poles, mentally disabled people, and political & religious prisoners also died

How Could The Holocaust Happen? Nazi’s took advantage of the long history of anti-Semitism in Europe Nazi’s flooded Europe with anti-Semitic propaganda stirring up hatred This hatred caused non-Jews to assist the Nazi’s or look the other way

The Defeat of Germany

The Yalta Conference 15

Yalta The Crimean Peninsula in the Ukraine The Big 3 – Stalin – Soviet Union FDR – US Churchill – Great Britain Purpose - To plan for postwar peace following the defeat of Hitler 16

Agreements Reached 1. Stalin pledged to declare war on Japan three months after the surrender of Germany 2. All agreed to divide Germany & Berlin following the war 3. Outlined plans for a new international peace organization 17

Roosevelt Win’s 4th Term The war convinced FDR to run for his 4th term Won easily with Harry Truman as his running mate 18

The Allies Reach Berlin 19

The Race To Berlin March 1945 The Allies crossed the Rhine River into the heart of Germany The Soviets occupied most of Eastern Europe Gen. Eisenhower allows Russians to take Berlin Hitler orders Berlin defended to last man – fighting street to street 20

Berlin Falls 21

April 30, 1945 Hitler commits suicide in his bunker under Berlin May 8, 1945 V-E Day (Victory in Europe) 22