PICTURE PREVIEW You will look at some pictures from the Holocaust. 1st—write down your reactions. 2nd—record some facts and important information (2 factual points) for each image.

#1

#1 Nazi book burning wasn’t enough; first they were defiled by loading them onto carts filled with manure. Before they were through, 25,000 books were destroyed, an introduction to flames that would eventually consume millions of human beings. The authors form a roll call of early 20th century literature: Emil Ludwig, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Erich Maria Remarque, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Mann, Sigmund Freud, Margaret Sanger, Lion Feuchtwanger, and Helen Keller. By 1939, 575 authors had been forbidden in Germany.

#2

#2 Why the Jews? Jews were targeted for many reasons— historically Jews have been stereotyped as greedy, thieves, etc. Many people blamed the Jews for the defeat of WWI which sent Germany into a horrific economic depression. Hitler and the Nazi party were able to brainwash and manipulate the masses, resulting in a country wide wave of Jewish hatred and prejudice.

#3

#3 On the night of November 9, 1938, violence against Jews broke out across the Reich. In two days, over 250 synagogues were burned, over 7,000 Jewish businesses were trashed and looted, dozens of Jewish people were killed, and Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes were looted while police and fire brigades stood by. It became known as Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass," for the shattered glass from the store windows that littered the streets.

#4

#4 Antisemitism and the persecution of Jews represented a central belief of Nazi ideology. In their 25-point Party Program, published in 1920, Nazi party members publicly declared their intention to segregate Jews from "Aryan" society and to take away Jews' political, legal, and civil rights. Jews were striped of every right they knew including: going to school, walking on the sidewalks, eating and shopping in local businesses, restricted curfews, etc. Finally Jews faced liquidation and deportation—to ghettos or to concentration camps.

#5

#5 Before the concentration camps and gas chambers, Nazi soldiers did tried to kill mass numbers of victims by shooting lines. Many people who were shot had to dig their own graves first. Ironically, it was decided that this method was too harmful for the Nazi soldiers (who may have been traumatized by seeing the men, women, and children die in front of them), so they utilized the camps instead.

#6

#6 The first concentration camps in Germany were established soon after Hitler's appointment as chancellor in January 1933. Many of the camps were created in Poland, including Auschwitz. Some of these camps were set up to house and keep prisoners, some (Death Camps) were established to kill the “undesirables” as soon as they arrived. It is important to know that Auschwitz was three camps, the picture above is of Auschwitz-Birkenau—the death/extermination camp.

#7

#7 The total number of victims will never truly be known, but it estimated over 11 million people were killed, many due to starvation and malnutrition. 6 Million who died were Jewish (1/3 of Europe’s population) , but the Nazis also targeted: Roma-Gypsies, Polish Political, Russians, mentally/physically disabled people, and homosexuals…

PICTURE CONCLUSION Which picture stood out to you the most? Why? Explain…