Holocaust History

Hitler Comes to Power In the early 1930s, the mood in Germany was grim. Economic depression had hit the country especially hard, and millions of people were out of work. Nearly 40% unemployment. The German government was weakened by the defeat during WWI fifteen years earlier. These conditions provided the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi party for short.

Hitler Comes to Power Hitler was a powerful and charismatic speaker who attracted many Germans who were desperate for change. He promised a better life and a new and glorious Germany. The Nazis appealed to the unemployed, young people, and members of the lower middle class (small store owners, office employees, craftsmen, and farmers).

Hitler Comes to Power In January 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of the German government, and many Germans believed that they had found a savior for their nation Hitler moved quickly to turn Germany into a one-party dictatorship and to organize the police power necessary to enforce Nazi policies.

Nazi Rule Reichstag passes Enabling Act (legally for five years) Under the new Nazi rule: Reichstag passes Enabling Act (legally for five years) Hitler put an end individual freedoms, including freedom of press, speech, and assembly. Individuals lost the right to privacy, which meant that officials could read people's mail, listen in on telephone conversations, and search private homes without a warrant. An important tool of Nazi terror was the Protective Squad (Schutzstaffel), or SS, which began as a special guard for Adolf Hitler and other party leaders. 

Nazi Rule By 1934 Hitler became a dictator with the death of the president Hindenburg. SS chief Heinrich Himmler also turned the regular (nonparty) police forces into an instrument of terror Secret State Police or Gestapo; these non- uniformed police used ruthless and cruel methods throughout Germany to identify and arrest political opponents and others who refused to obey laws and policies of the Nazi regime.

Hitler’s Goals Create a master race Aryan Create a thousand year empire(Third Reich) Expand territory Hitler used methods of terror and spectacle SS (Schutzstaffeln) began massive rearmament program Reduced unemployment to less than 500,000

The Holocaust Began soon after Hitler took power Jews were main targets Nuremberg laws (1935) (defining who was Jewish) Jews were encouraged to leave Germany

The Holocaust After the invasion of the Soviet Union, mass exterminations of “undesirables” began to take place Einsatzgruppen (Mobile Killing Units) Followed behind army in Russia and would line up people and shoot them into mass graves. Reinhard Heydrich- one of the architects of the Concentration Camp/ Holocaust System (SS Final Solution Coordinator) Probably killed one million people this way

Concentration Camps After Einsatzgruppen squads proved too slow, SS decides on more efficient method Death/work camps Millions of Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, mentally ill, disabled, homosexuals, and others were rounded up were either killed or sent to camps At these camps, victims were worked and died or were immediately killed

Concentration Camps These camps became giant death factories Large gas chambers and crematoriums Sometimes large pit fires were used Victims were also used for medical experimentation In the end, 11,000,000 victims 6,000,000 were Jews

Concentration Camps After Einsatzgruppen squads proved too slow, SS decides on more efficient method Death/work camps Millions of Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, mentally ill, disabled, homosexuals, and others were rounded up Either killed or sent to camps At these camps, victims were worked and died or were immediately killed

Concentration Camps These camps became giant death factories Large gas chambers and crematoriums Sometimes large pit fires were used Victims were also used for medical experimentation In the end, 11,000,000 victims 6,000,000 were Jews

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