The Holocaust

Overview Refers to the systematic killing of Jews by the Nazis during WWII During the Holocaust, Nazis killed 6 million European Jews Hebrew term for Holocaust is “Shoah”= catastrophe Also killed millions of people from other groups they considered inferior Disabled, gypsies, homosexuals, slavic people

As part of their vision for Europe, the Nazis proposed a new racial order. Aryans would be the master race Hitler tapped into a hatred for Jews that had deep roots in European history Jews as scapegoats for Personal failures Germany’s defeat in World War I

The Nuremberg Laws Established in Sept. 1935 Took citizenship away from Jewish Germans Banned marriage between Jews and other Germans Barred from holding public office and voting Must adopt “Jewish” names Passports were marked with a red “J” After the nazis took power, they quickly moved to deprive german jews of many established rights Names…if their name sounded german

Definition of a Jew: At least one Jewish grandparent: Mischling 3-4 Jewish grandparents: Full Jew By summer of 1936, at least half of Germany’s Jews were jobless, having lost the right to work as civil servants/journalists/farmers/teachers/actors/medicine/law Many chose to remain in germany because they were well integrated into German society

Kristallnacht November 1938- Herschel Grynszpan shot and killed a German diplomat in Paris Hitler ordered his Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to stage attacks against the Jews Led to a spree of destruction A jewish refugee His father and +10,000 other jews had been deported from germany to poland…he was seeking revenge for this/persecution in general The attacks would seem like popular reaction to the news of the murder

+90 Jews dead, hundreds injured, thousands terrorized Anti-Jewish violence throughout Germany and Austria was called Kristallnacht, or “night of broken glass” +90 Jews dead, hundreds injured, thousands terrorized Nazis forbade police from interfering while groups destroyed 7,5000 Jewish businesses and synagogues Broken glass littered streets everywhere

Following the night of violence, the Gestapo (government’s secret police) arrested 30,000 Jewish men Released them only if they agreed to emigrate and surrender their possesions

Isolating the Jews Hitler then ordered Jews in all countries under his control to be moved to designated cities called ghettos. After 1941, all Jews in German controlled areas had to wear a yellow Star of David patch

Jewish Refugees Try to Flee Many Jews began to flee to the US Between 1933-1939, 350,000 Jews escaped Nazi-controlled Germany Ie: Albert Einstein and Otto Frank When hitler took power to the start of wwii Franks moved to amsterdam

Limits on Jewish Immigration +100,000 visa applications from Jews trying to leave for the US Several factors limited immigration: High unemployment rates in 1930s Americans didn’t want to raise immigration quotas Anti-Semitic attitudes Most never received visas No exceptions for refugees or victims of persectuion

International Response At an international conference, several European countries, the US, and Latin America regretted that they couldn’t take in more of Germany’s Jews Many ships departed Germany crammed with Jews forged/illegal visas Many countries denied these Discussing refugees in 1938 With war looming in 1939…

St. Louis Affair May 1939 SS St. Louis entered harbor at Havana with 930 Jewish refugees Certificates improperly issued by Cuba that gave them permission to land there Government revoked certificates once they landed For several days, captain steered ship in circles around Florida Disembarked in France, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain Hoped to get to US Cuban government revoked Within 2 years, the first 3 of these countries fell under Nazi domination…many refugees perished in “final solution” Denied permission to dock…turned around for Europe

The Final Solution January 1942- Nazi leaders met at Wannsee Conference to determine the “final solution of the Jewish question” Previous solutions: rounding up Jews, Gypsies, Slavs and shooting them and piling them into mass graves…another method forced Jews and other undesirables into trucks and then piped in exhaust fumes to kill them…proved too slow and inefficient

Attendees of Conference

The Final Solution Plan: round up the Jews from Nazi-controlled Europe and take them to concentration camps Work as slave laborers Elderly, sick, and young children were sent to extermination camps Until they dropped dead of exhaustion, disease, or malnutrition To be executed in mass gas chambers

Wannsee Conference

In 1939, Germany invaded Poland which had a population of 3 million Jews In 1941, Germany invaded Russia which had a population of 5 million Jews

Wannsee Conference How was the Final Solution going to be organized? Women, children, the old & the sick were to be sent for ‘special treatment.’ The young and fit would go through a process called ‘destruction through work.’ Shooting was too inefficient as the bullets were needed for the war effort On arrival the Jews would go through a process called ‘selection.’ How was the Final Solution going to be organized? Jews were to be rounded up and put into transit camps called Ghettos The remaining Jews were to be shipped to ‘resettlement areas’ in the East. The Jews living in these Ghettos were to be used as a cheap source of labour. Conditions in the Ghettos were designed to be so bad that many die whilst the rest would be willing to leave these areas in the hope of better conditions

What tactics did the Nazis use to get the Jews to leave the Ghettos? Deception New arrivals at the Death camps were given postcards to send to their friends. Starvation The Jews were told that they were going to ‘resettlement areas’ in the East. The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were only fed a 1000 calories a day . Tactics In some Ghettos the Jews had to purchase their own train tickets. A Human being needs 2400 calories a day to maintain their weight Terror They were told to bring the tools of their trade and pots and pans. The SS publicly shot people for smuggling food or for any act of resistance Hungry people are easier to control

Tactics: What happened to new arrivals? All new arrivals went through a process known as ‘selection.’ At Auschwitz the trains pulled into a mock up of a normal station. Mothers, children, the old & sick were sent straight to the ‘showers’ which were really the gas chambers. The Jews were helped off the cattle trucks by Jews who were specially selected to help the Nazis Deception & Selection The able bodied were sent to work camp were they were killed through a process known as ‘destruction through work.’ At some death camps the Nazis would play records of classical music to help calm down the new arrivals. At Auschwitz the new arrivals were calmed down by a Jewish orchestra playing classical music.

Concentration Camps Nazis established first camps in 1933 to jail political opponents Stripped of their clothes, given a uniform, and a number was tattooed on their arms

Extermination Camps After Wannsee, Nazis built extermination facilities in the camps, mostly in Poland, to kill Jews efficiently Ie: Treblinka and Auschwitz Auschwitz housed 100,000 people; gassed 12,000 people a day 1,300,000 out of 1,600,000 who died were Jews…others were Poles, Soviet POWs, and Gypsies

Map of Concentration and Death Camps

Looking Back- Why? Germany’s sense of injury after WWI Severe economic problems Hitler’s control over Germany Long history of anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination in Europe No firm concensus has been reached about how something to horrendous could have happened