WALT: STUDY THE BUILD UP TO THE HOLOCAUST AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

Anti -Semitism This is the term given to political, social and economic agitation against Jews. In simple terms it means ‘Hatred of Jews’. Aryan Race This was the name of what Hitler believed was the perfect race. These were people with full German blood, blonde hair and blue eyes.

It is important to remember that it was not only the Jews who were to experience any form of prejudice within Germany … communists, gypsies, homosexuals, also faced persecution...

Anti-Semitic feelings reappeared in Germany in People who went out shopping were encouraged not to buy any goods from German shops People were “warned” about which shop belonged to the Jews

In 1935, the Nazi Party passed what was called the Nuremberg Laws These laws were designed to To stop Jews and Germans from marrying. To stop Jews and Germans from having having children Jews weren't allowed to have jobs. Jews were not allowed be German citizens. To make sure that German blood was not tainted by mixing with other races Pictures would be produced warning people about what could happen. People were degraded

A Jewish man wearing the yellow star walks along a street in Germany.

The Nazis placed a great emphasis upon encouraging the children to view what Hitler was doing as being right Posters encouraged children into recognising that Hitler was a saviour. Schools became places to pick on the Jews Various efforts were made to ensure that the children were brought up to believe that the Jews were inferior and a danger to German people. The next page shows you

Two extracts from school books. The one on the left shows you the dangers of Jews and Germans marrying Children would be brought to the front of the class to see if they could be classified as Jews or not. If they were, then they would be humiliated

This book is designed to show what a normal German child looks like on the left. The pictures on the right show what Jewish children look like

How did the Nazi decide who was Jewish? At the Wannsee conference it was decided that if one of person’s parents was Jewish, then they were Jewish. However, if only one of their grandparents had been Jewish then they could be classified as being German. In 1940, all Jews had to have their passports stamped with the letter ‘J’ and had to wear the yellow Star of David on their jacket or coat.

The Kristallnacht (Night of broken glass) is viewed by historians as the start of The Final Solution as this event was triggered by the assassination of Ernst vom Rath by a 17-year-old Jewish youth.

In 1938, the situation took a more serious turn for the worst. Called the Night of Broken Glass, Kristallnacht, the Nazis start to use violence against the Jews Hitler used the assassination as evidence of the Jewish people being an enemy of Germany and demanded retribution. Jewish shops, churches and other buildings were openly attacked. People became subjected to violence It would lead to the start of more systematic violence...

From 1939 onwards, Jews were rounded up. They were forced to move out of their homes. To start off with they were sent to areas in cities designed only for them. These were ghettos

After WWII started in 1939, concentration camps became places where enemies of Nazis were enslaved, starved, tortured and killed. The camps held Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies), Polish people, political prisoners, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholic clergy, Eastern European intellectuals, and others—including common criminals.

The Final Solution The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the final, most deadly phase of the Holocaust. Heinrich Himmler was the chief architect of the plan, and the German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler termed it: "the final solution of the Jewish question”.

Wannsee Conference How was the Final Solution going to be organised? Shooting was too inefficient as the bullets were needed for the war effort Jews were to be rounded up and put into transit camps called Ghettoes 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 On arrival the Jews would go through a process called ‘selection.’ The remaining Jews were to be shipped to ‘resettlement areas’ in the East. 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.’

Children Dying of Starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto

Phase 1 = Shooting Jews were rounded up and told they were to be relocated They were taken to the woods and were shot one by one Their bodies were buried in mass graves Phase 1 = Shooting

Phase 2 = Gas Vans Again, Jews were rounded up and told they were to be relocated in vans The vans were equipped so that the van’s exhaust was piped back into the van 700,000 Jews killed in Vans

Problems with Phases 1,2 The Nazis encountered several problems with the executions and gas vans First, they were both taking to much time Second, resources such as gas and munitions were becoming scarce Third, soldiers involved were beginning to have psychological problems with what they were doing.

Phase 3 = The Camps Nazi leaders decided to drastically speed up the Final Solution there were two different types of camps: CONCENTRATION CAMPS EXTERMINATION CAMPS Jews from all over occupied Europe were to be brought here.

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

Entrance to Auschwitz Notice how it has been built to resemble a railway station

Auschwitz Orchestra Jewish Orchestra being played to calm the new arrivals.

The Gas Chambers The Nazis would force large groups of prisoners into small cement rooms and drop canisters of Zyklon B, or prussic acid, in its crystal form through small holes in the roof. These gas chambers were sometimes disguised as showers or bathing houses. The SS would try and pack up to 2000 people into this gas chamber

The outside of the Gas Chamber Notice the Ovens easy located near the Gas Chambers

Part of a stockpile of Zyklon-B poison gas pellets found at Majdanek death camp. Before poison gas was used, Jews were gassed in mobile gas vans. Carbon monoxide gas from the engine’s exhaust was fed into the sealed rear compartment. Victims were dead by the time they reached the burial site.

After liberation, an Allied soldier displays a stash of gold wedding rings taken from victims at Buchenwald. Bales of hair shaven from women at Auschwitz, used to make felt-yarn.

There was the Holocaust … around 6 million Jews lost their lives in these death camps... … these camps can still be found. Mostly in countries like Poland, they are a grim reminder of what racism can lead to...