The Holocaust 1933-1945 In Greek, Holocaust means sacrifice by fire or burnt whole. After World War II, the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis came to be known as The Holocaust. However, nearly 6 million more non-Jews were killed by the Nazis in the same period.

Genocide Genos + cide (race) + (killing) = the murder of a race The word was created after World War II to describe what had happened to the Jews. A particular race or ethnic group is blamed for a problem (scapegoating), and the solution is seen as exterminating them. Ex. Rwanda, Armenia, Darfur (Sudan)

Adolf Hitler, Fuehrer of Nazi Germany.

Nazis (Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party) Adolf Hitler was elected the leader of Germany in 1933, representing the Nazi party. He quickly proclaimed himself dictator. Nazi beliefs: Germans (Aryans) were “racially superior” and the “master race.” Nazis blamed Jews for the economic depressions and the Germany’s defeat in WWI.

Judaism A religion based on the Old Testament whose followers worship a Judeo-Christian god. Jewish people do not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God. Their place of worship is called a synagogue. Being Jewish is not just about religion, but about culture. There are Jewish foods, holidays, and even languages (Yiddish and Hebrew).

Victims Roma (Gypsies) Polish Homosexuals Mentally/physically handicapped Russians Anyone who helped or sheltered Jewish people or anyone on the list above According to Nazi rationale, everyone on the list above would “weaken” the Aryan race.

Extermination The Nazis tried many methods to kill the Jews systematically and efficiently. It was too expensive and time consuming to shoot them one by one, so they tried mass killings, forcing the prisoners to dig a huge grave before killing them.

Methods: Limited Rights: Jews couldn’t participate in government, go to school, marry anyone other than Jews, or own property. Doctors and dentists weren’t allowed to practice.

Ghettos The Nazis' ghettos were a preliminary step in the annihilation of the Jews, rather than a method to just isolate them from the rest of society. As the war against the Jews progressed, the ghettos became transition areas, used as collection points for deportation to death camps and concentration camps. Jews could not leave the ghettos and they were forced to wear badges with the Star of David.

Jews were often sent to ghettos before transport to the camps.

Deportation and Imprisonment Jews were forced to leave their homes or the ghettos and travel to concentration camps on cattle cars.

Children Being Sent to Their Death. Children from an orphanage in Marysin, Poland wait in line to board a truck which will take them to the Chelmno concentration camp where they will be killed.

Homeless Children in the Ghetto

In the Warsaw Ghetto A young man in the Warsaw ghetto eats some food. Ration cards allowed ghetto residents only 300 calories of food daily, a small fraction needed for sustaining health.

Concentration Camps

Prisoners in Buchenwald Elie Wiesel is the last full face in the second bunk from the floor in the second row.

Emaciated Jewish survivors, who had been confined to the infirmary barracks at Ebensee, are gathered outside on May 7, 1945, the day after liberation.

The last words of inmates of the death camp at Stutthof are carved into these walls.

Murder Jews and other victims were killed. The Nazis found shooting and burying the dead to be too “costly and inefficient.” The Final Solution: a Nazi plan to use crematories and gas chambers to kill the Jews en masse. Six death camps were built and kept going around the clock, killing thousands each day.

An execution in front of a mass grave. German soldiers of the Waffen-SS and the Reich Labor Service look on as a member of Einsatzgruppe D prepares to shoot a Ukrainian Jew kneeling on the edge of a mass grave filled with the bodies of previous victims.

Awaiting Execution Jewish women and children who have already surrendered their belongings form a small group as others in the background are ordered to discard their outer clothing and their possessions prior to execution. Photograph was taken October 16, 1941 in Lubny, the Ukraine.

Timeline: 1933-1939: Jews’ rights were limited and property seized. 1938: Kristallnacht (30,000 Jews were arrested in a 2-day period and homes/businesses were attacked.) 1939: Hitler began attacking all Jews in Europe, not just in Germany.

1940: Germany conquered Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia and Greece. 1941-1945: Most of the killing took place. By 1945 2 out of 3 European Jews had been killed. May 1945: Nazi Germany collapsed. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945.

Setting: Most death camps were in Germany and Poland. Many Jews left Europe while they could and went to Palestine in the Middle East. Eventually these Jews founded a Jewish state known today as Israel.