Auschwitz and the ‘Final Solution’. LO: To be aware of the horrors of the holocaust. To understand the context in which ‘The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas’ is set.

Question sheet We will be going through the background, or CONTEXT, of the novel. We will answer the questions one the next slide as we go. Write a definition of the word ‘context’ This is a very serious lesson about a very serious time: feel free to ask me questions.

Why did Hitler hate the Jews? What was the ‘final solution’? Who was the final solution aimed at? What was Auschwitz? How many died at Auschwitz? How did people die at the camp? What did prisoners have to wear? How long was the working day? What happened if a prisoner was missing? What was written over the entrance? (English version) Was this saying true? Explain your answer. What was the firing wall? What did the camp smell like? Where were the bodies buried? Who do you think had to bury the dead bodies?

What is the ‘final solution’? The Final Solution was Nazi Germany’s plan and execution of the Jews during World War II. Heinrich Himmler was the in charge of the plan, and the German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler called it "the final solution of the Jewish question." Mass killings of about one million Jews occurred before the plans of the Final Solution were carried out in 1942.

Why did Hitler hate the Jews? Hitler used the Jews as scapegoats: he blamed them for losing WWI, and for the current financial crisis. Many German people believed Hitler was right (although, of course, he wasn’t).

HFMHY

Auschwitz Auschwitz was a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated in Polish areas ruled by Germany during WWII. From 1942 until 1944, transport trains delivered Jews to the camp's gas chambers from all over Europe. The camp's first commandant, Rudolf Hoss, testified after the war that up to three million people had died there. We now think this is a slightly exaggerated figure.

How many died at Auschwitz? Approximately 1.5 million from gas, and 500,000 from disease and starvation. Other people taken to Auschwitz included 150,000 Polish people, 23,000 Roma gypsies, and 15,000 prisoners of war. Those not killed in the gas chambers died of starvation, forced labour, disease, individual executions, and medical experiments.

Map of the camp

Life in the camp The prisoners' day began at 4:30 a.m. with roll call, with 30 minutes allowed for washing etc. After roll call, workers would walk to their place of work, five abreast, wearing striped camp fatigues, no underwear, and wooden shoes without socks which caused great pain. Kapos – prisoners who had been promoted to foremen – were responsible for the prisoners' behaviour while they worked. The working day lasted 12 hours during the summer, and a little less in the winter. No rest periods were allowed.

Life in the camp 2 One prisoner would be assigned to the latrines to measure the time the workers took to go to the toilet. After work, there was a mandatory evening roll call. If a prisoner was missing, the others had to remain standing in place until he was either found or the reason for his absence discovered, even if it took hours, and regardless of the weather conditions. After roll call, there were individual and collective punishments, depending on what had happened during the day. After this, the prisoners were allowed to go to their blocks for the night to receive their bread rations and water. Curfew was two or three hours later, the prisoners sleeping in long rows of wooden bunks, lying in and on their clothes and shoes to prevent them from being stolen.

Conditions in the camp. When first entering the camp of Auschwitz I, the prisoners saw over the main entrance the words; "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work will give you freedom). These words were to promote the false hope that hard work by the prisoners would result in their freedom. However, the sad truth was that the prisoners were doomed to slave labour, and death was the only real escape. The conditions in Auschwitz II were far worse than those in Auschwitz I. There was no running water or sanitary equipment, resulting in the rapid spread of disease. Rats and insects infested the living quarters and work sites of the inmates.

Summary Write a short summary of what an ordinary day in the life of a prisoner would involve a.m. – wake up. Wash quickly. Already dressed a.m. –

Why we must remember. The "death block" housed the criminals in the camp. These barracks held the "court rooms" where the prisoner was tortured into confession, unfairly tried, and sentenced to death. The "firing wall" located at the side of the block was the location for carrying out the sentences by lining the prisoners against the wall and shooting them. Their bodies were placed in gravel pits in and around the main camp.

How horrid it must be. The presence of the death chambers near the barracks served as a constant reminder to the inmates that at any moment they could be sent in to the showers to be gassed and cremated. The strong scent of charred flesh and burned hair could be smelt from the living quarters to the work sites. Scattered throughout the camp were huge pits used as mass graves for thousands of stacked bodies. Typically, the mass graves held about 107,000 corpses and were used after the Nazis discovered the problems of burying the bodies individually.

Video link Survivor interview Footage from the camp

Auschwitz Why do people visit Auschwitz today? Do you think it is important that we are told about what happened? Why?

Homework Complete research on the context of the novel before our next lesson.

Reflection LO: To be aware of the horrors of the holocaust. Tell me one thing you have learnt today.