Holocaust  The state-sponsored persecution and murder of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945  Resulted in the death of 6 million Jews – 2/3 of the European Jewry  Other groups targeted: Roma (gypsies), mentally & physically disabled, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses

Pre-War Anti-Semitism ( )  Over 400 decrees & regulations restricted the private & public lives of Jews  1935: Nuremberg laws  Excluded Jews from citizenship  Forbade marriage between Jews and non-Jews  Define Jews by having 3 or 4 Jewish grandparents  1937: “Aryanization”  Jews required to register property & assets  Slowly lost ownership of these to Germans

Kristallnacht – November 9-10, 1938  Widespread destruction of Jewish property in Germany, Austria & Sudentenland  Resulted in first mass arrests of Jews  Led to Jewish emigration

Advent of WWII = New Nazi tactics  Ghettos  City districts where Jews were forced to live in miserable conditions  Jews were deported to the ghettos from all over occupied Germany  Nazis set up as a temporary step until they figured out what to do with the Jews  Daily life in the Warsaw ghetto, Poland,

Concentration Camps  First established as forced labor camps for opponents to Nazis and social deviants  With start of war, open more camps and centralize organization  After 1941 invasion of Soviet Union, begin massive killing operations  Final Solution: Authorize implementation of “complete solution of Jewish question”  Open 5 main killing centers – 2.7 million Jews killed in gas chambers

Spiritual Resistance  Preserve Jewish history & communal life  Observe holidays  Run education programs  Publish underground newspapers  Collect & hide Jewish records

Escape & Rescue Efforts  Many escaped the ghettos & hid in the forests  Helped by individuals & resistance groups  Assisted by smugglers & forgers  French town of Chambon sur Lignon sheltered refugees

Armed resistance  April 1943, Warsaw ghetto rose up & fought deportations of remaining residents  It took 1 month for Germans to put down the uprising  It inspired further uprisings  Armed groups of Jews who escaped and sabotaged Germans  October 1943, remaining 600 prisoners in camps organized a revolt Ghetto UprisingsPartisans Prisoner Revolts