Session: The Holocaust Image Source: http://romaniroots.webs.com/holocaust.jpg

The Lead Up Prior to the physical extermination of Jews Hitler as part of the Final Solution, the Nazis used ‘legal means’ to prosecute the Jews. When Hitler seized power in 1933 he used his new powers under the ‘Enabling Law’ to begin his attack on the Jews. In 1938, the Nazi attack on the Jews changed and became more violent with Himmler launching Kristallnacht on 11th November 1938. By 1939, half of Germany’s 500,000 Jews had emigrated to escape Nazi persecution.

The Einsatzgruppen (Mobile Killing Units) Einsatzgruppen were squads composed of German SS soldiers and Order Police personnel. Victims were taken to deserted areas where they were made to dig their own graves and shot. The Einsatzgruppen also murdered thousands of mentally & physically disabled people within asylums. Prior to the ‘Final Solution’, Himmler sent 4 specially trained SS units called “Einsatzgruppen battalions” – mobile killing units, into German occupied territory and shot at least 1 million Jews. The Einsatzgruppen main task was to murder those perceived to be racial or political enemies found behind German combat lines in the occupied Soviet Union.

Change of Tactics Due to the war & Poland’s Nazi governor preventing the ‘resettlement’ of the Jews in Poland, the Nazis ended the ‘resettlement to the East’ program, & decided to Change tactics. Orders were sent to remove the Jews that were in the Ghettos all across Europe, & round up any Jew & other ‘undesirables.’ They were to be placed in concentration camps until further notice. Jews were told they were being relocated to the East – Madagascar.

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

The Final Solution In January 1942, Himmler decided to change tactics once again and called a special conference at Wannsee. At this conference it was decided that the existing methods were too inefficient and that a new ‘Final Solution’ was necessary. The Final Solution – systematic extermination of Jews & enemy groups singled out by the Nazis. Image Source: http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/himmler.jpg

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.’ Source: Mr RJ Huggins, 2002, School History

Auschwitz Entrance Notice how it has been built to resemble a railway station, so Jews wouldn’t suspect it was a concentration/death camp. The Jews seeing a ‘railway station’ would’ve believed the Nazis’ story – that the they (Jews) were going to Madagascar.

Auschwitz Tactics: Processing of 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.’ Source: Mr RJ Huggins, 2002, School History

‘Destruction Through Work’ Map of Auschwitz New Arrivals ‘Destruction Through Work’

Auschwitz from the Air Notice how the Death camp is set out like a factory complex The Nazis used industrial methods to murder the Jews and process their dead bodies

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.

Processing the Bodies Specially selected Jews known as the Sonderkommando were used to remove the gold fillings and hair of people who had been gassed. The Sonderkommando Jews were also forced to feed the dead bodies into the crematorium. During mass shootings, victims were not placed in crematoriums, they were buried in mass graves. Victims usually dug their own grave prior to being shot. Ovens at Dachau Image Source:

Nazism & The Holocaust Hitler’s hatred of peoples he regarded as inferior resulted in the deaths of almost six million Jews as well as the deaths of many others, especially Roma (gypsies), Socialists, Communists, homosexuals and the mentally and physically disabled. They were sent to purpose-built death camps, most of which were built in eastern Poland, where they were systematically murdered – gas chambers, mass shootings, medical experiments & via starvation. This atrocity came to be known as the Holocaust. Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Children_in_the_Holocaust_concentration_camp_liberated_by_Red_Army.jpg