Began Jan. 30, 1933 Ended May 8, 1945 Began Jan. 30, 1933 Hitler became Chancellor of Germany Ended May 8, 1945 V.E. Day ~ Victory in Europe Day The Holocaust

Rationale for Teaching the Holocaust It was a watershed event in human history: “We must never forget.” Germany in 1933 had a representative democracy and a constitution that went terribly wrong – shows the fragility of democracy.

Rationale for Teaching the Holocaust To counter those who say it never happened. To make historical and contemporary connections. To evaluate the dangers of indifference – the “Bystander Syndrome.”

The word “holocaust” Before WWII: –Hebrew word for great and terrible wind After WWII: –The genocide by Nazi Germany to make the world Judenrein – cleansed of Jews

HOLOCAUST STATISTICS

History of Discrimination against Jews Ancient Egypt – Jews were enslaved Roman Empire – banned from citizenship Middle Ages – forced to live in walled ghettos 1348 – accused of causing the Black Death

15 th Century – tortured during the Spanish Inquisition Russia 1881 – pogroms organized that killed thousands of Jews 1879 – League of Anti-Semitism formed by German Wilhelm Marr Often blamed for what was wrong and accused of being too smart or too rich

Irony of German Anti-Semitism Jews accounted for less than 1% of the German population when Hitler took over During the Weimar Republic – before Hitler took power – of the 230 cabinet positions in Berlin, only 7 were held by Jews. Yet, Jews were thought to possess all the power and wealth in Germany after WWI.

In Addition to Jews, Who Were the Nazi’s Other Victims? 5 million non-Jews perished under Nazi Persecution: Gypsies Jehovah’s Witnesses Homosexuals Poles, Slavs, and Serbs Political prisoners & political opponents Physically and mentally disabled Blacks Habitual criminals Catholics

Allport’s Levels of Prejudice 1.Name calling 2.Isolation 3.Discrimination 4.Physical attack 5.Extermination ** Each level, left unchecked, will lead to the next. Where do you draw the line?

Anti- Defamation League’s Pyramid of Hate

Three Steps to Genocid Three Steps to Genocide Notice how these steps can be applied to any situation of prejudice and discrimination if hate is allowed to grow.

Step 1: You will not Live Among Us As Jews Boycotts, Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht

State Sponsored Discrimination Prejudice is an attitude. Discrimination is an act. The Nazi government sponsored a boycott of Jewish businesses Kristallnacht was planned by the Nazis Propaganda was spread by the Nazis Nazi government passed laws excluding Jews from owning farm land, passing down property, or artisitc enterprises.

1934 Jews are not allowed to have national health insurance the SS (Schutzstaffel) is formed Hitler becomes Der Fuherer and receives a 90% approval rating from the people

Fall 1935: Nuremberg Laws

1936 SS Deathshead division is created to guard camps Heinreich Himmler is appointed Chief of the German Police Olympic games in Berlin, Jews treated better - briefly.

1937 Jews are not allowed to teach Germans not allowed to be accountants or dentists “Eternal Jew” exhibit opened in Germany –promoted stereo- types of Jews and warned Germans

Kristallnacht: Prelude to the Final Solution In 1938, the Nazi attack on the Jews changed and became more violent with Himmler launching Kristallnacht on 11 th November 1938.

1938 Nazi troops enter Austria League of Nations considers helping Jews fleeing Hitler, but no country will take them Jews are not allowed to practice medicine

Step 2: You will not Live Among US The Ghettos

Why didn’t Jew Resist More? Hope is very powerful Deception by the Nazis - lies They didn’t know who the enemy was In denial because they’d experienced anti-Semitism throughout history Few weapons Fear of Nazi backlash Dehumanization

Nicknamed “The Blond Beast” and “Hangman Heydrich” second in command of Gestapo and SS principle planner of the Final Solution Brigadier General in SS at the age of 30 Reinhard Heydrich

1939 Reinhard Heydrich is ordered to speed up emigration of Jews Jews must hand over all gold and silver. Nazi troops seize Czechoslovakia. Half of Germany’s 500,000 Jews had emigrated to escape Nazi persecution. The St. Louis is turned away from the US.

Prelude to the Final Solution In 1939, Germany invaded Poland which had a much larger population of Jews million. Forced labor decree issued

1940 German Jews are deported to Poland Ghettos of Lodz, Krakow and Warsaw are sealed off. Total of 600,000 Jews These ghettos will be liquidated starting in 1942 German soldiers rounding up Jews to be placed in ghettos

Children Dying of Starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto

1941 Nazis invade the Soviet Union Jewish population of 3 million SS Einsatzgruppen follow advance of German Army “Liquidate all Communist officials you encounter!

Change of Tactics: Einsatzgruppen Specially trained SS units called “Einsatzgruppen battalions” –“Mobile killing units” Victims were taken to deserted areas where they were made to dig their own graves and shot. When the SS ran out of bullets they sometimes killed their victims using flame throwers. By the end of the war, more than 1,300,000 Russian Jews killed in this manner

Change of Tactics: Einsatzgruppen

EINSATZ AREA OF OPERATIONS

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.

Heydrich was ordered by Hermann Goering to prepare a “final solution” to the Jewish question Heydrich organized a meeting with 15 top Nazi officials in Berlin = Jan. 20, 1942 Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe, an estimated 11 million persons Wannsee Conference

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.

Jews Being Deported from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Camps

Step 3: You will not Live The Death Camps Why do you think that they located them here?

What tactics did the Nazis use to get the Jews to leave the Ghettos ? Tactics Starvation The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were only fed a 183 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. 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.

The Camps There were two different types of camps: –CONCENTRATION CAMPS –EXTERMINATION CAMPS Jews from all over occupied Europe were to be brought to them.

100 of these in Nazi-occupied Europe prisoners used for forced labor prisoners usually lasted less than 1/2 year First camp was opened in 1933, right after Nazis came to power CONCENTRATION

Destruction Through Work This photo was taken by the Nazis to show just how you could quite literally work the fat of the Jews by feeding them 200 calories a day

Destruction Through Work Same group of Jews 6 weeks later

Started out as ordinary concentration camps later modified with gassing installations for use on humans, now “DEATH CAMPS” “NAZIS GET CLOSE TO CREATING HELL ON EARTH!!!” EXTERMINATION

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

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.’

SS Tactics: Dehumanization Getting humans to kill other humans The SS guards who murdered the Jews were brainwashed with Anti-Semitic propaganda. The Jews were transported in cattle cars in terrible conditions. Naked, dirty and half starved people look like animals, which helped to reinforce the Nazi propaganda. The SS used to train their new guards by encouraging them to set fire to a pit full of live victims – usually children.

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

Processing the bodies Specially selected Jews known as the sonderkommando were used to 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.

The Ovens at Dachau

Dead bodies waiting to be processed

Shoes waiting to be processed by the sonderkommando Taken inside a huge glass case in the Auschwitz Museum. This represents one day's collection at the peak of the gassings, about twenty five thousand pairs.

MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS Sterilization of men and women endurance of pain to high and low temperatures and pressure experiments on twins to increase number of multiple births to Aryan women injections of phenol to kill patients Dr. Mengele attempted to sew children together to make Siamese twins

MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS EXTRACTED HUMAN ORGANS EXPERIMENTS ON CHILDREN IN AUSCHWITZ

STATISTICS BY COUNTRY

Was the Final Solution successful? The Nazis aimed to kill 11 million Jews at the Wannsee Conference in 1941 Today there are only 2000 Jews living in Poland. The Nazis managed to kill at least 6 million Jews. Men like Schindler helped Jews escape the Final Solution. Not all Jews went quietly into the gas cambers. In 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto, like many others revolted against the Nazis when the Jews realised what was really happening.

Evil is when a few good men decide to do nothing.

Wannsee Conference How was the Final Solution going to be organized? 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 while 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.’