The Holocaust

Setting the Stage As part of their vision for Europe, the Nazis proposed a new radical order. They proclaimed that Germanic peoples, or Aryans, were a “master race.” The Nazis claimed that all non-Aryan peoples, particularly Jewish people were inferior. This racist message would eventually lead to the Holocaust, the systematic mass slaughter of Jews and other groups judged inferior by Nazis

Holocaust Begins Nuremberg Laws: 1935 series of laws passed that deprived the Jews of German citizenship Forbid marriages between Jews and non-Jews Limited what kind of jobs Jews could hold in Germany Hitler makes targeting the Jews a government policy

“Night of the Broken Glass” Kristallnacht 17 year old German Jew, Herschel Grynazpan visited his uncle in Paris While in Paris he got a postcard from his father saying after living in Germany for 27 years he had been deported to Poland Anger about this Herschel shot a German officer in Paris When Nazi leaders heard of the news Nazi Storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, business, and synagogues across Germany Nearly 100 Jews were killed…

Primary Source “All the things for which my parents had worked for in 18 long years were destroyed in less than 10 minutes. Piles of valuable glass, expensive furniture, linens- in short, everything was destroyed…The Nazis left us, yelling, “Don’t try to leave this house! We’ll soon be back again and take you to a concentration camp to be shot.” -M. I. Libau

Aftermath of Kristallnacht Flood of Refugees Many Jews realized that trouble was only going to get worse Thousands fled Germany Hitler conquered new land, he gained more Jews Hitler saw emigration as a solution to the “Jewish Problem” Soon countries like Great Britain, France and the US closed their borders to Jews Isolating the Jews When Hitler couldn’t move the Jews out any more he forced them to isolated areas or ghettos. Segregates Nazis hoped they would starve to death or die of disease….

“the final solution” “Final Solution” Hitler grew tired of waiting for the Jews to starve to death in ghettos Decided to take a more direct approach: genocide “the systematic killing of an entire people” Hitler believes he must protect the “purity” of the Aryan race Eliminates all other races, nationalities, or people viewed as inferior or “subhuman” Gypsises, Poles, Russians, homosexuals, the insane, disabled, terminally ill, and the Jews.

The camps (Show Video Clip)

The Final Stage 1942 Hitler builds extermination camps Huge gas chambers could kill as many as 6,000 people a day Largest of the extermination camps was Auschwitz Men, women, and children would be brought in front of Nazi doctors Dr.s would separate weak from strong- weak would be killed that day Gas chambers: Told they were being brought to shower Once inside and door closed- cyanide or carbon dioxide would be pumped into the chamber All would be dead within minutes Later the Nazis built large crematoriums to burn the dead bodies

Death tolls Victims Killed Jews 5.9 million Soviet POWs 2–3 million Ethnic Poles 1.8–2 million Romani 220,000–1,500,000 Disabled 200,000–250,000 Freemasons 80,000 Slovenes 20,000–25,000 Homosexuals 5,000–15,000 Jehovah's Witnesses 2,500–5,000

Country Estimated Pre-War Jewish population Estimated Jewish population annihilated Percent killed Poland 3,300,000 3,000,000 90 Baltic countries 253,000 228,000 Germany & Austria 240,000 210,000 Bohemia & Moravia 90,000 80,000 89 Slovakia 75,000 83 Greece 70,000 54,000 77 Netherlands 140,000 105,000 75 Hungary 650,000 450,000 70 Byelorussian SSR 375,000 245,000 65 Ukrainian SSR 1,500,000 900,000 60 Belgium 65,000 40,000 Yugoslavia 43,000 26,000 Romania 600,000 300,000 50 Norway 2,173 890 41 France 350,000 26 Bulgaria 64,000 14,000 22 Italy 8,000 20 Luxembourg 5,000 1,000 Russian SFSR 975,000 107,000 11 Finland 2,000 1 Denmark 52 0.6<1 Total 8,861,800 5,933,900 67