The Holocaust

The systemic murder of European Jews & Undesirables by Nazis About 6 million Jews were killed by the end of WWII

Undesirables 5 to 6 million others were killed: Homeless Gypsies Homosexuals Physically / mentally handicapped Political dissenters

Mid 1800s Theories developed that Aryans were superior to Middle Eastern people While many rejected these views, some used them to justify persecution

Anti-Semitism Is the prejudice, discrimination, and hatred of Jews as a national, ethnic, religious, or racial group

Nazi Policy 1933: when Nazi party took control of German’s government, anti-Semitism became the official policy of the nation

The Nazi Party in Power SA: in charge of silencing opposition and eliminating “enemies of the party”

The Nazi Party in Power SS: elite guard that served as the Nazi party’s private army responsible for all matters of security and racial policy within Germany. In addition to controlling the police, the SS developed, administered and controlled the Nazi concentration camp system

The Nazi Party in Power Gestapo: Secret state police that identified & pursued those who did not follow the Nazi laws Prior to the war, they wore plain clothes and were tasked with spying and rooting out enemies of the state!

The Nazis take Action Germans were encouraged to stop going to Jewish businesses Nazi propaganda works to create a negative image of the Jewish population

“Here my little one, you get something very sweet, but as reward you both must come with me.”

“Whenever you see a crucifix, think of the horrible murder of Jesus by the Jews.”

Nuremburg Laws Passed 1935 Strip Jewish Germans of their citizenship

Nuremburg Laws (cont.) Forbid marriage between Jews and non-Jews Jewish doctors banned from treating non-Jews

The white circles denote ‘German blood’, the black circles Jewish Everyone categorized as fully Jewish was stripped of their German citizenship, disenfranchised, and forbidden to marry or to have sexual relations with Aryan Germans (gypsies and people of black ethnicity were treated by the same rules as Jews). Mischlings (part Jewish) were stripped of many of their rights and often denied job opportunities.

What the Nazis did: Required all Germans to carry an identity card Jews had a red letter “J” All given new middle names” Sarah for women Israel for men

In 1938, the Nazi attack on the Jews changed and became more violent Kristallnacht on 11 th November By 1939, half of Germany’s 500,000 Jews had emigrated to escape Nazi persecution.Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht (“Night of the Broken Glass”) November 9-10, 1939

Trying to Escape : about 130,000 Jews fled Germany Encouraged by Nazis to leave because it helped to achieve their plan Originally went to other European countries

Prelude to the Final Solution In 1939, Germany invaded Poland which had a much larger population of 3 million Jews. In 1941, Germany invaded Russia which had a population of 5 million Jews.

Change of Tactics: Heinrich Himmler sent four specially trained SS units into German occupied territory and shot at least 1 million Jews. 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.

Warm-up 10/21 Why did the Nazi’s target Jews for persecution and why was it successful?

Change of Tactics: Einsatzgruppen

The ‘Final Solution’ In January 1942, Himmler decided to change tactics once again and called a special conference at Wannsee. Decided that the methods were too inefficient and that a new ‘Final Solution’ was necessary.

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.’

How did the Nazi decide who was Jewish? If one of person’s parents was Jewish, then they were Jewish. If 3 of your grandparent’s were Jewish, you were Jewish It wasn’t about religion anymore, it was about race By 1940, all Jews had to wear the yellow Star of David on their jacket or coat.

Where were the Death Camps built? Why do you think that they located them here? The work of the Einsatzgruppen

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 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. 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.

Children Dying of Starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto

Liquidating the Ghettoes The Jews were transported in cattle cars in terrible conditions to the camps.

Naked, dirty and half starved people look like animals, which helped to reinforce the Nazi propaganda.

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.’

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

Auschwitz Orchestra

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

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 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 Gas Chambers

The outside of the Gas Chamber Notice the Ovens easy located near the Gas Chambers

Processing the bodies Specially selected Jews were used to remove the gold fillings and hair of people who had been gassed. They 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.

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

Barrier at end of the line – still remains Shoemakers Shop

Medical Experiments Medical experiments on prisoners Involving viruses and contagious diseases such as typhus In 1944, began a series of experiments that would "cure" homosexual inmates.

Those who escaped immediate death Men and women had their heads shaved Registration number tattooed on their arm Given only one set of clothes Held in crowded, unheated barracks Food was a thin, foul-tasting soup made of rotten vegetables

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. Some Germans helped Jews escape. In 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto, like many others revolted against the Nazis when the Jews realised what was really happening.

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

Excerpts from an interview with Alexander Aronowicz (Sasha) Pechersky Leader of the Sobibor revolt Soviet Union, 1980 In the beginning the communication was difficult, because the language problem. Soon we were able to understand each other without help. I informed her minutes before the escape of the plan. She has given me a shirt. She said, "it's a good luck shirt, put it on right now", and I did. It's now in the museum. I lost her in the turmoil of the revolt and never saw her again. Luka perished either in the break-out from the camp or in the forest, her fate has never been factually established, Pechersky tried to find her in the forest without success. Sobibor survivors Toivi Blatt and Sasha Pechersky (right)