1. Timeline of the Holocaust
Nazism in Action

2. Why was Hitler popular?
Hitler tore up the Treaty of Versailles and blamed the Treaty for Germany’s problems.
Through rearmament and government programmes, Hitler created jobs in a time of economic Depression.
Creating a powerful myth of German history gave people something to be proud of.
And finding a scapegoat - the Jews - simplified the challenges facing Germany.

3. Finding someone to blame
Building on a tradition of anti-Semitism, Hitler outlined his version of Jewish history in Germany in Mein Kampf.
As the Nazis consolidated their power, definitions of what made a person Jewish were further refined.

4. The steps to genocide: 1933
The first camps were set up: Dachau concentration camp near Munich, then Buchenwald near Weimar in central Germany, and Ravensbrück for women.
Jewish shops were first boycotted.
The Nazis became the only legal party.
Criminals, the homeless, the unemployed and alcoholics could be sent to concentration camps.
Those seen as physically or mentally inferior were sterilized.

5. The Nuremburg Laws: 1935
Anyone with three Jewish grandparents was a full Jew and so lost their citizenship and any protection of the law.
Jews faced persecution from the trivial (not allowed at cinemas) to the life-changing (Jewish doctors may no longer practise).
Jews had to wear a yellow star at all times.
Many more modifications to these laws were passed over the years, further isolating the Jewish population.

6. The steps to genocide: 1938
Jews over 15 were forced to get identity cards that could be demanded at any moment (“Papiere!”)
Kristalnacht (Night of the Broken Glass)

7. What did the rest of the world do? 1939
The St. Louis was sent back to Europe after seeking shelter in several countries.
Hitler invaded Poland and took over within two weeks.
Poland had the largest population of Jews in Europe (3.5 million).

8. The steps to genocide: 1940-41
Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.
Racial laws were implemented in countries that fell to Germany’s blitzkrieg.
Jews were forced into ghettos that systematically became smaller and more squalid.
“Aktions” were taken against the Jews in the ghettoes.

9. The steps to genocide: 1942
A meeting at Wannssee set out the “Final Solution”.
Death camps were set up in Poland.

10. The steps to genocide: 1943
After thousands of deaths and several “round ups”, Jews in the Warsaw ghetto rebelled.
By May the entire ghetto was destroyed.
Bodies at concentration camps were burned after more than a million people were killed.

11. The Final Solution in action
Trains came with Jews from all over Europe to the death camps in Poland.
“Selection” separated those who could work from those to be sent to the gas chambers.
Belongings of Jews were confiscated, sorted and sent to Germany.
Disease, malnutrition and random violence were constant.
Once the Germans realized they were losing the war, inmates were forced on death marches into Germany.
Attempts were made to “cover the evidence” by blowing up crematoria, but the Germans were too efficient at keeping records.

12. The end: 1945
In January Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz, where million people were killed.

13. The result? 60 million people died in World War II.
Of these, 11 million died in German death camps.
2/3 of all European Jews, or 6 million, were killed.
The words “Holocaust” and “genocide” are used because it was a policy of extermination of an entire group of people.

14. Something to think about
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- 
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- 
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.