1. The Holocaust
Chapter 32, Section 3

2. The Holocaust Begins
Hitler knowingly tapped into a hatred for Jews that had deep roots in European history.
Jews were made scapegoats for
Governmental failures
The poor economy
Germany’s defeat in World War I
Government policies targeted Jews
1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of citizenship and made it illegal to marry a Jew. Other laws limited the work of Jews.

3. “Night of Broken Glass”
Germany launched a violent attack on the Jewish community on November 9, This attack was carried out by the SA (storm troopers) and SS, who attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues. This night was called Kristallnacht.
267 synagogues were destroyed, along with 7,000 Jewish businesses.
At least 90 Jews were murdered, and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

4. Burning Synagogue on Kristallnacht

5. A Flood of Refugees
By the end of 1939, a number of German Jews had fled to other countries.
At first, Hitler favored emigration as a solution to what he called “the Jewish problem.”
After admitting tens of thousands of Jewish refugees, France, Britain, and the United States abruptly closed their doors to further immigration.

6. Isolating the Jews
Hitler then ordered Jews in all countries under his control to be moved to designated cities called ghettos.
After 1941, all Jews in German controlled areas had to wear a yellow Star of David patch (pictured).

7. The “Final Solution”
By July 1941, Hitler’s regime had adopted The Final Solution, a genocide plan to systematically kill all of Europe’s Jewish population.
Hitler wanted to purify the “Aryan” race.
He tried to eliminate other groups he viewed as “subhuman.”
Roma (gypsies), Poles, Russians
People with mental or physical disabilities
The elderly and incurably ill
Homosexuals

9. The Killings Begin
As the Nazis moved across Europe the SS killing squads rounded up men, women, children, and even babies and shot them in pits where they were buried.
Other Jews were sent to concentration camps where they were used as slave labor.
Inmates would work seven days a week for the SS or for German businesses. Food consisted of thin soup, scraps of bread, and potato peelings.

10. The Final Stage
In 1942 the Germans built huge exterminations camps equipped with gas chambers that could kill as many as 6,000 people in a day.
Committees of Nazi doctors separated the strong (mostly men) from the weak (women, children, and elderly). The weak went to their deaths in the gas chambers the same day they arrived.
The victims were told to undress and head into the gas chambers, which they were told were showers. Cyanide gas from Zyklon B granules came through the fake showerheads.
After they had been killed, the bodies of the victims were stripped of all valuable items and burned.

11. Auschwitz

12. Zyklon B granules on display at Auschwitz
Empty Zyklon B canisters found by the Allies at Auschwitz at the end of World War II
Zyklon B granules on display at Auschwitz

13. This wheeled table helped transport the bodies of the gassed victims to the ovens for cremation.

14. A mountain of shoes taken from Auschwitz victims

15. A bin of wedding bands discovered at Auschwitz

16. The Survivors The first concentration camp was liberated in July 1944
As the allied advanced, German soldiers attempted to destroy the camps in order to hide evidence of the killings
Auschwitz was liberated in January Out of over 1 Million people sent to the camp, only 7,500 were found alive.
About six million European Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
Some Jews were helped by non-Jews who risked there lives, hid Jews in their homes, and helped them escape to neutral countries.
Less than four million European Jews survived.

17. Jews Killed Under Nazi Rule*
Original Jewish Population
Jews Killed
Percent Surviving
Poland
3,300,000
2,800,000
15%
Soviet Union (area occupied by Germans)
2,100,000
1,500,000
29%
Hungary
404,000
200,000
49%
Romania
850,000
425,000
50%
Germany/Austria
270,000
210,000
22%
*Estimates Source: Hannah Vogt, The Burden of Guilt