1. THE HOLOCAUST

2. “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.” - Pastor Martin Niemoller

3. Holocaust: sacrifice consumed by fire; complete destruction of people by fire Hebrew term shoah = catastrophe Genocide: intentional destruction of a specific demographic group (race, religion, political ideology, class…)

4. Hitler on Genocide: “Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughter- with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state. It’s a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European civilization will say about me. I have issued the command- and I’ll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by firing squad- that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formations in readiness- for the present only in the East- with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

5. Jewish People as a Scapegoat Racism: Hitler & Nazis tried to create a “master race” Anti-Semitism: discrimination directed towards Jewish people; seen as root of Germany’s problems; scapegoated

6. (1935) Nuremberg Laws progressively took rights away from Jewish people The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor - prohibited marriages between Jewish & non-Jewish Germans - prohibited employment of German females in Jewish homes The Reich Citizenship Law - stripped non-Germans of their citizenship Later Laws - defined Jewish people as people with at least 1 Jewish grandparent - prohibited Jewish people from holding public office & voting - banned Jewish people from many occupations - changed the names of Jewish people with German sounding names - marked Jewish passports with a red “J”

7. (Nov 9-10, 1938) Kristallnacht “Night of Broken Glass”

8. Kristallnacht  Young Jewish refugee Herschel Grynszpan shot & killed a German diplomat in Paris after his father & 10,000 other Jewish people were deported to Poland  Hitler ordered the Nazis to stage attacks against the Jewish population that would appear as a spontaneous popular German reaction to news of the murder  Jewish homes, businesses & synagogues destroyed; 91 Jewish people killed; 30,000 rounded up & taken to camps

13. Gestapo Nazi Secret Police Joseph Goebbels Propaganda Minister

14. The Poisonous Mushroom "Just as it is often hard to tell a toadstool from an edible mushroom, so too it is often very hard to recognize the Jew as a swindler and criminal…”

15. How the Jews Came to Us "Just look at these guys! The louse-infested beards! The filthy, protruding ears..."

16. The Experience of Hans and Else with a Strange Man "Here, kids, I have some candy for you. But you both have to come with me..."

17. Inge's Visit to a Jewish Doctor "Two criminal eyes flashed behind the glasses and the fat lips grinned."

18. Jewish Refugees (1933-39) 350,000 Jewish people escaped 100,000 visa applications backlogged at US embassy in Germany 3,000 Jewish people of Austrian descent applied for US visas

19. Factors Limiting Immigration - Jewish refugees could take very little $ out of Germany - Many countries refused Jewish immigrants - (1939) SS St. Louis refused entry in Havana, Cuba & the US; 930 refugees forced to return to Europe

20. Jewish Ghettos -Nazis forced the Jewish population into >400 ghettos to isolate & control them -Warsaw Ghetto was Poland’s largest; 450,000 Jewish people lived in 1.3 sq. mi. - fed <10% normal food ration; many starved to death

24. The Final Solution Nazi plan to exterminate the Jewish people more efficiently -build camps (mostly in Poland, out of sight of Germans) - use RR to transport victims to camps

25. Concentration Camps started out as detention centers for political prisoners became labor camps; many died of exhaustion, starvation, disease…

26. Extermination Camps - death camps where people unfit for labor were sent - gas chambers & crematoriums used as killing machines Auschwitz - located in Poland - 100,000 prisoners held in 300 prison barracks - gas chambers killed 2,000 at a time, 12,000/day - 3-4 million killed here alone

31. Holocaust Statistics -6 million Jewish people killed (2/3 European Jewish population) -6 million non-Jewish people killed (homosexuals, disabled, Roma) Post-Holocaust -(1948) Israel created as a homeland for Jewish people -(1948-51) 700,000 Jewish people emigrated to Israel -many others emigrated to the US & elsewhere -criticism of US & others for not taking action: could have targeted RR, threatened punishment, changed immigration laws… -justification for inaction: need to win the war first

32. (1945-46) Nuremberg Trials - Hitler, Goebbels & Himmler (in charge of the camps) had all committed suicide before the trials - 22 Nazi leaders were prosecuted for atrocities - 12 sentenced to death; 6 imprisoned (10 years to life) - led to support for the Genocide Convention & Geneva Conventions (rules of war)