Transcript Powerpoint
Holocaust Background Anne Frank Unit Hitler’s Rise to Power • World War I (1914-1918) is a disaster for Germany • They enter the war as the strongest nation in the world; at the end they lose everything. • Germans though the war was lost due to internal treason because the government hid the truth about the war. • 80% of all men in Germany between the ages of 18-30 were killed, maimed, or “shell-shocked” during WWI Treaty of Versailles • Treaty of Versailles- the peace treaty that ends WWI 1. Limit army- German army can not have more than 100,000 men. 2. No manufacture of items needed for war (tanks, guns, etc.) 3. Germany must make reparation payments. Results of Treaty • Germans hated this treaty because it blamed Germany for WWI. • Treaty resulted in anger, revolts, and Germany felt humiliated Postwar Conditions in Germany • • • • High Inflation Unemployment Great political unrest and rioting Jewish people were blamed for Treaty of Versailles (scapegoats) Adolf Hitler • Born April 20,1889 in Austria • Austrians speak German • Not a German citizen until 1930 • Dropped out of school at age 16 • Wants to be an artist-fails entry exam at Vienna Academy of Fine Arts Adolf Hitler • Did not hold a permanent job • Joined German army in WWI and served as a message runner (a dangerous position) • Wounded twice during the war • Reached rank of corporal 1919 • National Socialist German Workers Party = NAZI Anti-democratic Racist against Jews Nationalistic- believe their country is the best • Nazi party was formed by 7 members who met in beer halls 1920-Hitler joins to find meaning in his life 1924 • Beer Hall Putsch (takeover) • Met in beer hall, planned armed rebellion to take over Germany and put in their own president • Hitler goes to prison for treason for 5 years • Used the publicity of the trial to preach Nazi ideas and compromises Mein Kampf • While in prison Hitler writes Mein Kampf, or “my struggle,” about his life and Nazi philosophy • Introduces the idea of a master race • Sells millions of copies • By 1933 it outsells all books except the Bible • December 20- Yuletide Amnesty- all prisoners set free • Hitler only serves 10 months of a 5 year term 1925-1929 o 1925- only 27,000 dues-paying members in Nazi party • 1928- 4 times that number even though government banned the party because of Beer Hall Putsch • 1929-Great Depression in USA caused depression in Germany o 1930: 30% of Germans unemployed 20% of Germans under-employed • Hitler tells people they were betrayed by Jewish bankers and moneylenders The Depression was the single greatest reason for Hitler’s rise to power (people were vulnerable and fearful) Hitler set up soup kitchens, hired his own troops, and bought a national newspaper 1933 • January 20- Hitler is elected Chancellor (vicepresident) of Germany under Hindenburg • Tears up the Treaty of Versailles • February 27- Reichstag Fire-claims Communists are attacking the government (inspires fear into the German people) • March 24- Enabling Act- gave Hitler legal dictatorship; allows him to pass laws without legislature • People lose freedom of speech, press, and civil rights; can only agree with Nazi ideas 1933 • Ignores Treaty of Versailles • Hitler creates jobs and brings people out of the depression • Because he is able to restore the economy, people love him • Two powerful weapons: appeal to Anti-Semitism and charismatic personality, great speaker • Dachau- builds first concentration camp for political prisoners (people who break Nazi laws) • Begins removing rights: people need to register as Jews, boycott of Jewish shops 1934 • August 2- President Paul von Hindenburg dies; Hitler takes over powers of presidency • Office of presidency is now eliminated; Hitler becomes dictator of Germany • Army swears allegiance to him • Germany is now a police state • Begins murdering mentally challenged and the ill Nuremberg Laws • Nuremberg Laws- laws of race and citizenship against the Jews No Jew could be a citizen No Jew could marry a non-Jew No Jew could hold position or job in military, universities, or government Not welcome to see doctors or lawyers Could only shop in Jewish stores 1937 • Hitler goes to war • Hitler invades Austria on basis that all German-speaking countries were one country. • Hitler’s expansion could have stopped at this point if Britain, France, and the USA had intervened because Hitler did not have the military power to pull it off. 1938 • (July) Evian Conference- 42 countries met abut Jewish immigrants. They waited for the U.S. to decide to take Jews in- only 26,000 Jews were allowed in. • Munich Pact- signed September 30, 1938 • Meeting held between Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Neville Chamberlain (England), and Daladier (France): agreed to give the German-speaking part of Czechoslovakia to Germany • Tried to appease Hitler and avoid war 1938- Kristallnacht • November 7= Kristallnacht ( Night of Broken Glass) • An organized pogrom against Jews (mass violence, homes and businesses destroyed, synagogues destroyed, Jews beaten) • Turning point in the extermination of the Jews Images of Kristallnacht 1939 • Jews were forced to carry ID cards, they were rounded up and sent to ghettos • August 23- Germany and Russia sign a nonaggression pact- they will divide Poland between them • September 1- Invade Poland, which has a large Jewish population and no army • WWII begins World War II Allies • England (never conquered) • France (conquered in 1940) Axis • • • • Germany Japan (fights in Pacific) Italy Russia 1939 • Basis for “Final Solution” begins • Hitler issues sterilization laws • Practiced gassing in vans- people learned to be desensitized to this type of killing and were brain-washed into believing they were doing the right thing • Hitler called this a “scientifically clean, productive way of killing” • Targeted victims included political leaders and religious leaders of opposing groups 1940 “Final Solution” • Hitler conquers Holland, Belgium, and France • “Final Solution” begins to get rid of all Jews • Concentration camps were created (considered labor camps as opposed to death camps, but food and living conditions were inhumane and people, of course, did die • 6 specific death camps created- all in Poland, did not want them in Germany because of task of burying the dead, too much bloodshed, and growing of new crops might be affected Concentration Camps (Poland) • • • • • • 1. Auschwitz- Birkenau 2. Belzec 3. Chelmno 4. Maidanek 5. Sobibor 6. Treblinka 1941 • June 21, 1941: Germany invades the Soviet Union • Hitler saw the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union as a temporary, tactical maneuver • Nazi troops annihilate entire villages of Russian Jews • Stalin (Russian leader) joins the Allies in the war (only country to fight for both sides) Pearl Harbor • December 7, 1941 • Day of Infamy • Japanese attack Pearl Harbor • Lasts 10 minutes 7:558:05 am • December 7- USA declares war on Japan • December 11- US declares war on Germany (last country to enter the war Wannsee Conference • January 20, 1942 • Meeting between the SS and the German government agencies • Come up with “Final Solution” to murder 11 million Jews, even in non-occupied countries of Ireland, Sweden, Turkey, and Great Britain • Plan to murder them all in death camps • German resources are depleted from war effort; German citizens suffering and starving D-Day • June 6, 1944 • USA and Allies land in Europe on Normandy Beach (France) • Known as D-Day • Major step in the defeat of the Axis powers 1945 • Hitler and close officers had been holed up in underground bunkers in Berlin • April 30- Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide together- bodies burned to prevent recognition • Hitler was 56 • Russians secretly had bodies exhumed VE Day • May 7- VE day- Victory in Europe- when Germany surrendered and WWII ended in Europe! • August 6 and 9- USA drops the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan • August 14- Japan surrenders and WAR IS OVER!!!! Important Leaders during WWII • • • • • • • England- Winston Churchill USA- Franklin Roosevelt (through most of WWII) USA- Harry Truman (at the end of WWII) Italy- Benito Mussolini Russia- Joseph Stalin Japan- Emperor Hirohito Germany- Adolf Hitler