Transcript The Holocaust

The Holocaust
1938-1945
Never forget.
Never again.
What is “a holocaust”?
an act of mass destruction
and loss of life (especially in
war or by fire); Example: "a
nuclear holocaust.”
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
The word origin is originally from
the Greek language, meaning “total
destruction by fire.”
What was “The Holocaust”?
The Holocaust was the
systematic, bureaucratic,
government-sponsored
persecution and murder of
approximately six million
Jews and six million other
Holocaust was the
minorities by the Nazi The
worst modern-day
genocide. Genocide means
regime and its
the murder of a specific
racial or ethnic group;
collaborators.
“ethnic cleansing.”
(United States Holocaust Museum)
What began the Holocaust?
Germany
experienced
a terrible
economic
depression
after losing
World War I
(1914-1918)
Treaty of Versailles: 1919
In addition to the billions of dollars Germany had already spent on
World War One, the Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to make
reparations (payments) to the allied countries and took away some of
Germany’s land. This impoverished Germany even further.
The Rise of the Nazi Party
The National Socialist
German Worker’s Party
(Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei) was a small political party
that gained power and influence by
promising to make Germany stronger and
more powerful than ever through hard
work, unswerving loyalty, and the creation
of a “racially pure” citizenry. Adolf
Hitler’s biography, Mein Kampf (My
Struggle) explained these ideas and its
publication helped the party gain more
influence. They gained control of
Germany in 1933.
Jews were easy scapegoats.
A scapegoat is someone who is blamed for someone’s
problem. In this case, the Jews were blamed for
Germany’s financial crisis. It seemed to the Nazi party
that the Jews were thriving financially while the rest of
Germany was having such hard times.
Anti-semitism (persecution of Jews) had raged
throughout Europe since Medieval times, so this was
nothing new. The Nazi party was able to gain power in
Germany by fanning the flames of anti-semitism that
had been smothered in recent years. They promised to
rebuild Germany and make it stronger than ever….but
first, they had to get rid of the people who were
weakening the country…the Jews.
Nuremberg Laws: The First Step
First written in 1935 in the
German city of Nuremberg,
these laws stripped Jews of
their citizenship rights. Jews
were no longer able to:
Nazi guards hold signs saying, “Germans! Protect yourselves!
Don’t buy from Jews!”
*marry non-Jews
*vote or run for political
office
*own businesses
*serve in the military
*attend school with gentiles
(non-Jews)
*go to restaurants or other
public places owned by
non-Jews.
*practice medicine or law
for non-Jews.
*drive cars and later, ride
bicycles.
And many others.
The Yellow Star
Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David on
their clothing whenever they appeared outside of their
homes. This identified them as Jews and subjected them
to scorn and discrimination by the public.
The Ghetto: the Next Step
The word “ghetto” has been around since medieval times in
Europe. It’s an enclosed area of a city where Jews were forced
to live. Hundreds of ghettos were set up in Nazi-dominated
countries, and Jews were forced to leave their homes and live in
these unsanitary, overcrowded places. Conditions were terrible
and people died by the hundreds daily. However, Jews set up
schools for children and tried to survive.
People smuggling food
into the Warsaw Ghetto.
Images from the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland
Nazi guards supervise.
Death by starvation and disease.
Overcrowded conditions,yet
trying to celebrate Passover and
maintain hope.
November
9–10, 1938
Kristallnacht
The Night of Broken Glass
The Nazi party was dissatisfied with the Nuremberg laws; they wanted to
send a stronger message to the Jews of Germany. On November 9, the
German government staged a 30-hour riot that attacked Jewish businesses and
synogogues.
In just a 30 hour time period:
267 synagogues were destroyed,
7,500 Jewish businesses were looted, and at least 91 people were killed.
They also vandalized Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes.
30,000 Jews were sent to Buchenwald, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen,
where hundreds died within weeks of arrival.
Aftermath of
Kristallnacht
A destroyed synagogue in Berlin
People being arrested during
Kristallnacht. You can see
buildings burning in the
background.
The Final Solution
After Kristallnacht, Hitler stepped up the violence and began his plan to
exterminate all the Jews of Europe. He set up concentration camps, many in
occupied Poland, to kill millions of Jews and other undesirables quickly, cheaply,
and efficiently. Most people were deported by cattle cars, a torturous experience
itself, where people were denied seats, food, water, light, restrooms, and were
packed in like sardines. Some didn’t survive the ride.
Children being deported to Chelmno
concentration camp.
People spilling out of cattle cars, weakened
and terrified by the journey.
Arrest of small child at
Warsaw Ghetto.
Deportion to
concentration camps.
“Work makes you free.” Slogan upon entering Auschwitz.
Auschwitz was the largest and most brutal of the camps; approx.
1 million of the 6 million Jews were murdered here.
Upon entering the
concentration camp,
the people were
separated into males
and females. Then,
both groups were
“selected”—for slave
labor, if healthy
enough, or for
immediate death if
too sick, too old, or
too young to work.
Selection
Mass Execution
(before the use of gas
chamber and
crematoriums)
Often, the prisoners
had to dig their own
graves just moments
before being killed.
A group of children selected for the gas chamber.
Medical Experiments
Dr. Josef Mengele and other medical doctors used concentration camp prisoners for
“medical” experimentation. These brutal experiments included injections into the
eyes to change color, amputations, burning and freezing skin, pressure chambers,
testing drugs, performing surgeries without anesthesia. Mengele was most interested
in twin studies and tortured many twin children. These people were put to death
afterwards so they would not reveal any information. Mengele was known as “The
Angel of Death” because of the power he held over so many people’s lives.
Gas Chambers and Crematoria
The Nazis were continually trying to find the least expensive and most
efficient manner of killing people and disposing of the bodies. The shootings
and mass graves were expensive, time consuming and messy so they invented
the gas chambers. Prisoners were marched into hermetically-sealed
chambers that looked like shower rooms. Instead of water, poison gas poured
from the openings. After the people in the chamber died, their bodies were
burned in the crematorium.
Modern day photos of gas chamber (left) and
crematorium (right) at Auschwitz museum.
Survivors often say that the smell of burning bodies
was a daily reminder of death in the camps.
Inside the Barracks
Aftermath
Other Minorities in the Holocaust
Gypsies (Roma) peoples
Homosexuals
People with physical or
mental disabilities
Jehovah’s Witnesses
German-Gypsy family at a
concentration camp.
Animated map of Europe
before, during, and after Nazi
domination.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/
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