Transcript World War II 1939 – 1945 – The Holocaust

World War II 1939 – 1945
The Holocaust
US II SOL 7 Rector
The Holocaust
What was the Holocaust?
• As the Allies fought
toward Berlin, they
discovered a shocking
and horrible sight.
• Scattered throughout
German-occupied
Europe were camps
where Jews and other
groups had been
murdered.
• It became known as the
Holocaust.
What was the Holocaust?
• The Holocaust is where the
Nazis killed about 6 million
Jewish people and over 5
million other groups of people
like Russians, Polish, and
Gypsies.
• Over 11 million people
were killed in all
The roots of the Holocaust
• Adolf Hitler’s intense racism (strong dislike and
prejudice) of the Jewish people.
• He blamed them for many problems Germany
was facing
• He said that Jews were inferior (lower) people.
• At first Hitler was only discriminating against the
Jews, but after the war began he set out to
murder every Jew under German rule.
What caused the Holocaust?
• Anti-Semitism – Hitler opposed to
or discriminating against Jews
• Aryan Supremacy – Hitler’s belief in
an Aryan master race
• Attempt to rid Europe of all Jews –
tactics were used to discriminate
against the Jewish people
Anti-Semitism
• This was the core of Hitler’s belief –
he discriminated against Jews
• The Jewish people were blamed for
many of Germany’s problems.
• Before the war began – Hitler
boycotting their stores, taking their
property, and discriminating against
them
Aryan Supremacy
• Hitler had a vision of an Aryan “Master
Race”
• The Aryans were a gentile (non-Jewish)
people of Northern European ancestry
• Hitler would rule Europe by enslaving or
eliminating Slavs, Jews, Gypsies, and
other “subhuman” (lesser) peoples.
The Systematic (Organized)
attempt to rid Europe of all Jews
• Once Hitler had conquered
much of Europe he took the
discrimination to another level
• Hitler’s “Final Solution” – called
for Jews and others to be killed
• Men, women, and children were
moved to death camps
(concentration camps) where
they were killed.
Tactics Against Jewish People
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Boycott
Threats
Segregation
Imprisonment
Concentration Camp
Example – Auschwitz
Over 6 million Jews
were executed in these
camps
Liberation of the Concentration
Camp
• In 1945 Allied troops
discovered and liberated
(freed) the camps
• Nazi leaders were brought to
trial
• Called The Nuremberg trials
• Many Nazi leaders were
sentenced to death and
others received prison time
Liberation of camps
Summary
Causes
• Anti-Semitism
• Aryan Supremacy
• Attempt to rid Europe of all Jews
Concentration Camps
• Death camps where Jewish, Poles, Russians,
Gypsies were sent to their death
• Millions were killed
• Allied forces liberated the camps as the war was
ending