Transcript A crematoria oven where the corpses of prisoners were burned in

World War II
European Theater of War
Adolf Hitler
• In defiance of
Versailles Treaty,
Hitler rebuilds military
• Plans to recapture
territory lost in WWI
• Accused Jews of
polluting the Aryan
master race
Germany Under Hitler
• 1936, Germans march
into the Rhineland
(western border)
• 1938, Anschluss,
annexation of Austria
• 1939 took
Czechoslovakia
• 1939 marched through
Poland, causing France
and Britain to declare war
on Germany
• 1940 smashed through Denmark and
Norway
• 1940 invaded the Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg, and France
• France surrendered and installed a
government at Vichy that collaborated with
Nazis
• Poised to invade Britain.
Winston Churchill
Britain’s new Prime Minister
Battle of Britain
• 1940, relentless bombing of Britain,
• Britain is successful, partly due to
technology in radar, and the ability to
decipher Germany’s top-secret military
codes
• first major defeat for Germany
Soviet Union
• Unable to
overpower
Britain, Hitler
launched a
surprise attack
on the Soviet
Union
The largest military operation in
human history
in both manpower and casualties
• Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers
invaded the USSR along an 1,800 mi
front.
• 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000
horses
Stalin
• US extends Lend-Lease
to Soviet Union
• Stalin demands that the
US and Britain open a
second front against
Germany in France
• They are not ready,
causing deep resentment
from Stalin
U-boats
• German U-boats repeated tactics of World
War I, trying to starve and isolate Britain In
1941-42
• Patrolled Atlantic Coast
– Sank 4,700 merchant vessels and almost 200
warships
– Killed 40,000 allied sailors
North African Campaign
• Allies opted to
strike in
Mediterranean
rather than
western
France as
Stalin wanted
Benito Mussolini
Italy
• July, 1943, Allies landed 160,000 troops in
Sicily;
• Italian troops withdrew to Mainland
• Mussolini was deposed, and Italian
government surrendered.
• Germans sent reinforcements and took
Rome.
• By spring 1943,
Allies had
defeated
Germany in
North Africa,
allowing for
invasion of Italy
442nd
• The 442nd fought (all
Japanese-Americans)
with distinction in
Italy, southern
France, and
Germany, becoming
the most highly
decorated regiment in
the history of the US
armed forces,
including 21 medal of
honor recipients.
“Operation Overlord”
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D-Day, June 6, 1944
Largest amphibious assault in history
175,000 troops landed
195,000 troops involved
over 5,000 ships
D-day
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
• Dec 16, 1944-Jan 31, 1945
• 70,000 allied soldiers killed including more
Americans than in any other battle of the
war
• Nazis lost 100,000.
• the “bulge” being the initial incursion the
Germans put into the Allies' line of
advance
The Final Solution
Holocaust
Displaced Jews
• 1938, in the Anschluss, thousands of Austrian
Jews attempted to emigrate to the US. They
were turned away.
• In 1939, legislation was introduced to grant
20,000 German Jewish children asylum in the
US. The bill was defeated.
• Of the millions of Jews in Europe, only 150,000
were admitted to the US before entry into the
war. After the war began, vastly fewer were
admitted.
Requirements to leave Germany, 1937
• Passport
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Certificate from the local police noting the formal
dissolution of residence in Germany
• Certificate from the Reich Ministry of Finance approving
emigration, which required:
– Payment of an emigration tax of 25 percent on
total assets valued at more than 50,000 R M.
--This tax came due upon the dissolution of German
residence.
– Submission of an itemized list of all gifts made to
third parties since January 1, 1931.
--If their value exceeded 10,000 R M, they were
included in the calculation of the emigration tax.
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Payment of a capital transfer tax of 25 percent
(levied only on Jews) of assets in addition to the
emigration tax.
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Certification from the local tax office that there were
no outstanding taxes due.
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Certification from a currency exchange office that all
currency regulations had been followed. An
emigrant was permitted to take 2,000 R M or less in
currency out of the country. Any remaining assets
would be transferred into blocked bank accounts
with restricted access.
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Customs declaration, dated no earlier than three
days before departure, permitting the export of
itemized personal and household goods. This
declaration required:
– Submission of a list, in triplicate, of all personal
and household goods accompanying the e m i grant
stating their value. The list had to note items
acquired before January 1, 1933,
those acquired since January 1, 1933, and those
acquired to facilitate emigr a t i o n .– Documents
attesting to the value of personal and household
goods, and written explanations for the necessity of
taking them out of the country.
– Certification from a currency exchange office
permitting the export of itemized personal and
household goods, dated no earlier than 14 days
before departure.
With the preceding documents, emigrants could
leave Germany, if and only if they had valid travel
arrangements and entrance visas for another
country.
After the union of Germany and Austria in March
1938, emigrants from Austria holding an Austrian
passport had to apply for a German exit visa before
they were permitted to leave the country.
World Jewish Congress
• Reported Hitler’s “final solution” that Jews
and other “undesirables”—old people and
children, homosexuals, Gypsies, and
religious or political dissenters—were
systematically being killed and cremated.
• Requested Allies to bomb the
concentrations camps and the trains
leading to them.
Excuses
• US officials in the State Department and
the military said the claims were
exaggerations.
Ravensbrueck concentration camp
Genocide that became known as
The Holocaust
Bergen-Belsen
• Pile of shoes
• Survivors at liberation
A crematoria oven where the
corpses of prisoners were
burned in Bergen-Belsen
Varian Fry
1942
• The New Republic published “The
Massacre of the Jews of Europe”
by Varian Fry. It got very little
notice.
Yalta
• February 1945
• Churchill, Stalin and
Roosevelt met
secretly at Yalta, a
Russian resort town
on the Black Sea