Transcript Holocaust - Fort Thomas Independent Schools

Holocaust
1933-1945
Before Hitler
• Before Hitler, Germany was not overtly anti-semitic.
Most people got along well within their small
communities.
• Minorities were generally not persecuted
• It was not until Hitler’s message of hate that Germans
started to distinguish “differences”.
• Note: Judaism was not (and is not) a race. Hitler
made it a race to justify persecution of Jewish peoples
and denote them as different
Life Before Hitler
1933 Hitler was appointed
Chancellor
• After he legally came to
power he waited for the
opportune moment to take
over the government.
• In 1933 there was a fire in the
main building of the
government (Reichstag) and
Hitler used this as an excuse
to blame “those working
against the government”
• He suspended all civil
liberties and took complete
control of the government (for
the “protection” of Germany)
• To make sure everyone was
conforming to Hitler’s new
rules, new laws were passed
Boycott of Jewish
Businesses
Burning of non-Nazi Books
Arrests of Enemies of the State
• Enemies included:
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Jews
Communists
Gypsies
Homosexuals
• This list also came to include those who would
“weaken” the German race, ie. the physically
and mentally handicapped
Enforcers of Hitler’s Laws
• SS Troops
• Gestapo
• H.J. (Hitler Youth)
Everyday Germans also helped
to support Hitler’s regime
1935 Nuremburg Laws
• Separated Aryans from
non-Aryans
– Restricted lives of nonGerman citizens (especially
those that did not have 4
German, non-Jewish
Grandparents)
– Jews forced to wear yellow
stars
– Marriage was not allowed
between Jews and nonJews
– Jewish business were
further boycotted and even
closed
Nuremburg Laws cont.
1938 Kristallnacht
• Massive violence against
Jews included:
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Destruction of property
Murders
Beatings
Arrests
• Costs millions in damage and
Jews were expected to pay
for it
• Enacted to encourage Jews to
leave Germany
• Many tried to, but very few
were able to get out.
1939 WWII Begins
• With each
country that Hitler
took over, all
“non-desirables”
were rounded-up
and disposed of.
• Many were sent
to Ghettos and
later to
concentration
camps.
1940 Ghettos
• Ghettos were built all over Germany and
Eastern Europe as temporary holding
locations for Jews until a solution of what
to do with them was agreed upon.
• Ghettos were usually in areas of towns
that the Jewish community already lived
in, they were just confined there now.
• Those that did not already live in a Jewish
community were “relocated” to the ghettos.
Relocation
Greek Ghetto
Polish Ghetto (Lodz)
Warsaw Ghetto (largest ghetto)
Lithuania Ghetto (Kovno)
1941
• Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing
units)
– Followed behind advancing
German armies liquidating
“undesirables” from conquered
towns (mostly Jews)
– Many of those doing the killing
were not officially German
military, they were “average”
people being swept up by the
fervor of the Nazis and turning on
their neighbors.
• U.S. joins the war in the end of
1941
1942 Wannsee Conference
• German officials
decided on the “Final
Solution”
• Gassing at certain
concentration camps
began as an efficient
method of
extermination
Concentration Camps
Gas
Chambers
Auschwitz-Birkenau 1941-44
1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
• Jews in one of the
largest Ghettos
fought back against
the Germans.
Though almost all
died, they did try to
defend themselves.
• The Germans were
infuriated because
the Jews were
successful at holding
them back for 1
month!
1944 - 1945
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D-Day
Soviets begin moving into Germany
Many camps are discovered and liberated
Nazis retreated from the Soviets and Allies.
They began to destroy evidence:
– Mass murder of prisoners
– Death Marches = evacuation of other camps to
interior camps
• End of 1945 – Germany surrenders = V-E Day!
– Full evil of the Nazis discovered
Death Marches
Liberation of Camps
Innocent
Victims
Between 8-12
Million people were
executed. This is
referred to as
THE HOLOCAUST