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The
Holocaust
“Those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it…”
What was The Holocaust?
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The Holocaust refers to a specific event in 20th century history where six
million Jews were killed by the Nazi regime and their collaborators as a
central act of state during World War II. As well, five million Romani, Sinti,
African-Germans, homosexuals, mentally challenged, and others were
murdered by the Nazis.
How it started
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Adolf Hitler and the Nazi
party came to power
1933 – 9 million Jews lived
in 21 European countries
that would become
occupied by Germany
during WWII
By 1945 2 out of 3 Jews
would be dead
Who was Adolf Hitler?
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Served in German army during
WWI in the front lines (decorated
for bravery)
Became involved in politics and
tried to seize power by force
(crushed by police 1923)
Served time for high treason and
then rose to power legitimately
Hatred of Jews
Worked to rid Germany of
Versailles Treaty
Started WWII invaded Poland
Other figures in Nazi Regime
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Henrich Himmler – SS leader/Chief of German police – responsible for
implementing the Final Solution
Josef Mengele – ruthless/cruel doctor that conducted medical
experiments on Jews
Julius Streicher – Earliest/loyal supporter of Hitler, propaganda publisher
“The Stormer”
Under the Nazis…
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12, 000, 000 people, half of them Jews were murdered by the Germans
because of hatred and the belief they were inferior
These people were killed by: shooting, starvation, disease, gas, torture,
and medical experiments
Who was targeted?
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Jews
People with mental/physical
disabilities
Gypsies
Political/religious
(Catholics/Jehovah
Witnesses) dissidents,
Socialists, Trade Unionists,
Homosexuals, Communists
The Holocaust had two main phases
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Phase I 1933-1939
Saw Jews, Gypsies, People
with handicaps as serious
threat to purity of German
“master race”
Hatemongering propaganda
– blaming Jews for
Germany’s economic
depression and defeat in
WWI
New Laws enacted against Jews
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Forced to quit civil service
jobs, boycott Jewish
businesses
Stripped of citizenship
(Nuremburg Laws)
Segregated – no public
school, cinemas, vacation
resorts, or even walking in
certain German cities
Took over Jewish businesses
Band intermarriages
Kristallnacht 1938
“The night of broken glass”
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Organized riot of
physical destruction
of Jewish
synagogues, arrest
of Jews, destroying
of Jewish homes and
murders
First Organized Round up…
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Began after
Kristallnacht of
German/Austrian Jews
30, 000 Jewish men
were sent to Dachau and
other concentration
camps with several 100
Jewish women sent to
prison
Phase I – Possibility of fleeing dims
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During phase I approx. 1, 500, 000 Jews rounded up and shot
Emphasis changing to extermination camps (murdered in gas chambers),
concentration camps (where prisoners worked to death as slave labour)
Jews attempting to flee to other areas (Palestine, Latin America, other European
countries)
Others hindered by lack of money, unable to obtain visas/sponsors, or unwilling
to uproot selves
Phase II 1939 - 1945
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September 1, 1939 Germany
invades Poland – the beginning
of WWII
Hitler orders mass executions –
creation of mobile killing sites –
Most famous: Babi Yar where 33,
000 people killed, mostly Jews
Creation of Ghettos – confined
spaces for Jews, & labour camps
in addition to concentration
camps “Night and Fog Decree”
Executions
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Jewish men dig own
graves before being
executed as SS and
German labour service
look on
Last Jew on edge of
grave before execution
Star of David
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September 1, 1941 – Jews ordered
to wear the yellow star
6 point star created from two
interlocking triangles – each
point represents trust in God, his
rule over the universe and all six
directions (N, S, E, W, & up/down)
All Jews over 10 years of age had
to wear the star – it served as a
marker, isolation, failing to wear
the star meant certain death
The Final Solution
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1942-1944 – Elimination of ghettos as residents deported to
concentration/extermination camps
January 1942 – Decision to implement The Final Solution – a formal German state
policy to exterminate the Jews
Final Solution was carried out by the SS and the Gestapo
Killing Sites
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1. Belzec
2. Sobibor
3. Treblinka
4. Chelmo
5. Majdanek
6. Auschwitz - Birkenau
Sites chosen because close
to rail line and rural
Statistics – Killing Sites
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Belzec – 600, 000 gassed (May 1942)
Sobibor – 200, 000 (May ’42-Oct.’43)
Treblinka – 750, 000 (July ’42-Nov. ’43)
Auschwitz-Bikenau – mass murder daily routine – 1.25 million killed (9/10 Jews)
“The road to Auschwitz was built by
hate, but paved by indifference.”
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Main camp gate to
Auschwitz
Motto: “Arbeit Macht
Frei” meaning “Work
Makes us Free”
The Barrack City
Murder Methods
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Arrived by rail from across
Europe
Men & women separated
Forced to undress and pass
over valuables
Sent to gas chambers
disguised as shower rooms
Small minority selected for
labour (exposed to
malnutrition, hard labour,
disease, & medical
experiments)
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Boys imprisoned in
Auschwitz look out
beyond barbed wire
Approx. 40, 000 Polish
children kidnapped and
imprisoned for slave
labour
Gas Chambers
(Last gas chamber used in Auschwitz – October30, 1944)
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Zyklon B pellets (Hydrocyanic
acid) – vaporizes when exposed
to air, intended as
insecticide/disinfectant
Found could kill humans through
experimentation
Disguised shower rooms as gas
chambers (air tight) pellets
dropped through air shaft
Bitter almond smell, deprived
body of oxygen
Left blue residue still inside
intact gas chambers
Stash of gold wedding rings taken
from victims at Buchenwald
Thousands of shoes taken from
prisoners before their death
Clothing from children gassed at Auschwitz
By February ’43 800 boxcars of confiscated goods left Auschwitz
Cremation oven
Mass graves
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Crematorium ovens in
Buchenwald
concentration camp
Soldiers view pile of
cremated remains
outside crematorium in
Buchenwald
Starvation and disease due to
deplorable conditions in the camps
Famous Photo – Tsvi Nussbaum
Famous Diary – Anne Frank
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Captures essence of the
horrors of the Holocaust
Warsaw 1943, a little Jewish
boy raises his arms in
surrender with lowered eyes
as a Nazi soldier trains his
machine gun on him
What happened to him?
Anne Frank – hid from
Germans, betrayed and died
in concentration camp –
father published her diary
Resistance
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Pockets of resistance
existed
White Rose – group of
university students opposed
to Nazis, leaflets on views,
leaders executed
Oskar Schindler – set up
business employing Jews,
prevented their departure to
camps, protection through
bribery of Nazis
The end of the war in view…
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1944 War turning in
favour of Allies
Germans attempt to
cover actions
“Death Marches”
bringing Jews into
camps within Germany
to prevent liberation
1945 Nazi Germany
collapsed
What happened to the Jews after the
Holocaust?
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Hundreds of thousands homeless seeking a new life
Many wished to return to Palestine
(only 10, 000 allowed)
Sought remnants of families/fate of family and friends
Many started new lives in Britain, U.S., France, Israel, etc.
Canada and The Holocaust
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Canada’s record of accepting Jewish refugees one of the poorest
1939 – 1945 – only 5, 000 Jewish immigrants allowed into Canada,
compared to the U.S. – 200, 000 or Britain – 195, 000
Requests previously often denied
Famous Quote
Martin Niemoller 1892 - 1984
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“First they came for the Communists, but I was
not a Communist, so I did not speak out; they
came for the Socialists and the Trade
Unionists, but I was not one of them, so I did not
speak out; Then they came for the Jews, but I
was not Jewish, so I did not speak out. And
when they came for me, there was no one left to
speak out for me.”
May History never repeat itself…
May their voice never be silenced