Transcript WWII Background PP - holocaust

World War II
Background
Information
For The Diary of Anne Frank
The United States and World War II
• The United States was involved in
two fights: Europe and Japan…
• Pearl Harbor: Dec. 6, 1941
– Japanese planes attacked US fleet in
Hawaii
– 2000 US soldiers died
– 21 ships and 300 planes destroyed
The War With Japan
• Atomic Bomb: August 6 and 9, 1945
– US dropped bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
– killed 70,000-140,000 people
– 100,000 died from radiation
– Japan surrendered August 14th
• Japanese Internment Camps in the US
– thousands of distrusted JapaneseAmericans were moved
Allies
Axis
• United States
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• United
Kingdom
• Japan
• Soviet Union
Because we are
studying Anne
Frank’s diary,
let’s take a
closer look at
the German
side of WWII…
Germany and the Treaty of
Versailles
• Allies forced Germany to sign the
treaty
• Blamed Germany for WWI and took
away territories
• Germany was ordered to pay for
damages in Europe
Rise of Nationalistic Groups
• Inflation
– financial hardship, loss of faith in the
government
• Bad feelings after Treaty of Versailles
• National Socialist German Worker’s
Party, (led by Adolf Hitler) grew
Political Changes
• Nazis were the largest party in
Germany’s legislative body in
1932
• In 1933 Hitler convinced
President von Hindenburg of the
Republic to appoint him
Chancellor of Germany
Political Changes Continued
• Hitler demanded “emergency powers”
for four years (and was granted the
powers)
• Government gave in to Hitler
• Within two months of becoming
Chancellor, Hitler became Germany’s
ruler and began his racist practices
Hitler Claimed…
• “For the first time in history, a civilized
nation has full gun control. Our
streets will be safer, our police more
efficient, and the world will follow our
lead into the future.”
- 1935
Hitler Took Over…
•Poland
•Holland
•Denmark •Belgium
•Norway •France
(by force)
• And signed a non-aggression treaty
with Stalin (Soviet Union)
Liberation
• Took six years
• Combined forces of United States,
Soviet Union, England and
underground forces
• D-Day: June 6, 1944 The US entered
the war in German occupied France
• May 7, 1945 Germans surrendered
– Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945
Holocaust
• “The systematic, state-sponsored
persecution and murder of
approximately six million Jews by the
Nazi regime and its collaborators.”
-ushmm.org
• Targeted anyone who was “different”
• Over 11,000,000 people died
• Greek origin: meaning “sacrifice by
fire”
Adolf Hitler
• Dictator of Germany
• Leader of the Nazi party
• Blamed Jews for
Germany’s bad economy
– Jews were prominent in
international banking
Nazi
• National Socialist German Worker’s
Party
• Abolished democratic institutions,
outlawed other parties
• Created SS and Gestapo
– encouraged demonstrations against
Jews
• Based ideas on feelings of racial
superiority
Aryan Race
• Hitler deemed this “the master race”
– he decided which personal qualities
were desirable in a person
• “pure-blooded Germans”
• “superior”
• Blonde, blue eyes, pale skin
– But wait… Hitler had dark hair and
brown eyes!
Anti-Semitism
• Prejudice against people of the
Jewish faith
• Anti-Jewish
• Encouraged by Nazis through
propaganda (advertising to push an
idea)
Judaism
• Monotheism: belief in one God
• Based on the idea of “do to others
what you would want them to do to
you”
• Follow the Hebrew Bible
• Traditions include: Sabbath, prayers,
holidays
Racist Practices
• Jews could no longer…
…work in government jobs, universities,
schools, radio, movies, theater or
journalism, business.
… practice law or medicine.
…go to school with non-Jewish children.
… marry or work for non-Jewish people.
Racist Practices Continued
•
•
•
•
Books burned
Jewish shops smashed
Boycotts on Jewish businesses
Jews had to wear the Star of David to
identify themselves
• Had to live in ghettos
SO… Jews tried to flee the country
or hide from the Nazis
Ghettos
• Enclosed city districts where Jews
were forced to live (isolation)
• Miserable conditions
• At least 1,000 ghettos in Germanoccupied countries
• To “control and segregate” Jews
• Assisted in the attempt at a
systematic destruction of Jewish
people
Concentration Camps
“Death Camps”
• Places of mass murder and slave
labor
• Located all over Europe
• Six million Jews killed
• Five million Gypsies, Slavs, Poles
• Forced to work extremely hard
• Not enough food
• Died of hunger, exhaustion, shot,
gassed or brutally killed
Genocide
• Violent crimes against specific groups
with intent to destroy the group’s
existence
• Systematic murder
• “Destruction of essential foundations of
the life of national groups, with the aim
of annihilating the groups themselves”
–ushmm.org
• Term was created after the Holocaust
Auschwitz
• Concentration camp
• Poland
• Responsible for killing the most Jews
• A picture is worth a thousand words
References
• Teacher Created Materials: A Guide for using
Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl in the
Classroom
• Scholastic: Teaching the Diary of Anne Frank
• www.ushmm.org (United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum) Feb. 21, 2008
• Notes from Carrie Wagner
• McDougal Littell Literature and Language 8th
grade
• Pictures from various internet sources