Transcript Antisemitism is a starting place for trying to understand the tragedy

The Term and Definition
• The Holocaust was the systematic,
bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and
murder of approximately 6 million Jews by the
Nazi regime and its collaborators.
• The word “Holocaust” is of Greek origin
meaning “sacrifice by fire” or burnt offering
offered whole unto the lord. The term was first
coined in 1950.
– Some Jews are angry with the use of the word
“Holocaust” because of its religious connotation—a
religious term for a non-religious event.
– There is a preference for the term “Shoah” which is
a Jewish word meaning catastrophe.
A Holocaust Overview
• The Holocaust refers to a period of time from January
30, 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany,
to May 8th, 1945 (V-E Day), the end of the war in
Europe.
• The Nazis believed that Germans were “racially
superior” and that inferior races (especially Jews)
represented a threat to the German racial community.
• It is impossible to know the exact number of those
killed, but statistics indicate that 6 million Jews were
killed and 5 million non-Jews were killed.
– Other groups targeted by Nazi hatred included: Gypsies,
Serbs, resistance fighters from all nations, German
opponents of Nazism, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
habitual criminals and those with physical or mental
impairments—just to name a few.
Gauging the Magnitude of 6 Million
• If you decided right now to observe a minute of
silence for each of the six million Jews who died
in the Holocaust, when would you speak again?
– You would not speak for 11 years, and 5 months
• 60 victims per hour=1,440 per day=4,166 days
• If you typed out a list of the names of all the six
million Jews who died in the Holocaust and put
250 names on each page, how many pages
long would your list be and how high would a
stack of your pages be?
– 24,000 pages that would stack about 8 feet tall
Anti-Semitism is a
starting place for
trying to
understand the
tragedy that would
befall countless
numbers of people
during the
Holocaust.
A Basic Definition:
Anti-Semitism is hostility
towards Jews as an ethnic or
religious group. Often
accompanied by social,
economic and political
discrimination.
(BRIEFLY!)
• Hitler was a dreamer and a talented
artist. He applied but was rejected
from one of the most prestigious art
schools in Europe. That’s when he
turned to the army.
• Hitler was an Anti-Semite from
beginning to end. His last will and
testament implores Nazis to continue
to carry out the annihilation of the
Jews worldwide.
• Hitler earned the support of German
citizens for his Anti-Semitic policies
because he delivered on OTHER
promises—get criminals off the
streets, reduce unemployment. Hitler
would defy the Treaty of Versailles
that had taken a toll on German
pride. Hitler would lead Germany to
a glorious future—was that idea
really that crazy?!
• Between 1933 and 1945
concentration camps were an
integral feature of the Nazi
regime.
• The first camps, established
after Hitler became
Chancellor, were to
incarcerate real and
perceived political opponents
of Nazi policy.
• In July 1934 Hitler authorized
Heinrich Himmler to
centralize the administration
of the concentration camps
and formalize them into a
system.
• The organizational structure at Dachau
practiced and developed in 1933-1934 became
the model for the Nazi concentration camp
system as it expanded.
• As Nazi Germany expanded their territory, the
numbers of those labeled as political opponents
and social deviants increased requiring new
camps to be built.
• From as early as 1934 camp prisoners were
used as forced labor to construct or expand
camps for themselves.
• Work and living conditions were so harsh that
many prisoners believed that they were in effect
being “annihilated through work.”
• Concentration camps increasingly became sites
where the SS authorities could kill targeted
groups of enemies according to Nazi definition.
• The program was implemented in an effort to
maintain the racial integrity of the German
nation and to diminish the financial burden put
upon German society for the care of these
individuals.
• In August 1939 all physicians, nurses, and
midwives were instructed to report newborn
infants and children under 3 yrs. old who
showed signs of physical or mental disability.
• Beginning in October 1939 parents were
encouraged to send their children with
disabilities to one of a number of specially
designated pediatric clinics. These clinics were
actually killing wards. Children were murdered
via lethal overdoses of medication or starvation.
• At first only infants
and toddlers were
killed, soon the
program expanded
to include juveniles
and adults.
(Operation T4)
• In autumn of 1939
Hitler signed a
secret authorization
in order to protect
participants from
prosecution.
• 6 gassing installations were established as part of the
“euthanasia” program. (Hadamar was the most photographed
and shown here.)
• T4 planners carefully formulated questionnaires
and sent them to all public and private health
officials. Space to answer was limited and the
questions were worded in such a way that it
seemed like the intent was to gather statistical
information.
• Forms were then evaluated by “medical
experts” and on the basis of their decisions
patients were selected for “euthanasia.”
• Victims were gassed and cremated and ashes
were put in one pile. Family members received
an urn full of “their loved ones” ashes as well as
a death certificate listing a fictitious cause and
date of death.
• Although the “euthanasia” program was
supposed to be a secret, the secret soon
became well known. Protests began and
eventually the program was halted by Hitler in
August 1941.
– By their own calculations, the T4 program claimed
the lives of 70,273 disabled persons.
• But the program didn’t really stop. It was just
more concealed than before. Lethal injection
and starvation, first used in the child
“euthanasia” program, provided a more covert
method of killing.
– Historians estimate, in all its phases, the
“euthanasia” program claimed the lives of 200,000
individuals.
Way Stations to Death
• The Nazi Rationale: Ghettos were a temporary
solution to what became the “Jewish Question.”
– Confinement for control, forced reduction (death by
exhaustion) and eventually deportation.
• There were approximately more than 1,000
Ghettos established during the Nazi era. But
depending on the definition of “ghetto” there
could be more than 5,000.
• The first Ghetto was established in Poland after
the Nazi invasion.
• Some were small and temporary, some were
large and permanent (at least until the
deportations to killing centers began).
• Different Ghettos had different regulations:
– Some were open to allow those that lived there
work cards to leave the Ghetto during the day.
– Some were closed with fences or walls around the
area. (The most famous Ghettos were this kind!)
– Some were destruction Ghettos, a final stop before
being sent to a death center.
• Major Ghettos were in: Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow,
Minsk, Lvov, Lublin, Vilna, Kovno and Bialystok.
• Brutal Conditions:
– Overcrowding (Warsaw by 1941 had 1/2 million
Jews in an area just over 1 square mile)
– No Sanitation
– No Medical Care
– Starvation Rations of Food (184 calories/day)
– Oppressive Regulations
– Dehumanization (it was virtually impossible to live
and maintain your dignity)
• Jews residing in Ghettos were forced to wear
identifying badges or armbands.
• Germans established the
Judenraete.
– Jewish community leaders
responsible for daily operation
of Ghettos. Without this
organization there would be
chaos. They took orders from
the Nazis who were afraid to
enter the Ghettos because of
disease.
– They made life and death
decisions and for their work
were given slightly more food.
– Often they were caught in “no
win” situations.
– At Lodz, Rumkowski was the
“king” of the Ghetto.
• The prime focus in the Ghetto was how to
survive. (Not the war, but just until tomorrow.)
• Smuggling of goods into the Ghetto had severe
penalties.
• There were attempts to carry on with life with
various activities (school, plays, etc) but these
activities were usually forbidden.
• Funerals became social events.
• Eventually the Ghettos served as “way stations
to death” and they were “liquidated” as the
process of the killing centers were established
and implemented.
End of the Ghettos
• Most Ghettos were “liquidated” by July
1943.
• Those who had not died in the Ghettos
were sent to killing centers.
Mobile Killing Units
• Squads were composed mostly of German SS
and police personnel. They had the task of
murdering those perceived to be racial or
political enemies.
• During the invasion of the Soviet Union in June
1941 the Einsatzgruppen carried out massmurder operations. They went directly to the
home communities of the Jews and massacred
them.
• Men, women and children were murdered
without regard for age or sex and were then
buried in mass graves.
• Victims were marched or transported to the execution
site where trenches were prepared (sometimes by the
victims themselves). Directions were given to hand
over valuables and undress before they were shot.
• By late summer of 1941 Heinrich Himmler had begun
to notice the psychological burden that mass
shootings had produced on his men and requested a
more convenient method of killing be developed.
• The precursor to the gas chamber was created—a gas
van where the carbon monoxide from the exhaust
would kill those riding in the back of it.
• By the spring of 1943 over 1 million Soviet Jews and
tens of thousands of Soviet politicians, Roma, and
disabled persons had been killed.
• The Concentration Camp system expanded
between 1939-1942 as Germany conquered
much of Europe. Among these new camps was
Auschwitz.
• By 1942 prisoners were used as labor in the
production of armaments, weapons and other
goods related to the German war effort.
• The SS continued to murder small targeted
groups deemed dangerous for political or racial
reasons.
• Gas chambers were also being constructed at
this time.
• Auschwitz was both a death camp and a labor
camp. It became the symbol for the Holocaust.
• “Men died there along with the idea of man.”
Wiesel Quote
• It accounted for more than 25% of the
genocide.
• When prisoners arrived it was chaotic, they
walked to the end of a platform where a doctor
would indicate to the right or left. Those going
left were sent to the “baths”—the gas
chambers. They were told to undress and led
to “showers” where they were gassed. The
entire process was designed to prevent panic
amongst the prisoners.
• Killing centers were established for efficient
mass murder. Unlike concentration camps
which served as detention and labor centers,
killing centers (death camps or extermination
camps) were exclusively “death factories.”
• The SS murdered nearly 2,700,000 Jews in the
killing centers by gassing or shooting.
• The largest killing center was AuschwitzBirkenau. By the spring of 1943, 4 gas
chambers were in operation there.
• At the height of the deportations, 6,000 Jews
were gassed there each day.
• Over 1 million Jews and tens of thousands of
others were killed there by November 1944.
• The SS considered the killing centers to be top
secret. To obliterate all traces of gassing
operations, special prisoners were forced to
remove corpses from gas chambers and
cremate them. The grounds of some killing
centers were landscaped or camouflaged to
disguise the murder of millions.
How Did the Jews Get from
Ghettos to Camps?
• Trains were used to transport the Jews. Nazis
paid an excursion rate or a tour guide rate for
each passenger. The payments came from
raiding Jewish communities.
• If you were to ask a Jew transported by train
how long it took to get from Point A to Point B—
their answer is “I don’t know” or “days.” There
was a war going on, troops and supplies had to
be transported on trains too—Jews had the
lowest priority on the rail lines. If the train
moved non-stop the trip would likely have only
taken hours.
How Did the Jews Get from
Ghettos to Camps?
• Train Box Cars held 45 German Soldiers or 80100 Jewish passengers. By the time the trains
arrived usually 1/3 of the Jewish passengers
were dead.
• Getting back to the payments for each
passenger—there were travel agents who had
to total up the number of Jewish passengers in
each age group so the Nazis could be charged.
– Were these people Nazis? Did they hate Jews?
Were they just doing their job?
Let’s Discuss the Role of
Bystanders/Citizens more….
• If you look at the doors of the crematoriums
there is the name of a company on them. Was
the company owned by Nazis or Anti-Semites?
Or was the company just making a product the
Nazis wanted to buy?
Let’s Discuss the Role of
Bystanders/Citizens more….
• Looking at the entire German population: 10%
were enthusiastic Nazis, 10% were against the
Nazi party and the other 80% were bystanders
or less enthusiastic Nazis—they were just trying
to get by….
• You automatically have 10 points.
– Sitting and listening, being respectful of the discussion going on and
being engaged without vocally participating means you can keep the 10
points you automatically have.
• You can earn more points!
– Vocally participating in a meaningful, relevant, thoughtful and
constructive way will earn you 5 additional points per comment.
• You can lose the points you automatically have.
– Talking out of turn, having side conversations (even if they are about this
topic), putting your head down, doing other work or being OFF TASK in
any way will result in -5 points per incident.
– This is your warning. You will not get another warning before I take off
points.
– After all of your points have been taken away, if you are still OFF TASK
you will be asked to report to the AP Office for the remainder of the
conversation.
“Thou shalt not be a victim.
Thou shalt not be an oppressor.
But most of all, thou shalt not be a
bystander.”
--Yehuda Bauer, Jewish historian
• Victim—one who is harmed, killed or made to suffer
• Oppressor—one who keeps another down by severe
and unjust use of force or authority.
• Bystander—a person who is present at an event
without participating in the central actions of the event.
Bystanders sometimes actively or passively condone
or condemn the central actions by their words or
actions, or alternately, by their silence or inaction.
Bystander Scenes
• In these scenes, who were the bystanders?
• Did these bystanders harm or help others, or
were they neutral? How so?
• How might different actions of the bystanders
have changed the events in each scene?
There is a spectrum of violence….
• What happens if we are silent when we witness an act
of prejudice, injustice or violence against another
person? What happens when we do nothing in the
face of such things?
• Was there a time when you were a bystander to
violence, whether physical or verbal, such as a
classmate being bullied? What did—or didn’t—you
do? What do you wish you would have done
differently?
• What forces, internal and external, keep us from
taking actions in such moments? Are some more
excusable than others? What can be done to diminish
the forces that keep us from taking action?
“Thou shalt not be a victim.
Thou shalt not be an oppressor.
But most of all, thou shalt not be a
bystander.”
--Yehuda Bauer, Jewish historian
• Why do you think Bauer presents being a
bystander as the worst role to play?
• Is it worse to be a bystander or worse to be an
oppressor?
• During WW2, the rescue of Jews and other
victims of the Nazis was not a priority for the US
government. Why?
– There were questions as to how to pursue a largescale rescue behind enemy lines was a daunting
task.
– Antisemitism
– Isolationist policies
– The economic depression
– The refugee policy of the US State Department
made it difficult for refugees to obtain visas to the
US
• The US also delayed publicizing reports of
genocide.
• When the US met with British representatives
on April 19, 1943 to find solutions to wartime
refugee problems, no significant proposals were
developed.
• By the spring of 1944, the Allies knew of the
killing operations at the Auschwitz-Birkenau
camp, yet American authorities decided not to
bomb the gas chambers or rail lines. US
officials argued that they did not have the
capacity to conduct air raids with sufficient
accuracy and that the Allies were committed to
bomb military targets exclusively in order to win
the war as quickly as possible.
• In 1944 a Soviet offensive in eastern Belarus
annihilated the German Army there and allowed
for the overrun of the first Nazi concentration
camp, Lubin/Majdanek.
• Himmler quickly ordered that the prisoners in all
concentration camps be evacuated toward the
interior of the Third Reich.
• Soviet and Western media widely publicized the
SS atrocities at the camp using both video of
the camp at the time of liberation and survivor
interviews.
•
The evacuations of the concentration camps
had 3 purposes:
1. SS authorities did not want prisoners to fall into
enemy hands alive to tell their stories
2. The SS thought they needed prisoners to maintain
production of armaments wherever possible
3. Some SS leaders, including Himmler, believed
irrationally that they could use Jewish
concentration camp prisoners as hostages to
bargain for a separate peace in the west and that
would guarantee the survival of the Nazi regime
• At first the evacuations were carried out by
train, but as the Allies continued to reach
German boarders, SS authorities began to
evacuate camps on foot.
• SS guards were under strict orders to kill
prisoners who could no longer walk or travel.
• As winter approached the number of prisoners
who died from exhaustion and exposure
increased dramatically.
• The term “death march” was probably coined by
concentration camp prisoners.
• To almost the last day of the war, German
authorities marched prisoners to various
locations in the Reich.
• As Allied troops moved across Europe in a
series of offensive attacks against the Nazis
they began to encounter tens of thousands of
camp prisoners.
• The Germans attempted to hide the evidence of
mass murder by demolishing the camps,
however the evidence was clear when Soviet
troops liberated Auschwitz.
• Although Victory in Europe was declared by the
Allies on May 8, 1945, camp prisoners
continued to die from the effects of malnutrition
or disease after their liberation.
• Both International and Domestic courts conducted
trials of accused war criminals
• The U.S., U.K, and S.U. all signed the Moscow
Declaration stating that persons found responsible for
war crimes would be sent back to those countries in
which the crimes were committed and tried according
to the laws of the nation concerned. “Major” war
criminals would be punished by a decision made by
the Allied governments.
• Unfortunately, many perpetrators of Nazi-era
criminality have never been tried or punished. In many
cases, German perpetrators of National Socialist
crimes simply returned to their normal lives and
professions in German society. The hunt for German
and Axis war criminals still goes on today.