Transcript Hitler`s “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem was

The Holocaust
On a separate piece of paper, take notes as you go
through the following slides and visit the websites provided.
When you are finished, write a paragraph (5-7 sentences)
which answer the following question:
Could a tragedy such as the Holocaust happen today?
Use information from your notes to support your answer.
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out-because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out-because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out-because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Stereotype: A simplistic, firmly held belief, often
negative, about individual characteristics generalized to
all people within that group.
Propaganda: The deliberate spreading of ideas or
information, true or untrue, with the purpose of
manipulating public opinion to gain support for one’s
cause, or discourage support for another
Racism: a set of beliefs based on perceived “racial”
superiority and inferiority; a system of domination that is
played out in everyday interactions, and the unequal
distribution of privilege, resources and power.
Anti-Semitism: Hostility toward Jews as an ethnic or
religious group, often accompanied by social, economic,
and political discrimination.
What?
Attempted genocide -(Genocide is the destruction of a
national, ethnic, racial, or religious group)
- to create a “better Germany”
- for the world to be more pure
- to create a “super race”
Who?
Victims: (targeted groups)
Jews, gypsies, other minorities, handicapped,
homosexuals, educated, Russians, Polish, communists,
socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses
Perpetrators:
Nazis (political party) led by Hitler
The S.S. (secret police) and Gestapo (S.S. officials)
Collaborators:
Concurrent majority -those who agreed
Bystanders – those that chose to do nothing to prevent it
Why?
Gave the Germans someone to blame for
their predicament
United them in a common cause – a
common enemy
A way for Hitler to gain power
People went along with it…. Collaborated
on racial hate
Many people didn’t know what was going
on
Before the war began, boycotts, anti-Jewish laws, and
persecution were meant to drive Jews out of Germany.
After Germany invaded Poland, Polish and Western European
Jews were deported to ghettos.
Once Germany invaded the Soviet Union, German forces
began to kill entire Jewish communities in an effort to find a
“complete solution of the Jewish question.”
Hitler’s “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem was to murder
every European Jew.
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Chronology/timelineholocaust.htm
FAQs
When did the “Final Solution” actually begin?
While thousands of Jews were murdered due to discrimination by the Nazi’s, the
systematic murder of Jews did not begin until the German Invasion of the Soviet
Union in June 1941.
Did the Jews in Europe realize what was going to happen to them?
Since the Nazi’s did not publicize the “Final Solution” nor speak about it, and every
attempt to fool the victims was made to minimize resistance, the European Jews
were not aware of the Final Solution.
Also, the notion that human beings--let alone the civilized Germans-- could
build camps with special apparatus for mass murder seemed unbelievable in those
days.
How many died?
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-statistics.htm
How many camps were there?
http://www.shoaheducation.com/camps/statistics.html
How many camps were there?
http://www.shoaheducation.com/camps/statistics.html
Why didn’t they fight back?
http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/gallery/R1942Sum.htm
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/grobres.html
How many were saved by others?
http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/index.asp
What did the U.S. know?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005182
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/stlouis.html
http://www.pbs.org/jewishamericans/watch/index.html (America’s
response to Holocaust)
On the same paper as your notes, write a
paragraph which answers the following
question:
Could a tragedy such as the Holocaust
happen today? Use information from your
notes to support your answer.