Transcript The Jews Under Nazi Rule - Options

The Jews Under Nazi Rule
Background Information
• The Jews were not the only
group to face Nazi
persecution
– Gypsies, homosexuals,
communists, and political
dissidents also faced harsh
treatments by the Nazis
• Nazis were not the first
group to persecute the Jews
– Jews have been persecuted by
various groups for thousands
of years – many times Jews
were not allowed to live in the
same neighborhoods as
Christians and were not given
the same rights
Anti-Semitism Surges
• During an economic or
political crisis, many
leaders look for a
scapegoat they can use
as a source of all of the
nation’s problems
• Hitler capitalized on the
anti-Semitism running
through Germany and
used peoples’ prejudices
to his advantage
• Nazis urged people not
do associate with Jews or
to buy items from Jewish
shops
The First Concentration Camps
• Opened in 1933, just
months after Hither
became Chancellor
• They were initially
built to hold political
prisoners
(communists, social
democrats, etc.)
• One of the first was
Dachau
The Nuremburg Laws
• Created in 1935 to restrict the
rights and freedoms of Jews
• The laws also outlined who
was considered Jewish and
who had German blood
• Jews were required to have a
large “J” stamped on their
passport
• Jews who broke the laws could
face fines, jail sentences, and
time in labor camps
• The Nuremburg laws were just
an addition to many antiSemitic laws already passed by
the German government
Examples of Anti-Semitic Laws
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Jews could not marry or have intercourse with Germans
Jewish children could not be educated past the age of 14 (many schools
prohibited Jewish children)
Jews could not use parks, hospitals, libraries, public benches, or, in certain
cities, sidewalks
Jews could not own firearms or any other weapons
Jews were given a maximum amount of money they could have on hand;
they were not allowed to use banks
Jews were given curfews and had to be in their homes by the specified time
How did Germany Determine Who
Was Jewish?
German Children
• Children were taught
in school about
Hitler and how he
was Germany’s
“savior”
• They learned about
the race laws and
how to spot Jews by
their appearance
• Schools became a
place where Jewish
children were picked
on mercilessly
The 1936 Olympics
• Nazi leaders wanted to
use the event to promote
the idea of the Nazi
master race
• All German athletes were
Aryan, and many won
their divisions
• Nazi officials “cleaned up”
Berlin by arresting all
gypsies and sending
them to concentration
camps
• Hitler had anti-Semitic
signs taken down in
major tourist areas
Kristallnacht
• “The Night of the Broken Glass,” happened
in November, 1938
• Jewish shops , synagogues, and homes were
burned
• 91 Jews were murdered
• Between 25,000-30,000 Jews were arrested
and sent to concentration camps
• Marks a turning point in Nazi treatment of
the Jews – from this point Nazis began
increasing the level of violence toward Jews
The Holocaust
1940-1945
Prelude to the Final Solution
• By 1939, half of Germany’s 500,000 Jews had emigrated to escape Nazi
persecution
• The remaining Jew in Germany were forced to move into ghettos
• Their property was confiscated and their citizenship was revoked
Prelude to the Final Solution
• In 1939, Germany
invaded Poland
which had a much
larger population of
3 million Jews.
• In 1941, Germany
invaded Russia
which had a
population of 5
million Jews.
Einsatzgruppen
• Means “intervention group,”
formed in 1941
• Nazis sent four specially
trained SS units called
“Einsatzgruppen battalions”
into German occupied territory
and shot at least 1 million
Jews
• Victims were taken to deserted
areas where they were made
to dig their own graves before
they were shot
• When the SS ran out of bullets
they sometimes killed their
victims using flame throwers
The ‘Final Solution’
• In January 1942, Himmler
decided to change tactics
and called a special
conference at Wannsee
• Nazis decided that the
current methods were too
inefficient
• A new ‘Final Solution’
was necessary
Wannsee Conference
Women, children, the
old & the sick were to
be sent for ‘special
treatment.’
The young and fit would go
through a process called
‘destruction through work.’
On arrival the Jews
would go through a
process called
‘selection.’
How was the Final
Solution going to
be organized?
The remaining
Jews were to be
shipped to
‘resettlement
areas’ in the
East.
Conditions in the Ghettos were
designed to be so bad that many
die while the rest would be
willing to leave these areas in the
hope of better conditions
Shooting was too
inefficient as the bullets
were needed for the war
effort
Jews were to be
rounded up and put
into transit camps
called Ghettoes
The Jews living in
these Ghettos were to
be used as a cheap
source of labor.
Where Were the Death Camps Built?
The work of the
Einsatzgruppen
Why do you think that they located them here?
What tactics did the Nazis use to get the
Jews to leave the Ghettos?
Deception
The Jews were told
that they were going
to ‘resettlement
areas’ in the East.
In some Ghettos
the Jews had to
purchase their
own train tickets.
They were told
to bring the
tools of their
trade and pots
and pans.
New arrivals at the
Death camps were
given postcards to
send to their friends.
Tactics
Starvation
The Jews in the
Warsaw Ghetto were
only fed a 1000
calories a day .
Terror
A Human being needs
2400 calories a day to
maintain their weight
The SS publicly shot people
for smuggling food or for
any act of resistance
Hungry people are
easier to control
Children Dying of Starvation in
the Warsaw Ghetto
Dehumanization
• The SS guards who murdered
the Jews were brainwashed
with Anti-Semitic propaganda
• The Jews were transported in
cattle cars in terrible
conditions
• Naked, dirty and half starved
people look like animals,
which helped to reinforce Nazi
propaganda
• The SS used to train their new
guards by encouraging them
to set fire to a pit full of live
victims – usually children
What Happened to New Arrivals?
All new arrivals went
through a process
known as ‘selection.’
Mothers, children, the
old & sick were sent
straight to the
‘showers’ which were
really the gas
chambers.
The able bodied were
sent to work camp
were they were killed
through a process
known as ‘destruction
through work.’
At Auschwitz the trains
pulled into a mock up
of a normal station.
Deception &
Selection
At Auschwitz the new
arrivals were calmed
down by a Jewish
orchestra playing
classical music.
The Jews were helped
off the cattle trucks
by Jews who were
specially selected to
help the Nazis
At some death camps
the Nazis would play
records of classical
music to help calm
down the new arrivals.
Entrance to Auschwitz
Notice how it has been built to resemble a railway station
Auschwitz Orchestra
Map of Auschwitz
New Arrivals
‘Showers’
‘Destruction
Through
Work’
Auschwitz from the air
Notice how the Death
camp is set out like a
factory complex
The Nazis used
industrial methods to
murder the Jews and
process their dead
bodies
The Gas Chambers
• The Nazis would force
large groups of
prisoners into small
cement rooms and drop
canisters of Zyklon B
through small holes in
the roof
• These gas chambers
were sometimes
disguised as showers or
bathing houses to
deceive them
The SS would try and pack up to 2000 people into this gas chamber
The outside of the Gas Chamber
Notice the Ovens easy located near the Gas Chambers
Processing the bodies
• Specially selected Jews
known as the
sonderkommando were
used to to remove the
gold fillings and hair of
people who had been
gassed.
• The Sonderkommando
were also forced to feed
the dead bodies into the
ovens.
The Ovens at Dachau
Dead bodies waiting to be processed
Shoes waiting to be processed
by the sonderkommando
Taken inside a huge glass case in the Auschwitz Museum. This represents one
day's collection at the peak of the gassings, about twenty five thousand pairs.
Destruction Through Work
This photo was taken by the Nazis to show just how you
could quite literally work the fat of the Jews by feeding
them 200 calories a day
Destruction Through Work
Same group of Jews 6 weeks later
Liberation Day at Nordhausen
• When Allied
troops arrived
at some of the
camps they
found more
victims than
survivors
• Both regular
concentration
camps and
specially
designated
death camps
had high death
tolls
Was the Final Solution
successful?
• The Nazis aimed to kill 11 • Some people, like Oskar
million Jews at the
Schindler, helped Jews
Wannsee Conference in
escape the Final Solution
1941
• Not all Jews went quietly
• Today there are only 2000
into the gas cambers.
Jews living in Poland.
• In 1943, the Warsaw
• The Nazis managed to kill
Ghetto, like many others
at least 6 million Jews and
revolted against the
as many as 7 million other
Nazis when the Jews
people
realized what was really
happening
All that is needed for evil to prevail
is for a good man to do nothing.