Introduction to The Holocaust Steps to Genocide 1933

Introduction to The Holocaust Steps to Genocide 1933 to 1945

holocaust (noun): Extensive destruction and loss of life, especially by fire The Holocaust (proper noun): The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

genocide (noun): The destroying of a group of people because of their ethnic, national, racial, or religious identity Groups targeted by Nazis: Ethnicities --------- Jews & Gypsies (Roma), Nationalities -------- Slavs (Poles & Russians) “Degenerates” ------ homosexuals, the disabled Political Rivals ------ communists & socialists Religions ---------- Jehovah’s Witnesses & Jews Asocials ----------- Anybody else opposed to Nazis

BABY STEPS: Genocide was NOT the first step! Concentration Camp: Once in power (1933) the Nazis established concentration camps to imprison of all “enemies” of their regime for a few months to a few years

Concentration camp prisoners wearing triangles and inmate numbers.

Why Have Camps? Essential to systematic oppression and eventual murder of enemies of Nazi Germany Vernichtung durch arbeit: extermination through labour Things taken from Jews given to the German People

Three Steps on the Road to Genocide: 1. You cannot live among us as Jews. 2. You cannot live among us. 3. You cannot live.

Genocide Institutionalized, government sponsored racism Discrimination Prejudice Stereotyping Escalation of Hate

Anti-Semitism Hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group Left: Jewish caricature for antisemitic Viennese magazine, Kikeriki, 1900 – “The Jews try to conquer the world through a black market in grain. ”

“The personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew”~Adolf Hitler’s minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels, links love of Germany with hatred of the Jews

Eugenics Based loosely on early 20 th century understanding of the science of genetics People should be bred as farmers breed animals: weeding out “inferior” traits through genetic selection. The Nazis believed that they could create a “a master race. ”

Aryan Race • People of Northern European ancestry – especially those with blue eyes and blonde hair – were considered a superior race. • In 1933, few Africans or Asians in Germany, but many who seemed to threaten “racial purity”

The Power of Words “The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one” “How fortunate for leaders that men do not think” “The victor will never be asked if he told the truth” “I believe today I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. By defending myself against the Jew I am fighting for the work of the Lord”

You cannot live among us as Jews. Above: “Juden Rause” (“Jews Get Out”) Nazi children’s board game

How did they know who was Jewish? • German churches collaborated with Nazis by supplying records of who was Christian • Census data included questions on religious heritage

How did they know who was Jewish? Nazi scientists developed a kit containing 29 samples of human hair. Samples were used by geneticists, anthropologists, and doctors to determine ancestry. Hair colour was also used to prove the superiority of Aryans and the inferiority of Jews, Gypsies, and those of “mixed breeds. ”

“The Eternal Jew” • An art exhibition in Munich opened in 1937 • Depicted Jews as vile, subhuman creatures. • Featured photographs pointing out the typically “Jewish” traits. – large hooked nose – enormous lips – sloping forehead

Jews were seen as conspiring (with the help of communists) to take over the world.

Boycotting Jewish Businesses On April 1, 1933, Hitler declared a one-day boycott of Jewish shops Many German citizens voluntarily participated

Burning Jewish Books

Nuremburg Laws Turned prejudice & discrimination into systemic racism. 1935: Jewish Newspapers could no longer be sold 1936: Jews lost the right to vote 1938: Jews had to surrender drivers’ licences & car registrations

Nuremburg Laws • The Nuremberg Laws also classified “degrees” of Jewish blood • One use for this classification was to permit or to deny couples the right to marry (and thus to reproduce) • One proposed “solution” to the Jewish problem was sterilization

ID Cards, marked “J”

Kristallnacht