The Holocaust Defining the Holocaust HOLOCAUST Heb shoah

The Holocaust

Defining the Holocaust • HOLOCAUST (Heb. , sho'ah) which originally meant a sacrifice totally burned by fire • the annihilation of the Jews and other groups of people of Europe under the Nazi regime during World War II • GENOCIDE: the systematic extermination of a nationality or group

WHY? • • • Blamed for the death of Jesus Isolated Money lenders Black Plague Scape goat

Stage 1: Stripping of Rights 1935: Nuremberg Laws stated that all JEWS were : • • • stripped of German citizenship fired from jobs & businesses boycotted banned from German schools and universities Marriages between Jews and Aryans forbidden Forced to carry ID cards Passports stamped with a “J” forced to wear the arm band of the Yellow “Star of David” Jewish synagogues destroyed forced to pay reparations and a special income tax

How did the Nazi decide who was Jewish? • At the Wannsee conference it was decided that if one of person’s parents was Jewish, then they were Jewish. • However, if only one of their grandparents had been Jewish then they could be classified as being German. • In 1940, all Jews had to have their passports stamped with the letter ‘J’ and had to wear the yellow Star of David on their jacket or coat.

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.

Stage 2: Segregation GHETTOS • Jews were forced to live in designated areas called “ghettos” to isolate them from the rest of society • Nazis established 356 ghettos in Poland, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Hungary during WWII • Ghettos were filthy, with poor sanitation and extreme overcrowding • Disease was rampant and food was in such short supply that many slowly starved to death • Warsaw, the largest ghetto, held 500, 000 people and was 3. 5 square miles in size

Nazi ghettos were a preliminary step in the annihilation of the Jews, as the ghettos became transition areas, used as collection points for deportation to concentration & death camps

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 Terror The SS publicly shot people for smuggling food or for any act of resistance Starvation The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were only fed a 1000 calories a day. A Human being needs 2400 calories a day to maintain their weight Hungry people are easier to control

Stage 3: Concentration Camps • essential to Nazi’s systematic oppression and eventual mass murder of enemies of Nazi Germany (Jews, Communists, homosexuals, opponents) • Slave labor “annihilation by work” • Prisoners faced undernourishment and starvation • Prisoners transported in cattle freight cars • Camps were built on railroad lines for efficient transportation

Life in the Camps • possessions were confiscated • heads were shaved • arms tattooed • Prison uniforms • Men, women and children were separated • Survival based on trade skills / physical strength • Unsanitary, disease ridden and lice infested barracks • inhumane medical experiments

Stage 4: Extermination • Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) had began killing operations aimed at entire Jewish communities in the 1930 s • DEATH FACTORIES: Nazi extermination camps fulfilled the singular function of mass murder • Euthanasia program: Nazi policy to eliminate “life unworthy of life” (mentally or physically challenged) to promote Aryan “racial integrity”

Change of Tactics: Einsatzgruppen • Himmler 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 and shot. • When the SS ran out of bullets they sometimes killed their victims using flame throwers.

Change of Tactics: Einsatzgruppen

The ‘Final Solution’ • In January 1942, Himmler decided to change tactics once again and called a special conference at Wannsee. • At this conference it was decided that the existing methods were too inefficient and that 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 organised? 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 whilst 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 labour.

Where were the Death Camps built? The work of the Einsatzgruppen Why do you think that they located them here?

Children Dying of Starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto

SS Tactics: Dehumanisation • 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 the 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.

Tactics: 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, or prussic acid, in its crystal form through small holes in the roof. • These gas chambers were sometimes disguised as showers or bathing houses. 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 Jews were also forced to feed the dead bodies into the crematorium.

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

Nearing the End of the War • By 1945, the Nazis’ began to destroy crematoriums and camps as Allied troops closed in • Death Marches (Todesmarsche): Between 1944 -1945, Nazis ordered marches over long distances. Approximately 250 000 – 375 000 prisoners perished in Death Marches • On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz (largest camp) and liberated more than 7, 000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying.

Swastika: A Symbol of Good or Evil? • the swastika is an ancient Indian symbol (Sanskrit) that is over 3, 000 years old meaning well being, life and good luck, prosperity • the swastika is sacred religious symbol for Hindus, Jains and Buddhists • Common symbol in ancient civilizations (Mesopotamia, India, China, Central and South America (Maya) • In 1920, Adolf Hitler decided that the Nazi Party needed its own insignia and flag and chose the swastika to represent the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man • Because of the Nazis' flag, the swastika soon became a symbol of hate, anti-Semitism, violence, death, and murder.

Aftermath • Yom ha-Shoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day established in 1951 • Nuremberg Trials: 1945 -1949 were trials for war crimes of Nazi officials (24 Nazi leaders tried) • Displaced Persons • Anti-Semitism in the world today

The End Evil is when a few good men decide to do nothing.