The Holocaust Holocaust Definition The genocide of European

The Holocaust

Holocaust: Definition The genocide of European Jews and others by the Nazis. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire. "

When? 1933 -1945 When Hitler becomes dictator until the end of world war two.

The Beginning By the end of 1934 Hitler was in absolute control of Germany, and his campaign against the Jews was in full swing. The Nazis claimed the Jews corrupted pure German culture with their "foreign" influence. They portrayed Jews as evil and cowardly, and Germans as hardworking, courageous, and honest. The Jews, the Nazis claimed, who were heavily represented in finance, commerce, the press, literature, theater, and the arts, had weakened Germany's economy and culture. The Nazi propaganda machine created strong anti-Semitism within Germany. Hitler’s Goal= to exterminate Jews

Nuremberg Laws Anti-Jewish legislation September 15 1935 n Jews and non-Jews could neither marry nor have sex n Jews were stripped of German citizenship n Jews were forced to wear Star of David on clothes Kristallnacht 1938

Jews Flee Germany Jews attempted to flee Germany, and thousands succeeded by immigrating to such countries as Belgium, Czechoslovakia, England, France, and Holland It was much more difficult to get out of Europe. Jews encountered stiff immigration quotas in most of the world's countries. Even if they obtained the necessary documents, they often had to wait months or years before leaving. Many families out of desperation sent their children first.

The Evian Conference Initiated by US president Franklin Roosevelt In July 1938 representatives of 32 countries met in the French town of Evian to discuss the refugee and immigration problems created by the Nazis in Germany. No resolution was passed condemning Germany • By the autumn of 1941, Europe was sealed to most legal emigration. The Jews were trapped.

Labor Camps After Kristallnacht, the Nazis arrested German and Austrian Jews and imprisoned them in Concentration Camps These camps were labor camps Major Labor camps were: n n n Dachau – 1 st camp Theresienstadt Buchenwald

Labor Camps Healthy, young, and strong Jews were not killed right away These Jews were reserved for slave labor Jews were forced to work in factories creating products towards the war effort Thousands died because they were worked to death

DACHAU

10 stone barracks, each with 5 dormitory rooms, which housed 54 prisoners each

Daily routine of the prisoners as of 1938, drawn up by Otto Kohlhofer Daily Routine Summer 4. 00 am Reveille 5. 15 am Roll Call 6. 00 am – 12. 00 pm Work 12. 00 pm – 1. 00 pm Midday Break (including entry and exit march) 1. 00 pm – 6. 30 pm Work 7. 00 pm Roll Call (lasts ca. 1 hour) 8. 45 pm “Everyone in Bed” 9. 00 pm “Everyone in Bed” “Lights Out”

Work • In the initial phase work often served the purpose of humiliating and tormenting the prisoners by imposing on them a senseless activity. • Within the camp different workshops were soon set up that were directly put under the control of the camp command. • One section of the prisoners was responsible for the maintenance and servicing of the camp, others worked under SS guards outside the concentration camp in so-called external commandos.

Franz Rabanda May 29 1940

Ghettos: section of a city just for Jews 1940: The Germans established at least 1, 000 ghettos in Poland the Soviet Union alone. Ghettos were only temporary n lasted a few days or a few years Largest: Warsaw Ghettos lacked the necessary food, water, space, and sanitary facilities Many died of starvation.

Final Solution 1941 Hitler begins the “Final Solution” n mass murder of all European Jews Four mobile killing units were formed- the Einsatzgruppen n Moved from town to town round up Jews, execute them, and place them in mass graves Babi Yar Massacre- 30, 000 -35, 000 Jews were killed in 2 days (Ukraine)

Babi Yar “All Jews living in the city of Kiev and its vicinity are to report by 8 o’clock on the morning of Monday, September 29, 1941, to the corner of Melnikovsky and Dokhturov Streets (near the cemetery). They are to take with them documents, money, valuables, as well as warm clothes, underwear, etc. Any Jew not carrying out this instruction and who is found elsewhere will be shot. Any civilian entering flats evacuated by Jews and stealing property will be shot. ”

Death by gas. The vehicle resembled an ambulance or refrigerator truck and contained a sealed rear cabin. The victims were placed in the cabin and carbon monoxide was introduced by means of a pipe. The gassing process took between fifteen and thirty minutes. During this time the van was driven from the loading site to prepared graves.

Final Solution It was taking too long by Nazi standards using the Einsatzgruppen All Ghettos were destroyed Death Camps created in Poland n n n 6 major killing centers by 1942 Aushwitz Treblinka

Dr. Josef Mengele Nazi doctor at Auschwitz “Angel of Death” Selection process Human experimentationchildren, twins, gypsies

Block 10 - Mengele Experimentation Center

Experimentation Performed experiments on 1500 sets of twins Eye color experiments Creation of Siamese twins

"Once Mengele's assistant rounded up fourteen pairs of Roma twins during the night. Mengele placed them on his polished marble dissection table and put them to sleep. He then injected chloroform into their hearts, killing them instantly. Mengele then began dissecting and meticulously noting each piece of the twins' bodies. "

Former Auschwitz prisoner Alex Dekel has said: "I have never accepted the fact that Mengele himself believed he was doing serious work – not from the slipshod way he went about it. He was only exercising his power. Mengele ran a butcher shop – major surgeries were performed without anaesthesia. Once, I witnessed a stomach operation – Mengele was removing pieces from the stomach, but without any anaesthetic. Another time, it was a heart that was removed, again without anaesthesia. It was horrifying. Mengele was a doctor who became mad because of the power he was given. Nobody ever questioned him – why did this one die? Why did that one perish? The patients did not count. He professed to do what he did in the name of science, but it was a madness on his part. "

Isle Koch “The Witch of Buchenwald” Overseer at Buchenwald concentration camp Collected shrunken prisoner heads Used prisoner skin with tattoos into cigarette cases, book marks, etc

After the war, she was found guilty of illegal torture by the Allied Tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment Committed suicide by hanging at the German women’s prison in 1967

Death Camps The death camps were essentially factories for murdering Jews The Germans shipped thousands of Jews to them each day. The Nazis constructed gas chambers (rooms that filled with poison gas to kill those inside) to increase killing efficiency At the height of deportations up to 6, 000 Jews were gassed per day their bodies were burned in specially designed crematoriums Around 3. 5 million Jews were murdered in death camps

Gas chambers

There were 5 gas chambers at Dachau- 120 ppl per chamber

Zyklon B pellets could be dropped and openings in the wall through which hot air was blown in.

Death Chamber- where bodies were kept before cremation

Last Months Near the end of WWII the Nazis began marching the prisoners still alive in the concentration camps to the territory they still controlled. The Germans forced the starving and sick Jews to walk hundreds of miles. Most died or were shot along the way. About a quarter of a million Jews died on the death marches. In total around 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust

When Did the World Know? On December 17, 1942, the Allies issued a proclamation condemning the "extermination" of the Jewish people in Europe and declared that they would punish the perpetrators. It remains unclear to what extent Allied and neutral leaders understood the full extent of their information. The utter shock of senior Allied commanders who liberated camps at the end of the war may indicate that this understanding was not complete.