The Holocaust Holocaust Overview The Holocaust was the

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The Holocaust

The Holocaust

Holocaust – Overview The Holocaust was the: Ø systematic Ø bureaucratic Ø state-sponsored Ø

Holocaust – Overview The Holocaust was the: Ø systematic Ø bureaucratic Ø state-sponsored Ø persecution Ø murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire. " The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior, " were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community.

For years before Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he was obsessed with ideas

For years before Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he was obsessed with ideas about race. In his speeches and writings, Hitler spread his beliefs in racial "purity" and in the superiority of the "Germanic race"—what he called an Aryan "master race. " He pronounced that his race must remain pure in order to one day take over the world. For Hitler, the ideal "Aryan" was blond, blue-eyed, and tall.

 • When Hitler and the Nazis came to power, these beliefs became the

• When Hitler and the Nazis came to power, these beliefs became the government ideology and were spread in publicly displayed posters, on the radio, in movies, in classrooms, and in newspapers.

What is propaganda? Access the website and write a definition of propaganda in your

What is propaganda? Access the website and write a definition of propaganda in your class notes.

The Nazis devoted a lot of attention to determining the physical appearance of various

The Nazis devoted a lot of attention to determining the physical appearance of various groups. The caption says: “As long as the German people has racially valuable children, its future is assured. ” This is from the June 1942 issue. (Volk and Rasse)

The Nazis used public displays to spread their ideas of race. The chart shown

The Nazis used public displays to spread their ideas of race. The chart shown here is titled "The Biology of Growth, " and is labeled "Stages of Growth for Members of the Nordic Race. "

Background: Dr. Walter Groß was head of the Nazi Party’s Racial Policy Office, which

Background: Dr. Walter Groß was head of the Nazi Party’s Racial Policy Office, which produced a great deal of material. This is a translation of a radio speech aimed at the youth that he gave on 10 October 1934, which the pamphlet claims “was of great general interest. ” It outlines the fundamentals of Nazi racial theory. Race A Radio Speech by Dr. Groß “German youth! Since National Socialism took the leadership in Germany, one often hears people talking in all sorts of places about race. It was not always that way. Even two years ago, our opponents avoided the word or mocked it. The Marxist laughed if he even heard it, and those in the middle class just shook their heads. They all thought racial ideas to be unproven and worthless, or even dangerous. It therefore does not surprise us that in past years people waged war against the word “race. ” Today everything is different, and some during the last eighteen months even seem to think that race is talked about too much. ”

q“The inherited characteristics that an individual or a whole people have are more important

q“The inherited characteristics that an individual or a whole people have are more important than environmental influences. ” q“What we are, both body and soul, we have inherited from the generations before us. ” q. We ourselves, you and I, are today merely the carriers and guardians of German blood inheritance, both proud of this task but also humble before it. ” q“We no longer see economic or spiritual improvement of individuals or peoples as the goal, but rather only the National Socialist principle of the selection of the most capable. ”

q“…the differences between races are not limited to the physical and external. They extend

q“…the differences between races are not limited to the physical and external. They extend to the character, to intellectual and spiritual traits. ” q“The races are different because their blood is different…” q“Since peoples differ racially, each must follow its own nature, keeping it pure from physical or intellectual corruption. ” q“That is the great and essential conclusion that the National Socialist draws from an understanding of the racial teaching of science. Our common task will be to build a new age on this knowledge, and we believe and know that our future will then be happier because it will be based on foundations that are true. ”

 • Hitler and other Nazi leaders viewed the Jews not as a religious

• Hitler and other Nazi leaders viewed the Jews not as a religious group, but as a poisonous "race, " which "lived off" the other races and weakened them. • After Hitler took power, Nazi teachers in school classrooms began to apply the "principles" of racial science. They measured skull size and nose length, and recorded the color of their pupils' hair and eyes to determine whether students belonged to the true "Aryan race. " Jewish and Romani (Gypsy) students were often humiliated in the process.

Background: This story comes from Der Giftpilz, an anti-Semitic children’s book published by Julius

Background: This story comes from Der Giftpilz, an anti-Semitic children’s book published by Julius Streicher, the publisher of Der Stürmer. He was executed as a war criminal in 1946. The story is titled: “How to tell a Jew”

 • • Throughout history Jews have faced prejudice and discrimination, known as antisemitism.

• • Throughout history Jews have faced prejudice and discrimination, known as antisemitism. Driven nearly two thousand years ago by the Romans from the land now called Israel, they spread throughout the globe and tried to retain their unique beliefs and culture while living as a minority. In some countries Jews were welcomed, and they enjoyed long periods of peace with their neighbors. In European societies where the population was primarily Christian, Jews found themselves increasingly isolated as outsiders. Jews do not share the Christian belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and many Christians considered this refusal to accept Jesus' divinity as arrogant. For centuries the Church taught that Jews were responsible for Jesus' death, not recognizing, as most historians do today, that Jesus was executed by the Roman government because officials viewed him as a political threat to their rule. Added to religious conflicts were economic ones. Rulers placed restrictions on Jews, barring them from holding certain jobs and from owning land

 • At the same time, since the early Church did not permit usury

• At the same time, since the early Church did not permit usury (lending money at interest), Jews came to fill the vital (but unpopular) role of moneylenders for the Christian majority. • In more desperate times, Jews became scapegoats for many problems people suffered. For example, they were blamed for causing the "Black Death, " the plague that killed thousands of people throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. In Spain in the 1400 s, Jews were forced to convert to Christianity, leave the country, or be executed. In Russia and Poland in the late 1800 s the government organized or did not prevent violent attacks on Jewish neighborhoods, called pogroms, in which mobs murdered Jews and looted their homes and stores

 • The Nazis began to put their ideology into practice with the support

• The Nazis began to put their ideology into practice with the support of German scientists who believed that the human race could be improved by limiting the reproduction of people considered "inferior. "

The title: “Sterilization is liberation, not a punishment. ” It shows three handicapped children,

The title: “Sterilization is liberation, not a punishment. ” It shows three handicapped children, with the caption: “Who would want to be responsible for this? ”

 • German physicians were allowed to perform forced sterilizations, operations making it impossible

• German physicians were allowed to perform forced sterilizations, operations making it impossible for the victims to have children. Among the targets of this public program were: Ø Roma (Gypsies), an ethnic minority numbering about 30, 000 in Germany, Ø handicapped individuals, including the mentally ill Ø people born deaf and blind. Ø Also victimized were about 500 African-German children, the offspring of German mothers and African colonial soldiers in the Allied armies that occupied the German Rhineland region after World War I.

Establishing racial descent

Establishing racial descent

Nuremburg Rally 1935

Nuremburg Rally 1935

Read p. 54 of your handout: What impact did the Nuremberg laws have on

Read p. 54 of your handout: What impact did the Nuremberg laws have on the lives of Jewish people? The photo shows a couple being persecuted for violating the racial laws by dating one another.

The Nuremburg Laws: legalisation of racial theories Below is an instructional chart issued to

The Nuremburg Laws: legalisation of racial theories Below is an instructional chart issued to help bureaucrats distinguish Jews from Mischlinge (mixed race persons) and Aryans. The white figures are Aryans; the black figures Jews; and the shaded figures Mischlinge.

The Nuremburg Race Laws • At the annual party rally held in Nuremberg in

The Nuremburg Race Laws • At the annual party rally held in Nuremberg in 1935, the Nazis announced new laws which institutionalized many of the racial theories prevalent in Nazi ideology. The laws: Ø excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship Ø prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood. " Ø Ancillary ordinances to the laws disenfranchised Jews and deprived them of most political rights

Kristallnacht – The Night of Broken Glass 1938 • The most violent attack on

Kristallnacht – The Night of Broken Glass 1938 • The most violent attack on Jews which took place in November 1938

 • What is the significance of the Wannsee Conference of 1942? • What

• What is the significance of the Wannsee Conference of 1942? • What was the Final Solution and what happened as a result of this policy?

Order these pictures according to the stages in the Nazi genocide – describe what

Order these pictures according to the stages in the Nazi genocide – describe what you see in the images

THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE • On December 9, 1948, in the shadow of the

THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE • On December 9, 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust and in no small part due to the tireless efforts of Lemkin, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention establishes "genocide” as an international crime, which signatory nations “undertake to prevent and punish. ” It defines genocide as: [G]enocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Describe the effect this picture has on you the viewer. Try to demonstrate your

Describe the effect this picture has on you the viewer. Try to demonstrate your knowledge of the events of World War II in your answer.