THE HOLOCAUST Why Were the Jews Targeted What

THE HOLOCAUST Why Were the Jews Targeted? What did the Holocaust mean? Why the devastation and destruction?

Holocaust (hol·o·caust): n 1. Great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire 2. Greek word that means burnt whole or consumed by fire

Why were the Jews Targeted? ? ? For hundreds of years Christian Europe had regarded the Jews as the Christ -killers. At one time or another Jews had been driven out of almost every European country. The way they were treated in England in the thirteenth century is a typical example. T A O G E In 1287 269 Jews were hanged in the Tower P of London. A C S a strong in the twentieth century, This deep prejudice against Jewsrwas still e e especially in Germany, Poland Eastern Europe, where the Jewish population w s was very large. Jew In 1275 they were made to wear a yellow badge. After the First World War hundreds of Jews were blamed for the defeat in the War. Prejudice against the Jews grew during the economic depression which followed. Many Germans were poor and unemployed and wanted someone to blame. They turned on the Jews, many of whom were rich and successful in business.

Introduction As part of their vision for Europe, the Nazis proposed a new racial order. They proclaimed that the Germanic peoples, or Aryans, were a “master race. ” The Nazis claimed that all non-Aryan peoples, particularly Jewish people, were inferior. This racist message would eventually lead to the Holocaust, the systematic mass slaughter of Jews and other groups judged inferior by the Nazis.

The Holocaust Begins Hitler knowingly tapped into a hatred for Jews that had deep roots in European history. Jews as scapegoats for personal failures. Germany’s defeat in World War I Targeting Jews government policy 1935 Nuremberg Laws made it illegal to marry a Jew. Other laws limited the work of Jews.

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.

A Flood of Refugees By the end of 1939, a number of German Jews had fled to other countries. At first, Hitler favored emigration as a solution to what he called “the Jewish problem. ” After admitting tens of thousands of Jewish refugees, France, Britain, and the United States abruptly closed their doors to further immigration.

Isolating the Jews Hitler then ordered Jews in all countries under his control to be moved to designated cities called ghettos. After 1941, all Jews in German controlled areas had to wear a yellow Star of David patch (pictured).

The “Final Solution” Hitler’s plan called the “Final Solution” was a genocide plan to systematically kill an entire people. Hitler wanted to purify the “Aryan” race. He tried to eliminate other groups he viewed as “subhuman. ” Roma (gypsies), Poles, Russians the insane the disabled the incurably ill Homosexuals

The Killings Begin As the Nazis moved across Europe the SS killing squads rounded up men, women, children, and even babies and shot them in pits where they were buried. Other Jews were rounded up and herded into concentration camps where they were slave labor. Inmates would work seven days a week for the SS or for German businesses. Food consisted of thin soup, scraps of bread, and potato peelings. Most inmates lost 50 lbs quickly.

The Final Stage In 1942 the Germans built huge exterminations camps equipped with gas chambers that could kill as many as 6, 000 people in a day. Committees of Nazi doctors separated the strong (mostly men) from the weak (women, children, and elderly). The weak went to their deaths in the gas chambers usually that day. The victims were told to undress and head into the gas chambers under the guise they were taking showers. Cyanide gas from Zyklon B granules came through the fake showerheads.

Holocaust Victims… 6 million Jews 1. 5 million children under 12 “Other Undesirables” 5 million 11 MILLION KILLED

Crowded Conditions

Zyklon B granules on display at Auschwitz Empty Zyklon B canisters found by the Allies at Auschwitz at the end of World War II

Auschwitz Death Camp, Poland

Entrance to Auschwitz “Work will set you free”

This wheeled table helped transport the bodies of the gassed victims to the ovens for cremation.

This mechanism rotated the table upon which the bodies of the gassed victims were transferred to the ovens for cremation.

There was once a building standing here, but this is the area where the Nazis themselves burned this building down to attempt to destroy evidence of the death camps.

inmate barracks

These are burned down barracks where the Nazis again tried to destroy evidence of atrocities in the Auschwitz camp.

Jews Killed Under Nazi Rule* Original Jewish Population Poland Jews Killed Percent Surviving 3, 300, 000 2, 800, 000 15% Soviet Union (area 2, 100, 000 1, 500, 000 29% occupied by Germans) Hungary 404, 000 200, 000 49% Romania 850, 000 425, 000 50% Germany/Austria 270, 000 210, 000 22% *Estimates Source: Hannah Vogt, The Burden of Guilt

The Survivors About six million European Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Less than four million European Jews survived. Some Jews were helped by non-Jews who risked there lives, hid Jews in their homes, and helped them escape to neutral countries.

Have Any Genocides Occurred Since the Holocaust? Holocaust refers specifically to the Jewish/Undesirables Genocide we have presented today Genocide - mass murder of a group of people Ø Ø Ø 1988 Kurdish genocide in Turkey and Iraq 1990 Rwandan genocide in Africa 1991 – 1995 Bosnian genocide in Europe May we never let it happen again…