Consequences of World War II
THE HOLOCAUST
Part 1
Objective: Analyze the consequences of World War II including theHolocaust and its impact.
Partner Question
1. Share what you know about the Holocaust.
History of the Holocaust Hitler and the Nazis came to power in 1933 The Nazis claimed that the German people were a superior race called
Aryans. The Nazis looked down on non-Aryan people.
This group included Jews, Slavic peoples [Poles], and Gypsies [Roma]. They also felt that Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Communists,
homosexuals, and people with physical or mental disorders were inferior to them.
Many of these people became victims of systematic, government-sponsored persecution and extermination.
The Nazis were most relentless toward the Jews. Their murder of some 6 million Jews and 5 million other people is
known as the Holocaust [close to 12 million].
Treaty of Versailles Devastating defeat of WWI and Treaty of Versailles created
the climate for the Holocaust The humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles created
resentment among the German people. Hitler was able to use this resentment to his advantage by
blaming Jews for Germany’s economic problems. In Mein Kampf, he refers to Jews as parasites and warns
that they will hurt the Aryan race: The mightiest counterpart to the Aryan is represented by the Jew.
When Hitler took power in 1933, he had his chance to turn his racial beliefs into government policy.
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Partner Questions 2. What document caused
resentment in Germany following WWI?
3. Who used this resentment to his advantage?
4. Who was blamed for all the problems of Germany?
Nuremberg Laws The organized persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany began with the
passage of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. One of these laws, “The Law for the Protection of German Blood and
German Honor,” prohibited all marriages between Jews and German Christians.
“The Reich Citizenship Law” denied German citizenship to Jews. Jews were reclassified as “nationals” and were banned from certain
jobs. Access to education was blocked, and property rights were taken away. Eventually, all Jews were issued special identification cards and were
required to wear a yellow star on their clothing to identify them in public.
Some German cities put up signs that said, “Jews Not Welcome.”
Partner Question5. Describe the Nuremberg Laws in your own words.
Kristallnacht Not surprisingly, violence against Jews soon followed these
measures. An incident November 7, 1938, set off a wave of violence. A Jewish teenager living in Paris was upset that his family in
Germany had been forced out of their home and deported to Poland.
The teenager went to the Germany embassy in Paris and shot a German official.
This official died two days later. Joseph Goebbels, the German minister of propaganda, used the
incident as an excuse to sanction violence against German Jews.
Kristallnacht On November 9 and 10, 1938, the violence began. German mobs roamed the streets of cities and towns,
attacking Jewish-owned businesses and Jewish homes. Windows were broken. Shops were looted and property destroyed. Jewish schools and cemeteries were vandalized. Over 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses were destroyed. Hundreds of Jews were beaten, and nearly 100 died in the
violence. Thousands were arrested and taken off to concentration
camps.
Kristallnacht The two-night campaign of violence against German
Jews is now called Kristallnacht, which means “Night of Broken Glass.”
It was the beginning of ever-increasing violence against Jewish people.
Many historians consider Kristallnacht the beginning of the Holocaust.
Partner Questions6. What does Kristallnacht
mean?7. Describe the Kristallnacht.
Kristallnacht The German government blamed the Jews for starting the violence of
Kristallnacht. In retaliation, it issued a new set of restrictive laws against Jews in
Germany and German-held territory. Jews were required to turn over any gold or other precious metals to
the government. Jewish-owned jewelry, art, and stocks and bonds were subject
confiscation at any time. Driver’s licenses were suspended. Jews were prohibited from owning weapons, carrier pigeons, or radios. A nationwide curfew for Jews was established to keep them off the
streets during nighttime hours.
Partner Questions 8. What is considered to be the beginning the
Holocaust? 9. What was the response of the Nazi
government to Kristallnacht? 10. How did the Nazi government attempt to
suppress [keep out] information about Kristallnacht and other activities pertaining to the Jews treatment in Germany and German-held territories? [Limit Jewish Communication]
M. I. Libaue quoted in Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust
All the things for which my parents had worked for eighteen long years were destroyed in less than ten minutes. Piles of valuable glasses, expensive furniture, linens-in short everything was destroyed….The Nazis left us yelling, “Don’t try to leave this house! We’ll soon be back again and take you to a concentration camp to be shot.”
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Entry #24 5/16/14
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_oi.php?MediaId=2712
What is your reaction [emotions, feelings] to Libau’s quote and the video? 2
