“for the dead and the living we must bear witness” eli wiesel
TRANSCRIPT
This power point was completed from the work of
Dr. Karl Schleunes UNC- Greensboro
And The North Carolina Council on the Holocaust
Audio clips courtesy of WWII German Veteran, Gerd Hans Marohm, February 22, 2014
Credits
1) Separation of “us” and “them”2) Idea that “us” are better than “them”3) “us” is superior and “ them” is inferior – less than, unworthy of life
These three factors lead to things like prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes
How did it start?
Bystander – one who stands by and does nothing when injustice takes place
The majority of people were bystanders often out of fear or because they considered Jews and others affected to be “not us”
Opposite of a bystander: upstander – those who are willing to stand up
Bystander
“The longest hatred in Western culture”Pagan Era – Jews introduce monotheism into
a polytheistic world… what does that mean?Jews became defined as the “other”, a
peculiar people – they were telling polytheistic believers (by implication) that their religion was wrong.
The Longest Hatred
Early Christianity defines and shapes the new European world… Jews seen as evil
Church decrees that loaning money at interest is a mortal sin – stereotype – Jews as money lenders, stingy, people who will cheat you
1215 – Pope decrees that Jews must wear a star so that they can be avoided
The Longest Hatred
1300s – Blamed for the spread of the bubonic plague
1290-1500s – Jews constantly expelled from Western Europe
The Longest Hatred
Martin Luther originally wrote a pamphlet that said he understood why the Jews didn’t want to convert (when Rome was in charge)
Later on, after Luther reformed the church, he published “The Jews and Their Lies” (1543)
“First, their synagogues or churches should be set on fire… Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed…They ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like gypsies…Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer books…Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach anymore.”
He went on to suggest that Jews should be placed into work camps…
Protestant Reformation and the Jews
Revolution = the idea of legal EQUALITY of men
Rousseau wrote an essay on the origin of the inequality of man – these inequalities were created by men, not a higher power, and can be undone
Enlightenment/Revolution
Jews began to assimilate into 19th century German societyEntry into business world (Industrial
Revolution)Entry into German cultural world (art,
literature, music, etc.)Entry into medicine, law, journalismHigh rate of marriage between Jewish and
Germans**People began to resent the success of the Jews
Things Looking Up?
The threat of this century – The birth of Modern Racism: suggested that inequalities among humans are made by biology
There are superior (Aryan) and inferior races…Science says it, so it must be true… Right?
Meanwhile in the 19th Century…
Darwin’s concepts in “On the Origin of Species” (1859) of survival of the fittest and natural selection applied to nations and races
Social Darwinism was especially popular in Germany
1879 – the term Anti-Semitism is introducedJews = Semitic race, Anti = against
Connecting Modern Racism and Social Darwinism
Jews were assimilating into German culture and life, while doing this, they were also infusing into the German race (Jews and Germans marrying)
Jews = inferior raceGermans = superior, Aryan race
This will drag the superior people down…
The problem with Jews in Germany
Notion that nations can be superior because of their social composition = they have been naturally selected by nature to control
So what’s the problem with Jews being in Germany and infusing into their race, culture, daily life, government, etc.?
Darwin’s idea on a national scale…
Breed a superior raceRoot out “inferior stock”Solve social problems – crime, poverty,
disease
How?Selective breeding/sterilization, and
eventually much worse
Birth of a new science = Eugenics “good breeding”
How did all of this translate for a man like Adolf Hitler?
1900 – Germany had become the world’s leading power
What went wrong?WWI – Germans did not believe that they
were responsible for WWI starting – they had been attacked unfairly by the Allies who were jealous
Rush to defend the motherland, millions of young men volunteer
Why Germany?
Many thought it would be over by Christmas, but it was not over by Christmas 1914…1915…1916… or 1917
Tremendous sacrifices demanded on the battlefield and the home front – Turnip winter – turnips replaced essential foods
The war was supposed to be short…
German leaders insist that Germany is winning – demand more sacrifices
October 1918 – Germans are told that they are losing the war = shock “How could we be winning for four years and then suddenly surrender?”
The Cold Hard Truth
November 1918 – Revolution – monarchy overthrown
1919 – Versailles Treaty – German Guilt Clause
1919-1933 The shock continues…Hyperinflation - $$ worth lessBrutalization of German politics –
assassinations, roving political armies
Big Question: Who is to blame for all of this?
Falling Apart…
1929: The Great Depression begins 1930s: Failure of democratic politics in
Germany
Situation is ripe for a manipulator to come in and save the day… Wonder who that could be?
Depression
** Pressure on the political system allowed Hitler to come to power, he had an answer to the problems…
Hitler was extremely charismatic - remarkable speaking abilities
Hitler’s promises:1. Restore Germany to world leadership2. Restore the economy3. Purify the Aryan race (eugenics)4. Solve the “Jewish Problem”
Why Hitler
AUDIO: 6:42-8:39 Hitler’s charisma/ Plan for Germanyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEMvuJiwTU
“Big Lie” Theory of PropagandaJews are responsible for all of Germany’s
troublesJews are revolutionaries, communists, run the
world capitalsJews are responsible for the Versailles treaty
and the war guilt clauseJews “stabbed the German army in the back”Jews are responsible for $$ inflation Jews are responsible for Germany’s racial
decline
Hitler draws on the hate throughout history to fuel his argument against the Jews:
The Eternal Jew
Illustration from a children's book. The headlines say "Jews are our misfortune" and "How the Jew cheats." Germany, 1936. — US Holocaust Memorial Museum
“The God of the Jews is money. To earn money, he commits the greatest crimes…” "The Jew: The inciter of war, the
prolonger of war."
January 1933 – Hitler becomes Chancellor and soon established a total dictatorship
One of the many speeches:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0Et56Hxt4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFNUdCtMXWE
Chancellor to Dictator
Hitler’s racial policies – purifying the German race
1933 – sterilization law – people with hereditary problems were sterilized so that they could not reproduce1935 – Nuremburg Laws – brings an end to race mixing 1939 – euthanasia of the physically and mentally handicapped
Why the Holocaust?
The Gestapo’s Helpers: poster justifying the prohibition of “interracial” relationships between Jews and Non-Jews under the Nuremburg Laws. Many Germans reported suspicions of the “crime” to the police, who needed the public to be their eyes and ears in this and other matters. Informers were variously motivated by political beliefs, personal prejudices, and desire to settle petty quarrels, or the patriotic desire to be a “good citizen”
“Everyone cringes with fear… No letter, no telephone conversation , no word on the street is safe anymore. Everyone fears that the next person might be an informer.” – Jewish professor, Victor Klemperer, 1933Photo of poster and information taken from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Hitler’s racial policies – Jewish PoliciesSegregation of Jews – March 1933
Concentration Camps – starting with DachauAryanization – Jews robbed of property and
assetsAryan paragraph, 1933“prevented Jews from becoming members of German political parties, social clubs, student groups, sports groups and others and included in constitutions of nationalist and racist student associations.”
Why the Holocaust?
Six Jews in the middle of the board game… you had to get yours out first…
“Jews Out” board game
It was nearly impossible …Emigration – where to?
Difficult due to the DepressionRestrictive immigration laws in the U.S. and
elsewhereFDR calls a conference to discuss Jewish
Refugees – countries would come ONLY if they didn’t have to take any Jews
Jews can’t stay anywhere and can’t go anywhere…
Why didn’t the Jews leave?
“The whole function of all education is to create a Nazi” - Bernhard Rust, Reich Minister of Science and Education
Nazification of Schools
Poster promoting the League of German Girls
At that time we are now in the beginning of the war -- announcements preceded by march music, we learned about the number of ships the u boasts sunk constantly. During that time, I got excited … you have to take into the context that we were taught to support Hitler. At 10 a boy became a member of the Hitler youth. You went to weekly meetings, any time things were going on politically in Berlin we had to be present there. I laugh about that fact that me and the Pope were both the same age and were both Hitler youths. He grew up like I did, not in Berlin, but a smaller city, but he was a Hitler youth too.
From Gerd’s perspective as a Hitler youth:
National Socialist Teacher’s League – aligning all teachers with Nazi ideology – 97% of all teachers were members, 32% were also Nazi party members
Nazification of Schools
Removal of Jewish teachers
AWAY WITH HIM
The long arm of the ministry of education pulls the Jewish teacher from his classroom.
Nazification of Schools
Ghettoes for Jews Created by Nazis
Death camps built in Poland – Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka
Hundreds of Concentration camps across occupied Europe
Heinrich Himmler in charge of operation
With WWII Comes the Holocaust
The Holocaust and War Crimes
Hitler’s hatred of Jews led to his “final solution”
Holocaust – the killing of millions of Jews and anyone else considered undesirable
between 9 and 12 million people were murdered, 6 million were Jews
Video about the US Holocaust Museum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf2u17yKR0Q&safe=activeChild of the
Holocausthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWneASsotkc&safe=active
The Death CampsAfter deportation trains arrived at the killing centers, guards ordered the deportees to get out and form a line. The victims then went through a selection process. Men were separated from women and children. A Nazi, usually an SS physician, looked quickly at each person to decide if he or she was healthy and strong enough for forced labor. This SS officer then pointed to the left or the right; victims did not know that individuals were being selected to live or die. Babies and young children, pregnant women, the elderly, the handicapped, and the sick had little chance of surviving this first selection.
The Death CampsThose who had been selected to die were led to gas chambers. In order to prevent panic, camp guards told the victims that they were going to take showers to rid themselves of lice. The guards instructed them to turn over all their valuables and to undress. Then they were driven naked into the "showers." A guard closed and locked the steel door. In some killing centers, carbon monoxide was piped into the chamber. In others, camp guards threw "Zyklon B" pellets down an air shaft. Zyklon B was a highly poisonous insecticide also used to kill rats and insects.
The Death CampsUsually within minutes after entering the gas chambers, everyone inside was dead from lack of oxygen. Under guard, prisoners were forced to haul the corpses to a nearby room, where they removed hair, gold teeth, and fillings. The bodies were burned in ovens in the crematoria or buried in mass graves. Many people profited from the pillage of corpses. Camp guards stole some of the gold. The rest was melted down and deposited in an SS bank account. Private business firms bought and used the hair to make many products, including ship rope and mattresses.
Excerpt from Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize Lecture
Indeed this was another universe; the very laws of nature had been transformed. Children looked like old men, old men whimpered like children. Men and women from every corner of Europe were suddenly reduced to nameless and faceless creatures desperate for the same ration of bread or soup, dreading the same end. Even their silence was the same for it resounded with the memory of those who were gone. Life in this accursed universe was so distorted, so unnatural that a new species had evolved. Waking among the dead, one wondered if one were still alive...
AUDIO: 33:10- 34:12 (Intro) resume at 35:09- 40:34 “That Jewish Question is a terrible question”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEMvuJiwTU
LiberationAllied troops moved
across Europe Encountered tens of
thousands of concentration camp prisoners
Many of these prisoners had survived forced marches (Nazis moved them and destroyed camps)
“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” – Elie Wiesel
Never…
6 million Jews were killed as a result of Hitler’s final solution. The question now is, who will be held responsible?
“We were just following orders…”
So What Now?
The Allies and the TrialsWinston Churchill did not want a trial
Thought all should be hungAmericans and Russians wanted a trialHow do you try people for the murder of
millions of people that had been made “legal” under Hitler?
The CrimesCrime of conspiracy
Leaders, organizers, instigators, and accomplices in the formulation or execution of a common plan, or a conspiracy to commit any of the following crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in executing such a plan.
The CrimesCrimes against peace
Planning, preparing or initiating a war of aggression.
War CrimesThis meant breaking the rules of war. It
included killing prisoners or war and destroying homes and property
The CrimesCrimes against humanity
The murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population before or during the war.
Who should be tried?The first job facing the
court at Nuremberg was to decide who should be tried.
24 Nazi’s were indicted22 stood trialThe rest were turned
over to local trials
How the trials were set upAllies formed the International Military
Tribunal (IMT) to bring the Nazi leaders to trialTribunal is a court of justice
The defendants were made aware of all charges, each was entitled to a lawyer and had the right to plead his own case, offering witnesses and evidence on his behalf.
The Nuremberg TrialsBegan Nov. 20,
1945 and lasted 10 months
Chief prosecutor was Robert H. Jackson, justice on United States Supreme CourtOpening
Statement by Jackson
Statement by Jackson“We must never forget that the record on
which we judge these defendants today is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well.”
The ProsecutionUsed the Nazi’s own recordsTried to show the Nazis planned a war and
planned to conquer the world if they couldA crime against peace
A minor part of the prosecution was documents and witnesses of the Holocaust
The DefenseToo much evidence to claim the Holocaust
didn’t happenHad to make case on other issues
Said tribunal had no legal authoritySaid they were just following orders
The DefenseVehemently denied responsibility for crimes
against humanityUsed the argument Fuhrer-prinzip
Nazi “leadership principal”All orders given in Germany were Hitler’s orders
and the punishment for not obeying was death.
The details of what the Nazi’s had done became vivid to the rest of the world
PBS Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsOpcMFkrFs
AUDIO: 52:12-end Lasting Impression about Germany, German people https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEMvuJiwTU
Audio from Morris Glass, a Holocaust survivor:
https://vimeo.com/44009592
Primary Sources