The Cost of Hate: Past and Present

Think, Pair, ShareAnswer the following questions

independently using complete sentences:

What is discrimination? Have you ever been discriminated against for any reason? If yes, please describe the incident.

DiscriminationThe negative treatment of an individual or a

group based on race, economic status, religion, sex, etc., rather than individual merit (accomplishments).

Examples of discrimination:- Racism- Prejudice- Sexism

The Pyramid of Hate shows how“harmless” discrimination can escalate into extermination.

What is Genocide?With a partner, discuss the definition of Genocide.Genocide: The systematic and purposeful destruction of a racial,

political, religious, or cultural group.Examples of Holocausts in History:- The Holocaust- Armenians- Soviet Union- Cambodia- Rwanda- Yugoslavia- Darfur

The History of Anti-SemitismAnti-Semitism: Discrimination against the Jewish raceJewish race began as slaves in Egypt.Have since been “deported” from:- Babylonia- Spain- Medieval Germany- Russia- Eastern Europe

The Rise of the Nazi PartyThe worst modern example of anti-semitism came with the rise of the

Nazi Political Party, after World War IAdolf Hitler became the chancellor (leader) of Germany and began

preaching highly anti-Jewish views such as:- Lazy- Evil- Inferior

“I had been skating that day…when I got home…we heard that Hitler had become Chancellor. Everybody shook. As kids of ten we shook.”

Leslie Frankel

The Third ReichHitler’s regime was know as the Third Reich (Empire) and

focused on the control of the actions and thoughts of the German people.

Hitler’s personal body guard was known as the Schutzstaffel (SS) and began in the 1920’s. However, by the 1930’s it had become virtually a second German army.

Hitler also instituted a Secret State Police, known as the Gestapo, which had the power and authority to torture people without officially arresting them.

The official sign for the Third Reich became the Swastika.

Think, Pair, ShareIndependently answer the following question:

Explain what you think the Swastika symbol means.

Now that you know the meaning of the symbol, explain why you think Hitler chose this for the symbol of his army.

Brainwashing a CountryHitler felt that the Aryan (white) race was superior

to all others on Earth and that blond hair and blue eyes should be the standard of acceptance.

FYI, Hitler had black hair and dark eyes.Hitler’s goal was to show people that the Jewish

race was inferior. While the Jewish community in Germany saw what a major threat he was, people abroad did not understand how one man could control the thoughts of an entire country.

Brainwashing a CountrySo how did Hitler, not only promote, but get his views

accepted the by the German people?

PROPAGANDALook at the examples of propaganda below, what do you

think propaganda is, based on the pictures?

PropagandaThe distribution of information aimed at influencing the

opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people.Types of Propaganda:- Name Calling- Generalities- Bandwagon Mentality- Pictures- Self Appeal

- Half Truths.

Anti-SemitismWith the rise in popularity of Hitler’s anti-

semitic beliefs came increasing violence and prejudice against German Jews.

- Book burning- Public Humiliations- Night of Broken Glass (November 9, 1938)- Negative Jewish Stereotypes

The beginning of WW II and the introduction of the Jewish GhettosWith the onset of WW II, Hitler issued an order that all Jewish

families be relocated to all-Jewish Ghettos.Ghetto Conditions:- No food- No running water- Disease- Starvation- Crowded Rooms- No privacy- Un-sanitary Conditions

Liquidation and TransportationWhen the ghettos became to much of a cost issue, Hitler

decided to have the ghettos liquidated, cleared out.It was at this point that the “Final Solution” was presented,

and accepted.

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution was the Nazi’s plan to

exterminate all “undesirable” peoples such as Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, and anyone not of the Aryan race.

The plan involved transporting people from the ghettos, as well as other places that were Nazi occupied, to concentration camps located throughout Germany, Poland, and other German occupied areas.

Concentration CampsThere were two types of concentration camps that

prisoners were transported to:- Labor Camps: Camps where prisoners were forced into hard labor.- Death Camps: Camps where prisoners were sent to be exterminated.

However, by the end of the war, most concentration camps served both purposes.

Life in the Concentration CampsFood: When given, food was almost inedible. Thin soups, rotten

bread, and never, never, meat or food with nutritious value.Shelter: Inmates were forced to share hard rectangular barracks with

up to five additional prisoners. The barracks were stacked one on top of another, very claustrophobic.

Disease: Disease ran rampant in the camps,infections such as Typus attacked most prisoners. If the Nazis did not kill the prisoners, disease certainly did.Cruel Sport: The German soldiers would often attack prisoners in

what they would call “Sport.” They would shoot children in front of their parents, beat prisoners for no reason, and publicly humiliate anyone they chose.

ExterminationIn addition to the daily threats of the ghetto, prisoners

lived in constant fear of being exterminated.Methods of extermination:- Gas Chamber- Medical Experiments- Shooting- Crematorium

Liberation!Liberation of the camps began in 1945. Upon arriving at the camps,

the allied troops saw unspeakable horrors:- Men, women, and children starved beyond recognition- Mass graves- Torture Sites

It was not until the liberation that the allied troops felt the full power of what horror had occurred due to the Nazi’s “Final Solution.”

Liberation!By May of 1945, the allies had liberated (freed) all of the

concentration camps.“ There our troops found sights, sounds, and stenches

horrible beyond belief, cruelties so enormous as to be incomprehensible to the normal mind.”

Colonel William W. QuinnBut the battle was not over for the Jewish population of Europe.After liberation, the true fight began.

Disbelief“I have never felt able to describe my emotional

reaction when I first came face to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard of every shred of decency… I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it m duty to be in a position from then on to testify at first hand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.”

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Aftermath of an AtrocityUpon being liberated, the prisoners of the

concentration camps were not free to go back to their homes quite yet. They first had to go through various “crisis management” stages such as:

- Disease disinfection- Medical Checkups- Registration of Names - Finding surviving family members, which normally

there were none

Retribution for GermanyThough Hitler and many of his compatriots

were dead, the world felt that Germany, as a whole, should be held responsible for the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.

With a partner, discuss whether or not you feel this is fair.

Retribution for GermanySome of the punishments inflicted on

Germans included:- Forcing population to bury bodies- Showing German people the camps- Verbal abuse- Imprisonment within concentration camps

These were not only Nazi guards forced into submission, but the entire German population.

Not the End….Genocide did not end, or begin, with the

Holocaust. Modern Holocausts:Rwanda- Hundreds of thousands deadDarfur- Up to 400, 000 deadCambodia- 750,000 dead

“I have tried to keep memory alive… I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.”

Elie Wiesel