Holocaust Virtual Field Trip

Welcome to the Holocaust virtual field trip! Today we will take a trip through time and space to revisit locations that have a tragic history and played host to many atrocities. Please be sure to take in the sights and sounds as we travel. As we travel through history please make sure you are responsible caretakers of the stories of these people and the hardships they face. Some sounds may startle you but may be great learning opportunities.!

Itinerary!

Nuremberg!

Kristallnact!

Auschwitz!

Visit with Eva

Holocaust: The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. !!Propaganda: Propaganda is biased information designed to shape public opinion and behavior.

The text of this 1940 poster reads: “Youth Serves the Führer. All 10-year-olds into the Hitler Youth.” Membership in the Hitler Youth had become mandatory in 1936.

The caption: “The Jew: The inciter of war, the prolonger of war.” This poster was released in late 1943 or early 1944. The artist was Hans Schweitzer (“Mjölnir”). Courtesy of Dr. Robert D. Brooks.

Persuading the German People How was Hitler able to win over millions of Germans to the Nazi cause? His success began with the desperate situation of the German people after 1929. Many Germans were ready to listen to the messages on the Nazi posters that said, “Hitler, Our Last Hope.” !Why did people who had previously not had hatred towards Jews join in anti-Semitism? One reason is that the Nazis were masters of propaganda. Propaganda is the spreading of false information to purposely mislead people. Through the use of propaganda, the Nazis told big lies about the Jews and convinced the German people to believe them

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Nazi Party Day, Nuremberg, 1934 Adolf Hitler is the central figure of the three men in the foreground who are facing us and giving the straight-armed salute.

Hitler became Chancellor of Germany by legal means. He rose to power according to the rules of Germany’s democratic system.However, his first goal when he became chancellor was to destroy democracy in Germany.

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The Nuremberg laws took away all of the civil rights of Germany’s Jews. “German or related blood” “Law for Protection of German Blood and German Honor.” There were laws forbidding Jews to do most of the things people often take for granted. For example, Jews could not go to public parks, use public swimming pools, or even own a dog.

The Nuremberg laws took away all of the civil rights of Germany’s Jews. The laws also completely separated them from the rest of society. There was little the Jews of Germany could do to defend themselves. By the end of 1933, there were signs on thousands of roads, shops, and other places with the message “Jews not wanted.” During 1934, a campaign took shape to create “Jew free” villages. Mobs of Nazi supporters entered villages and dragged Jews from their homes. They whipped, beat, and insulted their victims. Some were cruelly murdered. There were laws forbidding Jews to do most of the things people often take for granted. For example, Jews could not go to public parks, use public swimming pools, or even own a dog. In September 1935, the Nazi party held a meeting in the town of Nuremberg. They announced two new laws. The first law said that only a person of “German or related blood” could be a German citizen. This law stripped the Jews of their German citizenship. The second law was called the “Law for Protection of German Blood and German Honor.” It made marriage between Jews and other Germans illegal. Severe punishment awaited anyone who dared to violate the law.

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In April, the Nazi government announced that Germans should boycott Jewish businesses for one day. To boycott is to refuse to do business or associate with a certain individual or group. Storm troopers stood in front of Jewish-owned stores with signs stating “German people, defend yourselves. Don’t buy from Jews.” They painted anti-Jewish slogans of the word “Jew” on shop windows. Germans who dared to shop in Jewish stores were insulted and often beaten.

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On November 9, 1938 came Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass). As the Nazi mobs shattered the glass in Jewish homes and stores, they also shattered the last bit of hope that Jews had for a future in Germany. The Results of the Night of Broken Glass ♣ After Kristallnacht about 150,000 Jews fled Germany. However, those who settled in neighboring countries in Europe did not go far enough.

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Jewish Couple Wearing Yellow Stars: A Jewish couple in the Budapest ghetto wear yellow stars on their jackets. In April of 1944, a declaration ordered all Jews in Hungary to prominently wear yellow stars. (Photo Credit: Yevgeny Khaldei/CORBIS)

Roll call for newly arrived prisoners, mostly Jews arrested during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"), at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Buchenwald, Germany, 1938. — US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Ghetto !a part of a city, esp. a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups. • historically the Jewish quarter in a city: such as the Warsaw Ghetto.

After the boycott, violence against the Jews continued. The violent acts of the Nazi storm troopers frightened Germans and Jews alike. It also helped to push Jews out of German society. The violence stirred up anti-Semitism and hatred towards Jews. ♣ Many Jews were murdered or arrested on German streets. ♣ The Nazis murdered four thousand Jews in a two-week period at the Dachau concentration camp. In 1933, quotas were set up limiting the number of Jews who could attend public schools. That meant thousands of Jewish children had to leave their schools. The Jewish children who remained in the public schools found themselves under constant attack.

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Nazis marching in Poland after they gain control.

When the German army marched into Poland on September 1, 1939, . Two days later, France and Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. World War II had begun.

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Auschwitz

The Jews were transported out of the ghettos and to the concentration camps by trains (rail cars). All of the concentration camps were built next to railroads for this reason. The train cars that were used to transport the Jews were small and cramped. !

Up to one hundred Jews were cramped into a small rail car. There was no heat or blankets given to the prisoners and people would freeze to death or be killed by their neighbors if they had any food. !

It was quite common for up to 50% of the occupants to die during a single train ride.

12) The Jews were transported out of the ghettos and to the concentration camps by trains (rail cars). All of the concentration camps were built next to railroads for this reason. The train cars that were used to transport the Jews were small and cramped. !Up to one hundred Jews were cramped into a small rail car. There was no heat or blankets given to the prisoners and people would freeze to death or be killed by their neighbors if they had any food. !It was quite common for up to 50% of the occupants to die during a single train ride. !

Wedding Rings Taken From Concentration Camp Inmates

Victims' Suitcases at Auschwitz : Battered suitcases sit in a pile in a room at Auschwitz. The cases, most inscribed with each owner's name, were taken from prisoners upon their arrival at the camps. (Photo Credit: Michael St. Maur Sheil/CORBIS)

All of their possessions were confiscated, Wedding rings, suitcases, and shoes.

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Gate at Auschwitz: The phrase on the main entrance gateway to the Auschwitz camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau translates to "Work will make you free." Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest Nazi concentration camp and extermination camp. (Photo Credit: Michael St. Maur Sheil/CORBIS)

After jews arrived the last words many of them saw translates to Work will set you free. !Do you think that was the case?

01The living conditions were inhumane as there was no food, water, or area to get rid of human waste.

01Bunks in Auschwitz Dormitory: This photo from 1981 shows the interior of one of the dormitory houses at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. (Photo Credit: Gianni Giansanti/Sygma/Corbis)

Daily food ration. The bread was mixed with sawdust for texture.

People had to wash and share restrooms with others.

With limited abilities to eat the victims of the holocaust suffered from starvation.

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Gas Chamber at Auschwitz : This gas chamber was the largest room in Crematorium I at Auschwitz. The room was originally used as a mortuary but was converted in 1941 into a gas chamber where Soviet POWs and Jews were killed. (Photo Credit: Michael St. Maur Sheil/CORBIS)

VOCABULARY BURST !Genocide The deliberate killing of a large group of people, esp. those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

Picture of gas chamber This gas chamber was the largest room in Crematorium I at Auschwitz. The room was originally used as a mortuary but was converted in 1941 into a gas chamber where Soviet POWs and Jews were killed.* There will also be a vocabulary burst on this slide introducing the word genocide

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Fences surrounded the concentration camp at Auschwitz. These two pictures give you an idea of the proximity of the living quarters and the crematorium. An estimated 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 people were killed at the camp. A row of chimneys tops the crematorium, where bodies were burned after dying at the hands of the Nazis. (Photo Credit: Paul Almasy/CORBIS)

Auschwitz Fences and Crematorium: Fences surrounded the concentration camp at Auschwitz. These two pictures give you an idea of the proximity of the living quarters and the crematorium. An estimated 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 people were killed at the camp. A row of chimneys tops the crematorium, where bodies were burned after dying at the hands of the Nazis.

01Cremation Oven Room at Auschwitz: The ovens at Auschwitz cremated the bodies of those who died in the camp. (Photo Credit: David Sutherland/Corbis)

This what the inside of the crematorium looked like. Today many people pass though and lay flowers and wreaths to honor those who died at the hands of the nazis.

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The crowd cheers as Allied forces arrive at Auschwitz.

Soviet Union Forces Aiding people out of the camp.

011945, Auschwitz After Liberation: Burying the Dead

Two survivors prepare food outside the barracks. On the right is presumably Jean (Johnny) Voste, born in Belgian Congo, was the only black prisoner in Dachau.

FAQ’s

Why didn’t the Jewish people fight back?

The statement that Jews did not fight back against the Germans and their allies is false. Jews carried out acts of resistance in every German-occupied country and in the territory of Germany’s Axis partners. Against impossible odds, they resisted in ghettos, concentration camps, and killing centers. There were many factors that made resistance difficult, however, including a lack of weapons and resources, deception, fear, and the overwhelming power of the Germans and their collaborators.

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How did they know who was jewish?

German officials identified Jews residing in Germany through census records, tax returns, synagogue membership lists, parish records (for converted Jews), routine but mandatory police registration forms, the questioning of relatives, and from information provided by neighbors and officials. In territory occupied by Nazi Germany or its Axis partners, Jews were identified largely through Jewish community membership lists, individual identity papers, captured census documents and police records, and local intelligence networks.

Welcome Back

✤ I hope you had a very enriching field trip through the holocaust.!

✤ Now lets meet Eva!