Nazi Persecution of the Jews

• Holocaust– A great or complete devastation or destruction,

especially by fire.– Shoah• Catastrophe

– Any group considered inferior• Disabled• Gypsies• Homosexuals• Slavic people

Nuremburg Laws• September 1935– Took citizenship away from Jewish Germans– Banned marriage between Jews and Germans– Holding public office/ voting– At least 1 Jewish grandparent– 1938 banned from many jobs– Reluctant to leave

Only a person of 'German blood' (four white circles, top row left, on the chart) could be a German citizen.

Kristallnacht “night of broken glass”

• November 7, 1938– Herschel Grynszpan shot and killed a German

diplomat– Hitler ordered ‘spontaneous’ raids– Police were forbidden to interfere– Gestapo

• Secret police• Arrested over 20, 000 wealthy Jews• Demanded Jews pay for the damage• More than 90 dead

Trying to Flee• Between 1933 & 1939, 350, 000 Jews escaped• 1938– 100, 000 visas backlogged– Following Anschluss

• 3,000 Austrian Jews each day• Why was it so difficult to leave??– Money– Many countries refused to accept them– U.S. laws restricted anyone who may become a public

charge• Unemployment• Few wanted to raise immigration quotas• 150, 000 annually

– 1938• Countries regretted they could not take in more without raising

quotas– 1939

• SS St. Louis

The Final Solution • January 20, 1942– Wannsee Conference– Concentration Camps• Slaves

– Extermination Camps• Elderly, infirm, young children sent to massive gas

chambers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5WXIF67J2w&feature=related

Nazi Death and Concentration Camps

Dehumanizing • Valuables taken• Stripped• Heads shaved• Separated• Medical experiments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHm7zF3R1JI&feature=related

Why??• German peoples sense of injury after WWI• Severe economic problems• Hitler’s control over the German

nation/Propaganda • Lack of strong tradition of representative

government• Fear of Hitler’s Gestapo• Long history of anti-Jewish prejudice and

discrimination• Government Control

Assignment• Why was it difficult for Jewish people to leave

Europe? • What methods of extermination were used in

the concentration camps?• Create a timeline of events from this section.

Include a minimum of 3 events.– Write event, date, & explanation– Ex. Nuremburg Laws, Sept. 1935, took citizenship

away from Jewish Germans

• Why do you think this was allowed to go on for so long? Explain.