Nazi Persecution of the JewsThe Holocaust resulted in the death of 6 million Jews and 4 million other “undesirables” such as political opponents, Slavs, Gypsies, and people with physical and mental handicaps.A. Nazi IdeologyAnti-Semitism had a long history in Europe before Hitler, resulting in discrimination (forbidden to own land) and isolation in segregated communities (ghettos). When Hitler came to power, his anti-Semitism became political policy. The Nuremberg LawsBeginning in September 1935 the Nuremberg Laws stripped German Jews of their rights1. took away citizenship 2. banned marriages of Jews and other Germans 3. defined Jews as anyone having a Jewish grandparent4. prohibited holding public office or voting 5. forbade Jews from employing German female servants under age 35 6. mandated “Jewish” surnames7. marked passports with a red J to denote Judaism8. prohibited Jews from certain jobs – civil servants, journalists, farmers, teachers, actors, lawyers, doctors, business owners

Many Jews chose to remain in Germany, reluctant to leave and start over elsewhere, also many believed their conditions would improve over time.

1. How many Jews were killed by Hitler?2. How was Anti-Semitism expressed before Hitler?4. What was the effect of the Nuremberg Laws?3. Which of the Nuremberg Laws do you find the most offensive and why?

(19.3) The Holocaust

A Jewish woman on a park bench labeled “For Jews only.”

This chart explains the Nuremberg marriage laws and illustrates how those with Jewish ancestry were not allowed to others. (Verboten = forbidden)

– Kristallnacht – “night of broken glass”• On 7 November 1938 Jewish refugee Herschel Grynszpan shot and killed a

German diplomat in Paris in revenge for his father and 10.000 other Jews being deported to Poland and the other acts of persecution

• An angry Hitler ordered his minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels to stage attacks on Jews that would appear to be popular reaction to the murder

• On 9 November anti-Jewish violence erupted throughout Germany and Austria with mobs attacking Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues, and the streets were littered with broken glass

• 90 Jews were killed and hundreds injured• The next day the Gestapo, Hitler’s secret police, arrested over 20.000 wealthy

Jews and only released them after they promised to surrender their possessions to the state and emigrate

• The Jewish community was then financially targeted by having insurance payments confiscated after the event and being ordered to pay the state for the damages caused during the riots

1. What event triggered Kristallnacht?2. What happened on Kristallnacht?3. Who was targeted by the Gestapo and why?4. How were the victims of Kristallnacht further insulted after the 9 November?

5. How would you feel if your place of worship, business and home had been targeted on Kristallnacht?

Jewish Refugees Try to FleeKristallnacht marked an escalation in both Nazi persecution and Jewish emigration (exiting). Between 1933-1939, 350.000 Jews emigrated from Germany while thousands more tried to leave. By 1938 the American consulate had a backlog of more than 100.000 visa applications (document that allows you to emigrate to a country) and 3.000 Austrian Jews a day applied for a visa to the US following the Anschluss. Many countries, including the US had strict, limited quotas on the number of Jews allowed to immigrate so many never made it out of Germany. Jews had difficulty emigrating because:

1. Nazis would not allow Jews to take their wealth out of the country2. many countries refused Jewish immigrants3. high domestic unemployment rates made immigration unpopular4. immigration quotas were fixed and there were no exceptions for refugees or victims of persecution

Many ships left Germany crammed with Jews desperate to escape, however all persons with forged or illegal visas were denied admission to countries of safety, including the US. The SS St Louis is an example of a ship that was denied permission to land in Cuba with 930 Jews due to anti-Semitic sentiment stirred up by Nazi propaganda. The ship also attempted to land in Florida and was denied. Eventually the ship returned to Europe where the Jews disembarked in France, Holland, Belgium and Great Britain. Within 2 years three of those countries were under Nazi control and the majority of the refugees from the SS St Louis were killed in Nazi concentration camps.

1. What event caused Jews to try to emigrate from Germany?2. What event caused Jews to try to emigrate from Austria?3. Why was emigration difficult for the Jews (3 reasons)?4. Why were the people on the SS St Louis not allowed to land in Cuba or the US?5. What happened to the majority of refugees from the SS St Louis?

• SS St Louis

The Final SolutionAt the Wannsee Conference in January 1942 Nazi leaders met to determine the “final solution” to the Jewish question. Previous methods of eliminating the Jews and other “undesirables” had included mass shootings and burial, and killing with automobile exhaust fumes. At Wannsee the plan was made to round up Jews and put them in concentration camps where healthy individuals would work as slave labor until they died, and the elderly, ill, and children would be sent to extermination camps and executed in gas chambers.

Concentration Camps• The first concentration camp was established in 1933 to house political

opponents – Dachau, north of Munich• Buchenwald, one of the largest camps built in 1937, housed over 200.000

prisoners who worked as slaves in nearby factoriesExtermination Camps

• After Wannsee the Nazis built extermination facilities in many concentration camps, mostly in Poland

• At camps such as Treblinka and Auschwitz Jews were the main victims with gas chamber killing 2.000-12.000a day

• Approximately 1.600.000 people died at Auschwitz, all but 300.000 were Jews

Within a few years the Jewish citizenry and culture had almost been erased from Europe1. What was decided at the Wannsee Conference?2. What methods did Hitler use to eliminate the Jewish population of Europe?3. What is the difference between a concentration camp and an extermination

camp?

4. The sign above the entry gate reads “work will make you free.” Why do you think the Nazis put this at the entry to the camps?

Liberation of the Camps