Prejudice, Discrimination, and Eventually Genocide

Anti-Semitism: What is it?

Holocaust History Power Point # 1

Anti-Semitism: The History Behind the

Term• First used in 19th century by Walter Marr, a German.

• Today the term means “hatred of Jews and Judaism” but that was not the original meaning.

• Semitic – a group of languages (Arabic, Aramaic, Amharic, and Hebrew)• Because Jews speak Hebrew, it somehow came to mean “anti-Jewish”

through the years• Semite – any member of ancient and modern people speaking any of the

Semitic languages

• In reaction to anti-Semitism based on race, many Jews insisted that Judaism was a religion.

• Stated they were as French, Russian, or German as any other citizen

• Jews were blamed for Germany’s defeat in WW I, even though they fought bravely for their country.

• Anti-Semitism later became the Nazi Party policy

Early Prejudice Against Jews

• Began way before the Holocaust• 1179—1215

– Lateran Councils put restrictions on all non-Catholics

– Required to wear yellow badges

– Supposed to live a part from Christians

– Forced to listen to sermons– Books were censoredPope Alexander III,

who presided over the third Lateran Council in 1179

More Early Examples of Prejudice• England

– King Edward I seized the possessions of 16,000 Jews and expelled them

• France– King Philip robbed his Jewish subjects

• France – Napoleon’s armies marched across Europe– He asked for Jews to become part of French

civilization• Austria

– Really bad for Jews here– Queen Maria Theresa (1760)

• Required all unbearded Jews to wear yellow badge

• Not allowed to buy vegetables until 9 a.m., or cattle before 11 a.m.

• Taxed 3 million florins each year for ten years to live in Austria

– Joseph II• Abolished the tax• Let Jews attend schools• Serve in the army

– Francis II• Put Maria Theresa’s restrictions back in place• 1867 all rules removed

King Edward I

Pogroms were started to relieve public unrestA time when mobs attacked Jews or stole their property without punishment

Anti-Semitism in Germany• Jews became isolated over the years

– Could not speak or write in German– Moses Mendelssohn

• Brilliant Jewish scholar• Translated Torah into German so Jews could learn the language

– Jewish restrictions lifted in 1870– Gentile (non-Jewish) community reacted

• Jew was only “slightly” different and mostly accepted• “Anti-Semites” saw Jews as a threat

– Used medieval accusations to support their theories– Jews were Christ-killers– Drew blood from Gentile children– Plotted against Gentiles– Looked to race theories to prove inferiority

Moses Mendelssohn

WW I & Building Turmoil in Germany• By November 1918, German

defeat in the war seemed certain.

• Nov. 10th – Kaiser gave up his throne

• Germany signed armistice on Nov. 11th

• Officially ended WW I• German colonies taken

away• Alsace and Lorraine

returned to France

Three Provisions

1) German army reduced to 100,000 and they lost their navy and air force

2) Germany was expected to pay heavy fines

3) Germany signed War Guilt clause

After World War IYear MonthMarks needed to buyone US dollar

1919 April 12

  December 47

1921 November 263

1922 July 493

  August 1,000

  October 3,000

  December 7,000

1923 January 17,000

  April 24,000

  July 353,000

  August 4,621,000

  September 98,860,000

  October 25,260,000,000

  November2,193,600,000,

000

  December 4,200,000,000,

000

Inflation in the Weimar Republic made it cheaperfor this woman to burn money than firewood.

New Government = Weimar Republic (1918-1933)

•Poor start because lots of groups were vying for power (The NSDAP, or Nazis was one of them)•The Great Depression and Wall Street Crash caused the Republic to collapse

• The mark was now worthless• Unemployment was at an all time high• Crime and suicide rates rose sharply and

many lost hope. • People deserted the democratic parties in

droves and turned to either the Communists or the Nazis.

•In the election of 1930, the Nazis made their electoral breakthrough winning 107 votes while the Communists won 77. Both parties were opposed to the democratic system and used violence against their political opponents.

So Who Was Hitler?• Born in Austria 1889• As a boy he hated anyone who tried to control him• Only knew one Jewish boy and didn’t really have an opinion at that point• Dropped out of school in 1915• Went to Vienna and painted postcards• Began to read anti-Semitic books• Served in German army in WW I• Sent to spy on The German Worker’s

Party• Joined as member 55• Soon became member 7 of the

executive committee• He really liked the group• He changed the name to NSDAP

(Nazis)• Made Swastika the symbol and

“Heil,” the greeting• Organized a militia (brown-shirted

SA)• Formed bodyguards (the SS)

A Waffen-SS-42 helmet.

Hitler’s Race IdeasPut in jail after “Beer Garden Putsch” in 1923 (an attempt to overthrow the government)

Hitler’s book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) offered a blueprint for Germany’s future.

– Few took it seriously at first, but by 1939 its effects were being seen

– He blamed Germany’s crisis on outsiders:

• The French• The “international

Jewish conspiracy”• The Communists

– His solution was to wipe out the Jews, destroy the republic, and unite Germans through racial superiority doctrines.

He was possessed by the idea of race

Aryan Race• No such thing; Aryan refers to

certain languages spoke in some parts of the world, or to people mostly in northern Europe who tend to be tall, blond, and blue-eyed

• Wanted to create a pure, “Master” race

Hitler believed the duty of the government was to protect the Volk (national race)

The Volk needed a leader, a Fuhrer, to guide them and he would be that person.

How the Nazis Gained Power…

• After the failed garden putsch Hitler realized the only way to gain power was through politics, not revolution.

• He allied the Nazis with the Nationalist party, which was closer to the business leaders, financial support, and respectability.– The Nazis gained 107 seats in the

Reichstag• If Communists and Socialists had united,

they could have ruled over the Nazis.• Chancellor Von Papen, who was not liked by

many, offered a deal to the Nazis– Hitler would become chancellor– Von Papen would become vice-chancellor– Von Papen’s friends were to have important

jobs• January 30, 1933 — President Hindenburgh

reluctantly accepted the arrangement and appointed Hitler as chancellor (This was a BIG MISTAKE!)

President Hindenburgh

Chancellor Von Papen

Hermann Goering– Hitler’s designated successor– Second man in the Third Reich– In charge of the SA Brownshirts– Creator of the Secret Police– Set up early concentration camps for

political opponents– Nazism offered the swashbuckling Goering

the promise of action, adventure, comradeship and an outlet for his unreflective, elemental hunger for power.

Joseph Goebbels– Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda– His hatred for many stemmed from his own

physical deformity (crippled foot) and the fact that many people excluded him from things because of it (military in particular)

– Hitler had indeed cause to be grateful to his Propaganda Leader, who was the true creator and organizer of the Fuhrer myth, of the image of the Messiah-redeemer, feeding the theatrical element in the Nazi leader while at the same time inducing the self-surrender of the German masses through skilful stage management and manipulation.

– Responsible for the Kristallnacht Pogrom that began the physical rage of the Nazis in November 1938

Hitler’s Men

Heinrich Himmler– Hitler’s personal bodyguard (the SS,

which went from a mere 200 members to over 50,000)

– In 1936 he became leader of the Gestapo

– A very able organizer and administrator, meticulous, calculating and efficient, Himmler's astonishing capacity for work and irrepressible power-lust showed itself in his accumulation of official posts and his perfecting of the methods of organized State terrorism against political and other opponents of the regime.

– In 1933 he set up the first concentration camp, Dachau, and with Hitler’s consent, greatly increased the reasons why people could be sent there.Reinhard Heydrich

– Was originally an intelligence officer in the SS under Himmler

– Spent two years creating and developing the SD (a Nazi intelligence agency)

– Under Heydrich the party watched for dissent (going against) within the party and created files on Jews

– A bomb was dropped near his car and he was fatally wounded.

– Himmler blamed the Jews (even though it was two Czech patriots)

• As punishment the entire village of Lidice in the Czech was wiped out

Prejudice in the 1930s

• Nazis used propaganda to spread their beliefs.

• Can’t successfully implement a change of this magnitude without the support of the public.

• Needed to gain their trust quickly – reminded them how great Germany used to be (a country of warriors) and now they needed to get back to that status.

Der Sturmer was running contests encouraging German children to write in. One little girl wrote, "People are so bothered by the way we’re treating the Jews. They can’t understand it, because they are God’s creatures. But cockroaches are also God’s creatures, and we destroy them." Words can create an attitude. If a person says something loud enough and often enough, he creates a climate. And under that climate, all sorts of things can happen.

• Nazi propaganda utilized different forms:– Radio– Newspapers – Speeches– Posters – Books and pamphlets – Children’s Books (The

Poisonous Mushroom)

“One people, one Reich, one Fuhrer”

The Nazi film “The Eternal Jew,” served to dehumanize the German Jews. The film “The Eternal Jew” itself compares the Jewish people to rats. By dehumanizing Jews, the Nazi leaders began to prepare for Hitler’s “Final Solution.”

Propaganda Used to Glorify Hitler and Dehumanize the Jews

“Just as it is often hard to tell a toadstool from an edible mushroom, so too it is often very hard to recognize the Jew as a swindler and criminal...”

“The God of the Jews is money. To earn money, he commits the greatest crimes. He will not rest until he can sit on a huge money sack, until he has become the king of money.”

The US Had Propaganda Too!

This was the US trying to spread the truth about the Nazis and their ideas. It was done in one of the purest forms of entertainment: cartoons watched mainly by children.

4 Stages of the HolocaustHolocaust – great destruction of life, especially by fire

 Definition (Early 1930s)- Defining who a Jew was & forced to register- Had to wear the Yellow Star of David- Had “Jew” stamped on their passport- Had to put a sign in the window of the shop saying “Jew”

 Expropriation (Mid 1930s)

-Meaning to “take away”-No longer allowed to have bank accounts-Can’t hold certain jobs-Couldn’t live in certain places

 Concentration (Late 1930s – 1939)

-Travel was restricted-Couldn’t own phones, cameras, radios, or pets-Ghettos opened and Jews were forced to move there

-Slave labor-Little food, shelter and heat

-No longer allowed to attend school Annihilation (1940 – 1945)

-The Nazis organized and carried out large-scale killing of Jews and others-Some were shot or gassed by mobile killing units in part of Russia, Latvia and Lithuania-In the rest of Europe, victims were transported to killing centers

Holocaust – great destruction of life, especially by fire

 Definition (Early 1930s)- Defining who a Jew was & forced to register- Had to wear the Yellow Star of David- Had “Jew” stamped on their passport- Had to put a sign in the window of the shop saying “Jew”

 Expropriation (Mid 1930s)

-Meaning to “take away”-No longer allowed to have bank accounts-Can’t hold certain jobs-Couldn’t live in certain places

 Concentration (Late 1930s – 1939)

-Travel was restricted-Couldn’t own phones, cameras, radios, or pets-Ghettos opened and Jews were forced to move there

-Slave labor-Little food, shelter and heat

-No longer allowed to attend school Annihilation (1940 – 1945)

-The Nazis organized and carried out large-scale killing of Jews and others-Some were shot or gassed by mobile killing units in part of Russia, Latvia and Lithuania-In the rest of Europe, victims were transported to killing centers