THE HOLOCAUSTSection 10

A Poem by Martin Niemoller

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

The Holocaust

Official definition: a systematic mass slaughter

Why it happened Adolf Hitler’s dream of a supreme master race

of perfect men and women, with no room for inferior people of any kind, which extended to those of different religions and lifestyles

Regardless of heritage, people who were mentally and physically handicapped were sterilized and murdered

But where did the original idea come from?

Inspiration

While on trial for war crimes after WWII, top Nazi officials stated that they were inspired by American Eugenics laws as their reason for wanting to rid Germany of inferior peoples

Eugenics: the belief in the possibility that one can improve qualities of the human race by discouraging or eliminating those with inferior qualities to reproduce

Sterilization: the act of making one unable to reproduce (give birth); can be done to both males and females

Eugenics

Movement began in the UNITED STATES in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s

Began to keep mentally and physically handicapped people from reproducing, but soon extended to citizens of different races The KKK and other racists saw this as a way to keep

whites and blacks from mixing and having children Eugenics Records Office located on Long Island,

New York Immigration Restriction League created out of

fear of increasing immigration Invented a literacy test for immigrants, that if they

failed, could be sterilized

Continued…

Major supporters: Theodore Roosevelt, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (cornflakes, anyone?)

Also included were the Ku Klux Klan who held a mass meeting in New Jersey to voice their support

In 1914, the Catholic Church finally gave their opinion, stating that while they could not condone sterilization, it was alright to keep the inferior isolated from the rest of society

Nazi Eugenics

Sterilized an estimated 450,000 people in the 1930’s Known as “Racial Hygiene”

The scale of the Nazi program prompted one American eugenics advocate to complain that "the Germans are beating us at our own game.“

Passed euthanasia laws to kill victims, rather than sterilize them

The German Literacy Test

Those deemed mentally inferior were given three words to make a sentence out of: HARE HUNTER FIELD

If they could not make a sentence using these three words, they would be sterilized

Anti-Semitism in Germany

Hatred against Jews was always widespread in Europe, but not more than in Germany

Followers of Adolf Hitler listened to speeches about how the Jews were responsible for all their problems

Many laws were passed that forbid Jewish people to marry or even date people who were not Jewish

Businesses were boycotted, windows were smashed, and outer walls covered with graffiti

Kristallnacht (1938)

Translated to mean “night of the broken glass” Jewish-owned stores and houses were

attacked. Many windows were broken and some were burned down.

91 Jews were killed in 2 nights, but 30,000 were arrested and placed in concentration camps

1000 synagogues were burned, 7000 businesses were destroyed

First time wide-spread violence was organized by the Nazis against Jews

Concentration Camps

Originally built as prisons to house political prisoners, but over time, became a place for the Nazis to dispose of Jews and all others who were arrested

Camps were set up all over Europe, in Germany, Belarus, Croatia, Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine

Intended as labor camps, where prisoners would be worked to death

More than 300 were built in total

People were rounded up and packed into railway cars and shipped to the camps

Conditions on the train were ghastly. Sometimes they would be in a car, standing for weeks No sanitary conditions or heat for the winter.

No way of cooling in the summer. Once they arrived, those who were too

weak to work were executed and others who could work were nearly starved to death

Ghettos

In addition to concentration camps, ghettos were established to house the Jews before they could be taken away Living conditions were extremely cramped Food was scarce

Comparison: think of apartment buildings side by side, each filled beyond capacity with people Each room averaged more than 9 people living there

Raids by SS troops were regularly held and people would be killed or dragged out of their houses and sent to concentration camps

With the number of prisoners increasing, something had to be done

A new method of “processing” prisoners needed to be found…

The Jewish Question

Problem: “The Jewish Question” Answer: “The Final Solution”

This means: What solution can we come up with for all these Jews?

Wansee Conference

Held on January 20, 1942 Led by Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf

Eichmann Were told by Hitler to come up with the

Final Solution to the Jewish Question Met in secret with 13 other German

officials, involved in both politics and military to decide what to do

Solution Decided

Shootings were looked at as being too expensive, time consuming, and bad for the morale of soldiers who had a difficult time obeying orders to murder women and children

Gassing was seen as much more efficient By the numbers

2,500 could be killed per hour, in facilities operating 24 hours a day, meaning 60,000 could be processed each day

If run all day every day for an entire year, that meant the Nazis could process 21,900,000 in ONE YEAR

Death Camps

Also known as “extermination camps” Sole purpose was to murder those sent there Methods of execution were changing from

shootings and hangings to a much more cheaper and effective way: gas chambers

Prisoners were marched to “showers” and made to take off all their clothes

Once inside the showers, they would be locked in, and poison gas would come through the vents, killing them all within a matter of minutes

Auschwitz

Most infamous extermination camp Located in Poland 3,000,000 people killed here alone 2.5 million were gassed, the other 500,000

died from diseases or starvation Nothing was wasted

Prisoners’ clothes, shoes, and any belongings were taken and sold.

Hair was shaved off and used to stuff mattresses on German U-Boats

Gold or silver fillings in teeth were yanked out

Disposing of the Bodies

Bodies were originally buried but there were many problems with that

New method became burning All bodies initially buried were dug up and

burned in large stacks while newly killed victims were placed into ovens and burned

The ashes would then be buried or dumped into rivers

Nazi Medical Experiments

Conducted on humans Most infamous doctor was Josef Mengele Mengele had a fascination with twins, and

would isolate them from each other and experiment on them Mutilated their bodies, or injected blue dye into their

eyes, to see if a master race of “blue eyed” perfect humans could be created

Color pigments and paints were injected into the skin to see if skin color could be changed

Sometimes body parts were cut off both twins and then sewn onto the other to see if they would still work

Experiments

Malaria Victims were locked in rooms with malaria

infected mosquitoes and bitten, so medicine could be tested on them

Mustard gas Sea water High altitude exposure

Victims were locked in a pressurized chamber which mimicked that of being exposed at high altitudes on a plane. If they did not die immediately, they were executed so their brains could be studied

Children of the Holocaust

Liberation

In 1945, many of the concentration camps were liberated by American and Russian forces

The Germans had tried to destroy the evidence (bodies, gas chambers, ovens, and paperwork), but there was too much, and the evidence was clear

Soldiers were shocked at what they found

Film Clips

SCHINDLER’S LIST: Clearing out of a ghetto, and forcing Jewish people from their homes

JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG: Nazi judges have been put on trial for war crimes. An American lawyer is trying to prove they are guilty, while a German lawyer is trying to prove that they only acted under orders and it was not their fault