The Holocaust

The Nuremberg Laws

Hitler always hated the Jews

At 1st – isolate and humiliate

Few people raised objection

Official persecution = April 1933

Banned from work, school, society

1935 – lost German citizenship

No Where to Run

July 1930 32 countries meet Discussed # of refugees from Europe US and others didn’t want Jews Dominican Republic welcomed them US did rescue people of exceptional

merit

The Key Players

Heinrich Himmler Head of Gestapo Oversaw all camps Inspections lead to new ways to kill

Reinhard Heydrich Head of counterintelligence Created first list of Jews to be removed Responsible for Russian territory

Heinrich Muller Chief of Gestapo Coordinated removal of European Jews

Adolf Eichmann Head of Jewish Affairs In charge of train schedules & logistics Main architect of “Final Solution”

Hermann Goering Commander of Air Force Hitler’s successor Created Gestapo Ordered Kristallnacht

Joseph Goebbels Propaganda Minister Organized Kristallnacht Oversaw deportations from Berlin

Wannsee Conference

Reinhard Heydrich – SS Reich Security

January 20, 1942 Find “final solution” for Jewish

question Einsatzgruppen: Mobile killing

devices Only request: “Done as fast as

possible”

T-4 Euthanaisa

1st murders were “incurably ill” September 1939 Death to:

People with disabilities The “mentally defective” Children born with or suspected

of having mental or physical issues Starved, lethal injection, gas,

dropped from window 90,000 killed

In the Ghetto 1940: Warsaw, Krakow Warsaw: ½ million lived in 11 mile

area Starved and worked to death Governed by Judenrat 1942: Order to liquidate Destroyed all evidence Too expensive to maintain Sent to death camps

Theresienstadt 40 miles from Prague – near

Auschwitz 456 Danes held with Jew Danes demanded Red Cross visit Nazis turned it in to model city Red Cross fooled by nice

surroundings Didn’t believe later claims of cruelty

Einsatzgruppen

Mobile killing squads Round up Jews, kill, bury Shot at first, ammo became too

expensive Gas vans used later Babi Yar

September 19, 1941 Kiev Jews marched to Ravine, strip, shot 33,000 killed in 2 days

Pogroms Violent attack by citizens Usually non-Germans Lasi Pogrom

Romanian citizens killed 13,000 Jews Killed in the streets, death train

Mainly used for Russian Jews Jews rounded up

in buildings, burned

Marched out of towns and shot

Badges Used to show others

whatyou were

Hierarchy among prisoners

Had to be worn at all times

Jews wore them before camps

The Other Victims - Gypsies

Secretive people Called “Gypsy nuisance” Wouldn’t conform to Hitler’s laws Seen as “mixed breeds” Wore a brown triangle 1.2 million died in the camps

The Other Victims - Homosexuals Against German law Pre-war, most lived openly Raided bars and clubs to find gays Sent for to camps for hard labor Castrated in camps Use for “hormone therapy” to cure

them Seen as just above Jews 15,000 killed

Ernst Rohm, Head of SAKilled on Hitler’s order

The Other Victims – Jehovah’s Witnesses Refused to pledge allegiance to

Hitler Linked to Jews and Communists Conscious objectors Purple triangle 12,000 killed

The Other Victims – The Poles 11/1939 – “Complete destruction of

Poles” Seen as taking up German living

space 90% of Polish Jews killed 5.6 million citizens of non-Jewish

backgroundkilled

Orange triangle with “P”P

Types of Camps Hostage – Hold hostages,

killed as reprisal Labor – hard physical labor,

inhuman/cruel POW – Torture for info, killed Rehabilitation – Intelligent

Poles held to be re-educated

Transit – collection area used to route to main camps

Extermination – All arrivals kill (only 4)

The Camps

1933 – Dachau built for political prisoners

Labor: Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Flossenburg, Ravensbruck

Then built death camps on RR lines Death: Chelmo, Treblinka, Sobibor,

Belzec, Majdenek, Auschwitz/Birkenau

Most prisoners killed upon arrivalSlave labor

“Selection” upon arrival Women, children, elderly & sick Taken to “shower”, undress, gassed Zyklon B = insecticide, 2000 in 30

minutes Bodies put in oven Dead searched for gold Live: divided, head shaved, tatoo #

Personal items were cleaned and sent to SS officers

Arbeit macht frei: “Labor wins freedom”

Few resistances, some successful, most not

Bales of Human Hair

Shoes outside gas chamber

Prayer Shawls

Clothes

Teeth with gold in them

Piles of Eyeglasses

Sachsenhausen

1936, 35km north of Berlin Worked at Brickworks Largest counterfeit operation Homosexual prisons tested

military boots -------------------- Soviet prisoners held 30,000 killed Liberation: 4/22/45 by Russians

Buchenwald 1937 – near Weimar, Germany 1st camp built in Germany Forced labor camp for armaments

factory Women prisoners used in camp

brothel Elie Wiesel held here 55,000 killed Liberated: 4/4/45 by US

Mauthausen Built in 1938 by Dachau prisoners Slave labor camp for granite quarry Stairs of Death: carry granite up Extermination through labor 200,000 killed Liberated: 4/5/45 by US

Ravensbruck

N. Germany 90 km from Berlin

Built in 1938 Women’s Camp Hard labor: paved roads Secret education programs

taught at night Female Medical Experiments 40,000 killed Liberated: 4/30/45 by Russians

Chelmno

Poland, 30 miles from Lodz 1941 – Extermination Camp At first – used vans and exhaust Vans full of dead driven to forest for

burial Mass graves had to be exhumed Bodies then burned 150,000 killed Liberated (abandoned): 1/17/45 by

Russians

Treblinka

60 miles NE of Warsaw, Poland Disguised as Railway station 700 Jews ran camp (luggage, burning,

valuables, camouflage) 8/2/43 – Revolt, arson, guards killed,

600 escaped 900,000 killed Closed 10/19/43 due to

damage from uprising

Sobibor

Built in 1942 in Central Poland Put near labor camps to do

extermination Best known for its uprising 8/2/43 – 2 prisoners killed 20 SS Plan to kill all and walk out Found out and 300 ran 50 lived, most died on mine field or

recaptured 250,000 killed

Belzec

1st Extermination Camp Built 1942, 47 mile north of Lviv,

Poland 50,000 killed, only 2 survivors Use CO2 instead of Zyklon B Camp disguised as labor camp Dismantled and covered Turned into a farm 1998 – 33 mass graves found

Majdenek

Built October 1941 near Lublin, Poland

Unusual: Built near city, not hidden

Sorting and storage for Jewish belongings

235,000 killed Liberated 7/24/44 By Russians

Auschwitz Largest, most famous camp Infamous commander Rudolf Hoss 3 large camps, 45 small camps Labor and extermination camp 1.5 million killed Liberated: 1/27/45 by Russians

Taken by US military plane

A Day in the Camp 4:30 am – Roll call 30 minutes for “morning routine” Work details walked to factories, quarries Striped uniform, no underwear, wood

shoes, no socks Kapos – Prisoner foremen (criminals) No rest, timed bathroom break Roll call at 5pm All had to wait if missing anyone Bread and cup of water Bed time at 7:30

Medical Experiments

Dr. Josef Mengele Angel of Death Used selection off trains to choose victims

Twins 1500 sets used Genetic experiments Eye injections to change color Sewn together to create conjoined twins

Military Experiments Hypothermia

Put in freezing water for up to 5 hours Taken out, warmed Figure out best way to revive Helped with German troops on Eastern

front High Altitude

To help German pilots who eject at high levels

Put in low pressure chamber until died Brain then dissected

Other Experiments Sterilization

Try to find way to sterilize millions X-ray, surgery, drugs Sat at tables to fill out forms while x-ray

radiation given Drug Trials

Inmates injected with diseases Malaria, tuberculosis, syphilis Drugs tested to see what worked Bayer Medicine “bought” prisoners for testing▪ Discovered right formula for aspirin

The Good Those who did not agree, helped Helped Jews hide or escape Oscar Schindler

Took over factory, made defective bullets Bribed and charmed SS officer Saved 1200 through his famous list of

workers Bishop Roncalli

“Baptized” 1000s of Jews in mass ceremony

Became Pope John XXIII Hundreds of examples

Outside Germany

October 1942 – England radio talked about gassings

Those who escaped tried to spread word

Thought they were exaggerating/lying

US knew in Feb. 1942, didn’t tell public

BBC and New York Times published 1944

No country attempted to help

Death Marches

Red Army & US approached Camps closed Prisoners killed or marched away Tried to hide/destroy camps on way

out Those who couldn’t were shot 250,000 killed Auschwitz March

Jan 1945 60,000 (Elie Wiesel) left, 15,000 died

Liberation Troops didn’t know what they were

seeing Prisoners that were left were close to

death Many died at or right after liberation SS officers arrested, some killed by

prisoners 900,000 survivors Forced German’s to walk through

camps

Aftermath

Survivors became “displaced persons”

Refused to return to homes in Europe 250,000 lived in refugee camp Many began move to Palestine Began to look for family Israel = May 14, 1948

What Happened to those Involved

Any Nazi found, arrested Nuremberg Trials

22 leading Nazis 2 said “not guilty” = followed orders Took 1 year 3 Categories of Crimes▪ Crimes against peace – planning, preparing,

participation▪ War Crimes - Murder, deportation, destruction▪ Crimes against Humanity - extermination,

enslavement

Heinrich Himmler Wandered until capture 5/22/45 Arrested by British military Suicide May 23

Reinhard Heydrich Attacked in Prague 4/27/42 Assassination attempt failed Died from injuries a week later

Heinrich Muller Last seen day after Hitler’s death in the

bunker Said he would not be taken prisoner Never seen again

Josef Mengele Escaped to South America Died in 1985 in a swimming accident

Herman Goering Claimed he was not anti-Semitic, joked Sentenced to Death by hanging Committed suicide in his cell night

before Joseph Goebbels

With Hitler at suicide (4/30) Given control of Germany May 1st, killed his 7 kids, wife, self

Adolf Eichman Escaped to South America Found in 1960 and kidnapped by Mossad Put on trial in Israel Sat in bullet proof glass tank Use “following orders” as his defense Found guilty Hung on May 31,1962

Deniers

Some believe it didn’t happen Seen as a hoax by the Jews for

sympathy Revisionists – Happened just not to

the extent that is believed Think all evidence is fake

We Remember

100s of museums around the world

United States Holocaust Museum

Many camps are now museums

April – Yom Shoah (remembrance day)

Remember Video