The HolocaustThe Holocaust•Def. - Nazi Germany’s systematic

murder of European Jews–6 million Jews–2/3’s of Europe’s Jewish population–6 million others’•Gypsies, mentally ill, physically disabled, homosexuals, homeless, Socialist, and Communist

Why?Why?• Scapegoats– economic and political

• Anti-Semitism– Persecution or hostility towards

Jews

• Nazi Philosophy of “Aryan Race”

The Nuremberg The Nuremberg Laws 1935Laws 1935

What are they?What are they?• These included the Civil Service Law and the Preservation of Blood

and Honour Laws– ARTICLE 2

• A citizen of the Reich may be only one who is of German or kindred blood, and who, through his behavior, shows that he is both desirous and personally fit to serve loyally the German people and the Reich.

• German Jews were systematically denied their rights of citizenship and pushed out of the German nation

1. Stripping of 1. Stripping of CitizenshipCitizenship

• Examples– Forbid marriage

b/w Jews and non-Jews

– Banned Jewish doctors from treating non-Jews

– “Aryanize” Jewish business - dismissed Jewish managers and employees

– carry ID cards - Star of David

KristallnachtKristallnacht

KristallnachtKristallnacht• November 9-10,

1938• “night of broken

glass”• Destroyed Jewish

stores, houses, and synagogues

2. Placed in Ghettos2. Placed in Ghettos• Sealed off Jewish

communities by barbed wire or walls

• Often overcrowded

• Lack of food and sanitation

• Brought about disease, increase in death rate

Warsaw GhettoWarsaw Ghetto•Largest

Jewish ghetto (Poland)–450,000 Jews–30% of

population•In an area of 1.3 miles

3. Deportation &3. Deportation &Concentration CampsConcentration Camps

• Put on trains for concentration camps - labor camps– Usually for

POW’s and political leaders

– Very harsh life– All work, very

little food

Deportation to

Concentration Camps

GermanGermanEnforcementEnforcement

SS - EinsatzgruppenSS - Einsatzgruppen• mobile killing

units–Kill by firing

squad–Murder racial

or political leaders behind the front lines

GestapoGestapo• Secret Police

Wannsee Wannsee ConferenceConference

Plan for “Final Plan for “Final Solution”Solution”

• Death camps - extermination centers, ovens, gas chambers– Mass murder of Jews

•Zyklon B

TheTheHolocaustHolocaustExposedExposed

Horrors of the HolocaustHorrors of the HolocaustHorrors of the HolocaustHorrors of the Holocaust

Auschwitz - BirkenauAuschwitz - Birkenau

Entrance to Auschwitz:

Work Makes You Free

Auschwitz - BirkenauAuschwitz - Birkenau

"wall of death"

Most of those killed at the "wall of death" were Poles. A sand pit was dug along the wall to collect the blood. Victims were made to undress in washrooms in Block 11 before they were taken outside and shot. If their number was small, sometimes the prisoners were simply shot in the washrooms. The SS also used the courtyard to flog prisoners or hang them from a post by their wrists, which were twisted behind their backs. The wall now serves as a memorial to its victims.

The BarracksThe BarracksThe BarracksThe Barracks

Slave Labor at Buchenwald

Eli Wiesel

Gas ChambersGas Chambers

CrematoriumsCrematoriums

Crematoria at Majdanek

Horrors of the Holocaust Horrors of the Holocaust ExposedExposed

Horrors of the Holocaust Horrors of the Holocaust ExposedExposed

Mass Graves at Bergen-Belsen

LiberationLiberation• to set free

– The Russians were 1st to liberate many camps

– Americans could not believe what they saw

Nuremberg Nuremberg TrialsTrials

November 1945• 24 leading Nazis on trial

– Planning the war– Committing war crimes– Committing crimes

against humanity– Conspiring to commit

crimes– 12 received the death

penalty– 7 received jail sentences– 3 were acquitted– Thousands of other Nazis

were tried and jailed in other courts

• Most important – ind. were responsible for their own actions

Escaping NazisEscaping Nazis

• Escape to Latin and South America– Adolph Eichmann

– architect of Jewish extermination program

– Josef Mengele – Auschwitz’s “Angel of Death”