Refers to a specific genocidal event in the

Refers to a specific genocidal event in the 20 th century history Defined: the state-sponsored systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945 - USHMM

Hitler’ Rise • Rejected Austrian artist • WW I veteran • Treaty of Versailles • Beer Hall Putchz • Leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi) Germany • Multi-party system • National Elections • Nazi party wins plurality of 33% • Hindenburg names Hitler chancellor • Constitutional freedoms suspended

targeted groups • Jews • Soviet Prisoners • Sinti and Roma • Handicapped • Jehovah Witnesses • Communists and enemies of the state • Homosexuals and a-socials

But won’t there be a negative outcry from world leaders? “Who, after all, speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians? ” – Adolf Hitler

Selected Nazi Legislation - 1930 s 1933 One day boycott of Jewish shop Jews barred from streets on Nazi holidays 1935 Nuremberg Laws Jews lost citizenship Jew/Aryan marriage outlawed 1939 Curfew for Jews turn in radios Polish Jews required to wear Star of David All Jews must have a Jewish first name – Sarah or Israel added if necessary 1938 Jews carry ID cards Jewish street names replaced Passports marked with “J”

Selected Nazi Legislation – 1940 s 1940 German Jews into “protective custody’ Income tax to support Nazi party 1941 German Jews wear Star of David Police permission needed to leave residence Friendly relations with Jews prohibited 1942 Turn in all wool and fur clothing Apartments marked as Jewish Not use public transportation Not buy meat, eggs, milk Not have birds, dogs, cats, etc. Blind & deaf not wear identifying armbands in traffic 1943 Jewish criminals sent to extermination camps

Kristallnacht November 1938 • Attache von Rathe shot and killed by Grynszpan, a Jew • Demonstrations end with Jewish shops destroyed and looted • 267 Synagogues burned or desecrated • 91 people killed others beaten, 30, 000 arrested • 1 billion RM fine on Jews • Jews pay own repairs • FDR recall US Ambassador to Germany

Nazi Propaganda "The result! A loss of racial pride. " The Poisonous Mushroom

Eugenics • Selective breeding – basis for Master Race • Sterilize unfit parents and potential parents • Euthanize “life unworthy of life” • Operation T-4 – Disabled killed – Starve, injections, gassings Cemetery at Hadamar

Refugee Issue So who will take in the Jews?

Kinder Transports December 1938 – September 1939 • 10, 000 unaccompanied Jewish children enter Great Britain • Children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia • Most never see parents again • Many were converted to Christianity Children in the Netherlands shortly before evacuation to London

Voyage of the St. Louis May 1939 Passengers attempt to communicate with friends and relatives in Cuba • Departed Hamburg for Havana - May 15, 1939 • 937 passengers almost all Jewish • 29 allowed into Cuba • Ship forced to leave Cuba • Passengers eventually divided between: England France Netherlands Belgium • Most killed by Nazis

Evian July 1939 • • • Meeting called by FDR Resort on Lake Geneva 32 Countries attend Discuss Jewish Refugees No country was willing to accept refugees • Costa Rica and Dominican Republic would accept a small number for a large sum of money postcard of Evian-les-Bains “Green Light Go” – New York Times

Nazi Goal: Expansion for “Lebensraum” – Living Space • • • Rhineland Austrian Anschluss Sudetenland Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact Invasion of Poland – WW II begins

Wannsee Conference January 20, 1942 • • Villa in a affluent suburb of Berlin Meeting lasts less than 90 minutes 15 officials – 8 have PHD’s Euphemisms – “Special treatment” – “Bath house” – “Arbeit Macht Frei” – “Final solution” Villa at Wannsee

Resettlement to the East • Crowded cattle cars • One suitcase of belongings • People gathered: – volunteers – forced – “actions” – transit centers – ghettos • Destination: – ghettos – camps Train car used in transport - Yad Vashem

Ghettos • Ghettos established by decree on Sept. 21, 1939 • Goals – Isolation – Forced labor – Access murder/deportation • Conditions – Life directed by Judenrat – Overcrowded – Unsanitary/disease infested – Starvation rations Warsaw Ghetto Wall Street in Warsaw Ghetto

Types of Camps • • Concentration Forced-labor Transit Extermination or “Death Camps”

Dachau established March 22, 1933 Barracks with “beautification project “ – line of trees on the right

Mauthausen established August 8, 1938 “Stairs of Death” Carrying stones up the “Stairs of Death

Westerbork German control July 21 , 1942 Camp blueprint Train depot inside the camp

Auschwitz-Birkenau established May 20, 1940 Aerial view of Birkenau Zyklon B Label – used for gassings

Perpetrators • Nazi SS – Schutzstaffel – – Death Head’s Unit Heinrich Himmler Adolf Eichmann Joseph Mengele • Einsatzgruppen – Special action group – 3000 troops in 4 units – Goal: make German controlled areas “judenrein” Heinrich Himmler

Einsaztgruppen Execution of a group of Soviet civilians Execution of a Ukrainian Jew

Collaborators • Indigenous police forces in France and Netherlands • Hungarian troops/fascists • Slovakian Hlinka Guard • Ustasa – Croatian Nationalists • Anti-Soviet elements in: Ustasa militia execute prisoners near Jasenovac camp – – Ukraine Estonia Latvia Lithuania

Bystanders Two German women file past corpses at newly liberated Buchenwald • Person who is present, without being involved, at an incident where another life or dignity is in danger • Did people living near camps know what was happening? • What actions could have been taken to stop the Holocaust? • What risks were involved in taking a stand against the Nazis?

Victims • “Not all victims were Jews but, all Jews were victims” –Wiesel – 6, 000 Jews – 3, 000 Soviet POWs – 3, 000 Catholic Poles – 700, 000 Serbs – 250, 000 Sinti & Roma – 70, 000 Handicapped – 12, 000 Homosexual – 2, 500 Jehovah Winesses Each number is an INDIVIDUAL with goals, dreams, and families Mania Halef, age 2 killed at Babi Yar

Resistance Nazi s r and t path itle n to H y differen nation. ositio man esti pp O took ommon d logy d a c ideo share hich w

Partisans Kalinin Jewish partisan unit (Bielski group) • Underground – Oppose Nazis – Many were anti-Semitic – Selective membership • Bielski Brigade – Open Jewish membership – Included all ages and genders • White Rose – Students at University of Munich • Various Political Factions

Spiritual clandestine school in the Kovno ghetto • • Prayer Groups Torah Studies Religious Services Kosher Tradition Observance of Holidays Religious Literature Maintain the will to live

Cultural • Art • Music – Concerts – Cabarets – Operas • Plays • Literature • Schools/Libraries • Language – Yiddish – Hebrew prisoners' orchestra in Buchenwald

Hiding • Bunkers • Concerns hiding place for Dutch Jews – – – Health Age Supplies Secrecy Assistance Denouncing • Generosity of Others

Passing • • Vladka Meed in Warsaw Physical appearance Cultural norms Language New residency Name Family history Societal expectations

Righteous Among the Nations Raoul Wallenberg Oskar Schindler with Ludmila Pfefferberg-Page Gentiles who risked their own lives to save Jews; honored at Yad Vashem • • • Raoul Wallenberg Oskar Schindler Corrie Ten Boom Miep Gies Varian Fry (only American)

Hiding/Destroying Evidence Destroyed Crematorium in Birkenau • Distribution of confiscated belongings • Transport stockpiled belongings and valuables • Dismantle camps • Physical destruction of Auschwitz-Birkenau crematoriums

Death Marches • Forced marches to interior of the German Reich • killed for impeding progress • Death toll: 250, 000 - 375, 000 Starvation Sick Wounded Exposure • Those considered unable to survive the march left behind – Otto Frank in Auschwitz death march from Dachau to Wolfratshausen

Now Russia British America Germany America VE Day the Majdanek Auschwitz Bergen-Belsen Dachau Hitler suicide Mauthausen WW II Ends world knows July 23, 1944 January 27, 1945 April 15, 1945 April 29, 1945 April 30, 1945 May 5, 1945 May 8, 1945

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Displaced persons Those who did not want to be repatriated placed in DP Camps • German Army barracks • POW camps • Concentration Camps vocational training in displaced persons camp – Bergen-Belsen – Dachau • 1957 Last DP Camp closed located in Belgium

Bringing perpetrators to justice Nuremberg defendants Amon Goeth Plaszow camp Eichmann receives death sentence in Jerusalem • International military tribunal Crimes against humanity & peace 161 convictions • Trials within individual countries War crimes Conspiracy

Some Holocaust Legacies • Anti-Semitism – Common tie between hate groups • White supremacist organizations • Political ideologies tied to Nazi Philosophy • Hate Crimes • Establishment of Israel • UN acknowledgement of genocidal issues • Importance of civil rights and individual freedoms • Human Rights Organizations • Holocaust Centers and Museums

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