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The Holocaust

The Holocaust. “Survival is both an exalted privilege and a painful burden.” -Gerda Weissmann Klein During the Holocaust, Hitler’s Nazis murdered 6 million Jews and 5 million other “non-Aryans.”

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The Holocaust

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  1. The Holocaust “Survival is both an exalted privilege and a painful burden.” -Gerda Weissmann Klein During the Holocaust, Hitler’s Nazis murdered 6 million Jews and 5 million other “non-Aryans.” World War II targeted more civilians than any other example of modern warfare, spurring a worldwide push toward a focus on humanitarianism and human rights

  2. Policy of “Emigration” (1933 -1941) • Prior to Hitler’s rise to power, there were approximately half a million Jews living in Germany (1% of German pop.) • 1933: 38,000 Jews left Germany (mostly for neighboring European countries)– France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland) • Many of these individuals would’ve been politically active or successful in business (dismissal of Jews from civil service jobs, boycotting of Jewish businesses and book burnings) • Many of these refugees would be later taken and sent to concentration camps when the Nazis invaded and occupied most of western Europe • Fairly steady emigration rates for the next 5 years until 1938 • The escalation of persecution and the nationwide Kristallnacht resulted in a flood of visa applications, and sparked a refugee crisis • By 1939, 282,000 Jews had left Germany and 117,000 from annexed Austria • By 1941, only 163,000 Jews remained in Germany, most of whom were murdered in Nazi camps and ghettos during the Holocaust

  3. Why didn’t more Jews leave Germany between 1933 and 1938? • Despite the fact that emigration was the official Nazi policy, the Nazi regime did not make emigration easy, levying a heavy emigration tax (brought in 342,000,000 in revenues to the Nazi regime in 1938/39) and restricting the amount of money that could be transferred abroad from German banks. Only about 10 marks ($4 USD) in cash could be taken with emigrants • In addition, most destination countries would only accept a limited number of Jewish refugees, sparking the need for the Evian Conference in France to address the situation. 32 countries attended. In the end, only the Dominican Republic agreed to extend their existing immigration quotas to accept more European Jews. Most countries cited the worldwide economic depression as the reason for their refusal • By the end of 1939, the refugee totals stood thus…. • Great Britain: 40,000 • United States: 95,000 • Palestine: 60,000 • Latin America: 75,000 (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia) • Canada: Less than 5,000

  4. 1939: U.S. Coast Guard prevented Jewish refugees on the St. Louisfrom landing in Miami. The refugees were likewise refused entry in both Cuba and Canada before being forced to return to Europe • Presence of anti-Semitic social elements • Desire to avoid greater competition for jobs during the Depression • Fear of “enemy agents”

  5. The Holocaust Begins Racist Beliefs • Hitler and Nazis said that Aryans—Germanic peoples—were the “master race” • They launched the Holocaust—systematic murder of Jews and other non-Aryans Anti-Semitism • Nazis tapped into long-held negative feelings of many Europeans against Jews • 1935 Nuremberg Laws took away the citizenship rights of German Jews “Night of Broken Glass” • Kristallnacht—“night of broken glass,” November 9, 1938 • Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues were attacked; 100 Jews were killed and 30,000 Jewish men were subsequently sent to concentration camps • “Atonement” fines were imposed on Jews – forcing them to pay the German government for the damage to their own property • Confiscation of all Jewish property and assets by the Nazi regime soon followed

  6. Stars, Triangles, and Markings Those Jewish prisoners who were targeted by the Nazis and sent to the camps were required to wear one of these on their uniform. See detailed legend at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/photographs-and-overview-of-jewish-badges-in-the-holocaust

  7. The Holocaust Begins Policy of “Isolation” (1939 – 1941) • Hitler had all Jews moved to designated, gated cities • They were forced to live in ghettos—separate Jewish areas with substandard living conditions • Hitler hoped that Jews in ghettos would die of disease and starvation

  8. The “Final Solution” (1941 – 1945) • “Final Solution”—Hitler’s final plan for the treatment of Jews in German-occupied Europe • Chooses genocide—systematic killing of an entire people The Killings Begin –1941 “Einsatzgruppen” • Nazis in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union create killing squads • They shoot Jewish men, women, and children in mass executions • Other Jews were sent to concentration camps or slave labor prisons

  9. continued The “Final Solution” The Final Stage • By 1942, Nazis were building huge, efficient extermination camps • Camps separated strong from weak people • The “strong” or fairly healthy, were often put to work • The weak (mostly women, children, elderly, sick) were often killed immediately The Survivors • Nazis killed about six million European Jews during the war (60% of the European Jewish population) • Fewer than four million survived

  10. 1941: Nazis build 6 major death camps in PolandAuschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek, Chelmno, Belzec3.5 million European Jews were murdered at these camps.What groups did the Nazis single out for extermination? • All non-Aryans, including Jews, Slavs (Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, etc), Russian POWs, Roma peoples (also called “gypsies”), communists, socialists, social liberals, Freemasons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, LGBT population, developmentally disabled, mentally ill, physically disabled, the incurably ill • The ultimate goal: to create an Aryan “super race”

  11. Liberation of the Death Camps • As Allied troops pressed into Germany from the west, Soviet troops advanced from the east, through Poland, and were thus the first troops to come across the death camps. • At Majdanek, they found 1000 prisoners who were barely alive; the world’s largest crematorium, and over 800,000 shoes…leading them to conclude that the concentration camps were really “death camps”. • While British “Enigma” intercepts at Bletchley Park had kept the Allies informed about the activities of Axis-controlled death camps, this information was not yet public knowledge

  12. First They Came - Pastor Martin Niemoller (Confessing Church) First they came for the CommunistsAnd I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the SocialistsAnd I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionistsAnd I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the JewsAnd I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for meAnd there was no one leftTo speak out for me

  13. “Righteous Persons” of World War II • Oskar Schindler (German industrialist, saved 1,100 Jews) • Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portugese consul in Bordeaux, France, granted 30,000 visas out of Vichy France, 10,000 to Jewish refugees) • Raoul Wallenberg (Swedish diplomat, saved over 10,000 Jews while serving in Budapest) • Sempo Sugihara (Japanese diplomat to Lithuania, saved 1,800 Jewish refugees) Many non-Jews risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis. In recognition, the “Knesset”, or Israeli Parliament, formed the committee of Yad Vashem to bestow on these individuals the title of “Righteous Persons”. By 2001, 18,269 individuals had been honored with this title.

  14. Japanese War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity • Rape of Nanking • Torture/murder of POWs • Battaan Death March • Unit 731 (medical experiments on living subjects) • Sexual slavery of over 200,000 “comfort women” Many members of the Japanese high command were sentenced to death or life imprisonment for war crimes.

  15. Allied War Crimes • Civilian air raids (Germany and Japan) • Mistreatment, torture and murder of POWs (liberation of Dachau, Normandy invasion, Allied invasion of Germany) • Use of nuclear weapons and murder of non-combatants (civilians) • Mass rape of German and Austrian women during the Allied occupation Many people would argue that discussing Allied war crimes alongside Axis war crimes is a false equivalency. Others state that remembering that Allied forces committed war crimes during World War II as well, for which no one was prosecuted, helps lead us toward a more objective and balanced conception of World War II. “People should be understanding if a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometers through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman or takes some trifle”. -Joseph Stalin

  16. The Nuremberg Trials “I was only following orders”. 24 high-ranking Nazi officials, ministers, military leaders and industrialists were put on trial (12 sentenced to death and most of the rest were imprisoned for 10 years to life) Nearly 200 more lesser leaders were also found guilty in later trials Crimes: Crimes against the peace (planning and waging an aggressive war) War Crimes (acts against war customs, Eg. Killing hostages/prisoners, plundering of private property, destruction of civilian areas) Crimes Against Humanity (murder, genocide, unlawful deportation or enslavement)

  17. Japanese War Crimes Trials November 4, 1948: 25 out of 28 high-ranking Japanese officials were found guilty by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East 7 executed, including Hideki Tojo and most of the rest received life in prison Additional tribunals outside of Japan (in East and Southeast Asia found almost 5000 other Japanese officials and military personnel guilty of war crimes. More than 900 were executed. Some believed that Emperor Hirohito should have been tried as well, but U.S. authorities protected him, seeing him as a symbol of Japanese unity and continuity The Nuremberg Trials and the Japanese War Crimes Trials set a legal precedent that would be used later for the development of a body of international law. (United Nations, International Criminal Court (ICC)

  18. Listen to the following podcast from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Short Assignment: Research and summarize a Holocaust narrative that resonates strongly with you. Include a proper bibliographic reference. Discuss in your documentation the historical value that narratives add to studies of the Holocaust. Survivors share their thoughts on the importance of speaking out about their experiences. What person’s perspective resonates strongly with you? https://www.ushmm.org/information/visit-the-museum/programs-activities/first-person-program/first-person-podcast/holocaust-survivors-reflections-and-hopes-for-the-future

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