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THE HOLOCAUST

THE HOLOCAUST. Stages of Genocide. In 1997 Gregory Stanton defined the Eight Stages of Genocide as: 1. Classification 2. Symbolization 3. Dehumanization 4. Organization 5. Polarization 6. Preparation 7. Extermination 8. Denial. Classification and Segregation.

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THE HOLOCAUST

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  1. THE HOLOCAUST

  2. Stages of Genocide In 1997 Gregory Stanton defined the Eight Stages of Genocide as: 1. Classification 2. Symbolization 3. Dehumanization 4. Organization 5. Polarization 6. Preparation 7. Extermination 8. Denial

  3. Classification and Segregation • This is the rise of “anti-Semitism” – the hatred of the Jewish people • It creates an “us vs. them” feeling in Germany by using the Jews as scapegoats • This also allows for intense nationalism

  4. The Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (1935) were designed to establish a defined German state and promote hate towards Jewish citizens in Germany. Some notable features included: • Marriage and relationships between Germans and Jews was prohibited (The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour) • German-born Jews were stripped of their citizenship (The Reich Citizenship Law)

  5. How did the Nazi determine who was Jewish? • At the Wannsee conference it was decided that if one of a person’s parents was Jewish, then they too were Jewish. • However, if only one of their grandparents had been Jewish then they could be classified as being German. • In 1940, all Jews had to have their passports stamped with the letter ‘J’ and had to wear the yellow Star of David on their jacket or coat.

  6. The Star of David • The Star of David is a common symbol of the Jewish faith • It was used throughout the Holocaust to identify Jews • Other Nazi targets were gypsies, homosexuals, Communists, other political “enemies”

  7. Dehumanization – Rules and Laws • By dehumanizing the humanity of “the other,” it somehow becomes accepted • Other rules prohibiting behavior and dehumanizing Jews included:

  8. Dehumanization – Rules and Laws • Boycott of Jewish businesses • Removal of Jewish holidays from the calendar • Jews had to carry identification • They were banned from attending cultural events • A curfew was put in place

  9. Kristallnacht • “The Night of the Broken Glass” – This marked the next level of the Holocaust • It started when a Polish student shot a German diplomat (Nov. 7 1938) • Hitler immediately organized a pogram – organized killing – for Germany and Austria

  10. Kristallnacht • Over 7500 Jewish businesses were looted and destroyed • Over 170 synagogues were burned • Between 20,000 – 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps

  11. Organization and Polarization – The Ghettoes • A walled area within a city to contain the Jewish population • Conditions horrible; food is limited • Ghettoes also provided a source of slave labour • Warsaw Ghetto is approx 1016 acres for 500,000 people

  12. Women, children, the old & the sick were to be sent for ‘special treatment.’ The young and fit would go through a process called ‘destruction through work.’ Shooting was too inefficient as the bullets were needed for the war effort On arrival the Jews would go through a process called ‘selection.’ How was the Final Solution going to be organised? Jews were to be rounded up and put into transit camps called Ghettoes The remaining Jews were to be shipped to ‘resettlement areas’ in the East. The Jews living in these Ghettos were to be used as a cheap source of labour. Conditions in the Ghettos were designed to be so bad that many die whilst the rest would be willing to leave these areas in the hope of better conditions Wannsee Conference

  13. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising • April 19 – May 19, 1943 • Hitler announced all surviving Jews in the ghettoes would be taken to the camps • When the Germans began to deport those left the resistance began

  14. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising • 750 resistors with handguns and 17 rifles faced more than 2000 Nazis • The Nazi general ordered the ghetto burned • The Jews held out for an amazing 27 days

  15. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising • 300 Germans were killed • 7000 Jewish fighters were also killed • Everyone else was captured and taken to the camps

  16. Deception New arrivals at the Death camps were given postcards to send to their friends. Starvation The Jews were told that they were going to ‘resettlement areas’ in the East. The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were only fed a 1000 calories a day . In some Ghettos the Jews had to purchase their own train tickets. A Human being needs 2400 calories a day to maintain their weight Terror What tactics did the Nazis use to get the Jews to leave the Ghettos? Tactics They were told to bring the tools of their trade and pots and pans. The SS publicly shot people for smuggling food or for any act of resistance Hungry people are easier to control

  17. Children dying of starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto

  18. SS Tactics: Dehumanisation • The SS guards who murdered the Jews were brainwashed with Anti-Semitic propaganda. • The Jews were transported in cattle cars in terrible conditions. • Naked, dirty and half starved people look like animals, which helped to reinforce the Nazi propaganda. • The SS used to train their new guards by encouraging them to set fire to a pit full of live victims – usually children.

  19. Preparation - The Camps • Originally, camps were occupied by prisoners to work for the German war effort • The first camp was Dachau (1933) outside of Munich • Upon arrival at the camps prisoners were subjected to “selection” • There were two types of camps: work camps and death camps

  20. All new arrivals went through a process known as ‘selection.’ At Auschwitz the trains pulled into a mock up of a normal station. Mothers, children, the old & sick were sent straight to the ‘showers’ which were really the gas chambers. The Jews were helped off the cattle trucks by Jews who were specially selected to help the Nazis Deception & Selection The able bodied were sent to work camp were they were killed through a process known as ‘destruction through work.’ At some death camps the Nazis would play records of classical music to help calm down the new arrivals. Tactics: what happened to new arrivals? At Auschwitz the new arrivals were calmed down by a Jewish orchestra playing classical music.

  21. Auschwitz “The Fuhrer has ordered that the Jewish question be solved for once and for all, and we, the SS, are to implement that order.” (Rudolf Hoess) • The largest and most infamous extermination camp. Auschwitz used both gas chambers and crematoria • Estimates of the number killed at Auschwitz vary between 2 – 4 million • As with most camps, Auschwitz had the ominous gate saying “Arbeit Macht Frei” – Work Will Set you Free

  22. Entrance to AuschwitzAuschwitz Notice how it has been built to resemble a railway station

  23. The Gas Chambers • The Nazis would force large groups of prisoners into small cement rooms and drop canisters of Zyklon B, or prussic acid, in its crystal form through small holes in the roof. • These gas chambers were sometimes disguised as showers or bathing houses. The SS would try and pack up to 2000 people into this gas chamber

  24. Processing the bodies • Specially selected Jews known as the ‘Sonderkommando’ were used to to remove the gold fillings and hair of people who had been gassed. • The Sonderkommando Jews were also forced to feed the dead bodies into the crematorium.

  25. The Ovens at Dachau

  26. Extermination – The Final Solution • This was the systematic “liquidation” of the ghettoes to death camps • It also included mobile killing units • In the final days of the war Jews were executed or marched from the camps to “hide the evidence”

  27. Joseph Mengele • Known as the “Angel of Death”, he was responsible for selection at Auschwitz • “Medical experiments” included pressure chambers, freezing people to death, intentionally infecting disease, and sadly more

  28. Children subjected to medical experiments in Auschwitz.

  29. Shoes waiting to be processed by the sonderkommando Taken inside a huge glass case in the Auschwitz Museum. This represents one day's collection at the peak of the gassings, about twenty five thousand pairs.

  30. Bails of hair discovered at Auschwitz

  31. Denial – The End of the War • The first deniers were the Nazis – they tried to hide their actions in any way possible • Denial continues through neo-Nazi groups, the KKK, and others "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." (Elie Wiesel)

  32. The War Crimes Trials • Starting with the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi officials were tried for most of the 1940’s • Many Nazis fled Europe in hopes of escaping trial • That said, 1000’s of Nazi war criminals were executed, jailed or committed suicide after the war

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