Holocaust1933-1945

Before Hitler• Before Hitler, Germany was not overtly anti-semitic.

Most people got along well within their small communities.

• Minorities were generally not persecuted• It was not until Hitler’s message of hate that Germans

started to distinguish “differences”.• Note: Judaism was not (and is not) a race. Hitler

made it a race to justify persecution of Jewish peoples and denote them as different

Life Before Hitler

1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor

• After he legally came to power he waited for the opportune moment to take over the government.

• In 1933 there was a fire in the main building of the government (Reichstag) and Hitler used this as an excuse to blame “those working against the government”

• He suspended all civil liberties and took complete control of the government (for the “protection” of Germany)

• To make sure everyone was conforming to Hitler’s new rules, new laws were passed

Boycott of Jewish Businesses

Burning of non-Nazi Books

Arrests of Enemies of the State• Enemies included:

– Jews– Communists– Gypsies – Homosexuals

• This list also came to include those who would “weaken” the German race, ie. the physically and mentally handicapped

Enforcers of Hitler’s Laws

• SS Troops

• Gestapo

• H.J. (Hitler Youth)

Everyday Germans also helped to support Hitler’s regime

1935 Nuremburg Laws• Separated Aryans from

non-Aryans– Restricted lives of non-

German citizens (especially those that did not have 4 German, non-Jewish Grandparents)

– Jews forced to wear yellow stars

– Marriage was not allowed between Jews and non-Jews

– Jewish business were further boycotted and even closed

Nuremburg Laws cont.

1938 Kristallnacht

• Massive violence against Jews included:– Destruction of property– Murders– Beatings– Arrests

• Costs millions in damage and Jews were expected to pay for it

• Enacted to encourage Jews to leave Germany

• Many tried to, but very few were able to get out.

1939 WWII Begins

• With each country that Hitler took over, all “non-desirables” were rounded-up and disposed of.

• Many were sent to Ghettos and later to concentration camps.

1940 Ghettos

• Ghettos were built all over Germany and Eastern Europe as temporary holding locations for Jews until a solution of what to do with them was agreed upon.

• Ghettos were usually in areas of towns that the Jewish community already lived in, they were just confined there now.

• Those that did not already live in a Jewish community were “relocated” to the ghettos.

Relocation

Greek Ghetto

Polish Ghetto (Lodz)

Warsaw Ghetto (largest ghetto)

Lithuania Ghetto (Kovno)

1941• Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing

units)– Followed behind advancing

German armies liquidating “undesirables” from conquered towns (mostly Jews)

– Many of those doing the killing were not officially German military, they were “average” people being swept up by the fervor of the Nazis and turning on their neighbors.

• U.S. joins the war in the end of 1941

1942 Wannsee Conference• German officials

decided on the “Final Solution”

• Gassing at certain concentration camps began as an efficient method of extermination

Concentration Camps

Gas Chambers

Auschwitz-Birkenau 1941-44

1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

• Jews in one of the largest Ghettos fought back against the Germans. Though almost all died, they did try to defend themselves.

• The Germans were infuriated because the Jews were successful at holding them back for 1 month!

1944 - 1945

• D-Day• Soviets begin moving into Germany• Many camps are discovered and liberated• Nazis retreated from the Soviets and Allies. • They began to destroy evidence:

– Mass murder of prisoners– Death Marches = evacuation of other camps to

interior camps

• End of 1945 – Germany surrenders = V-E Day!– Full evil of the Nazis discovered

Death Marches

Liberation of Camps

Innocent Victims

Between 8-12 Million people were executed. This is referred to as

THE HOLOCAUST