BELLWORK

1. BELLWORK • What was decided at the Yalta Conference? • What was Kristallnacht? • What is a ghetto? • What is genocide? • THINKER: What steps could a country take to eliminate genocide? Should the U.S. help other countries that are experiencing genocide?

2. “Once I really am in power, my first and foremost task will be the annihilation of the Jews. . . until all Germany has completely been cleansed of Jews.” • Adolf Hitler

3. Nazi Creed • Nazism focused on the beliefs of Adolf Hitler. • These beliefs were outlined in his book, Mein Kampf • You will now read summaries of Hitler’s main points in this autobiography. • Be ready to discuss the following questions: • How does Hitler view the “German Master Race?” What are they allowed to do? • Why are Jews considered inferior? • What does Hitler think about Democracy? • How will Hitler use propaganda? • What tactics/emotions does Hitler use to control the masses?

4. Anti-Semitism • Aryans > Semites • When Hitler became leader in 1933, he made anti-Semitism (discrimination directed at Jews) the official policy of Germany. • This hatred led to the Holocaust: Nazi Germany’s mass murder of European Jews. • Included Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, disabled, mentally challenged, communists, homeless, and dissenters. • Enforced by the Gestapo: Nazi secret police • Nuremburg Laws: 1935 series of anti-Semitic laws; defined the targeted races

7. Kristallnacht • “Night of the Broken Glass” • November 9, 1938: Nazi thugs in Germany and Austria destroyed Jewish stores, houses and synagogues.

9. Warsaw ghetto • Nazi plans for dealing with Jews included establishment of ghettos: areas in which minority groups are concentrated. • Nazis took 30% of Warsaw’s pop. and sealed them off in the Warsaw ghetto. • Ghettos were surrounded with walls & barbedwire.

10. Concentration Camps

12. Concentration Camps • Labor Camps • Transit and Collection Camps • POW Camps • Education Camps • Hostage Camps • Extermination/Death Camps

13. German Jewish Family before the war- only two survived the Holocaust

14. A sign, in both German and Latvian, warning that people attempting to cross the fence or to contact inhabitants of the Riga ghetto will be shot. Riga, Latvia, 1941-1943.

15. Deportation of Jewish children from an orphanage. Lodz ghetto, Poland.

16. Jews move into the Kovno ghetto. Lithuania, 1941.

17. Child forced laborer in a ghetto factory. Kovno, Lithuania, between 1941 and 1944

18. A child eats in the streets of the Warsaw ghetto. Warsaw, Poland.

19. Children eating in the ghetto streets. Warsaw, Poland.

20. A Jewish victim of life in a concentration camp

21. Mass grave of Holocaust victims

22. Once the people were killed, they were cremated in large furnaces like this one

24. Auschwitz

27. Auschwitz • 3 million died here by systematic starvation, forced labor, lack of disease control, individual executions, and "medical experiments". • Camp was divided into three parts: • Auschwitz I – administration • Auschwitz II – extermination camp • Auschwitz III – labor camp • Soviet troops liberated the camp on January 27, 1945, which came to be known as Holocaust Remembrance day.

31. Medical Experimentations

32. Allied Help • Witold Pilecki: Polish army captain who agreed to spend 945 days in Auschwitz. • He gathered evidence of genocide and sent it to Britain. • Two prisoners, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, escaped and gave a detailed report about the camp. • Convinced Allied leaders about the truth of Auschwitz.

33. Birkenau Revolt • On October 7, 1944, the Jewish Sonderkommandos of Auschwitz II staged an uprising. • They attacked prison guards and blew up the Crematorium IV. • Joined by other inmates who overpowered guards and broke out of the compound.

34. Liberation of Auschwitz • In November 1945, generals ordered the crematoriums to be destroyed before the Red Army reached Auschwitz. • Gas chambers were blown up to hide evidence of German crimes. • The Death March: there were 60,000 prisoners left in Auschwitz. Forced them to walk to Loslau, another Polish concentration camp. • 15,000 died on the way, but eventually Soviet forces infiltrated all camps.

35. Holocaust Comes to an End • In 1944, FDR created War Refugee Board (WRB): programs and funding to help rescue Jews • Nazis began abandoning camps for fear of Allied advances. • In 1945, American armies reached the concentration camps. • Nuremburg Trials: Former Nazi leaders on trial for crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. • 24 Nazi defendants – 12 executed

36. Total Deaths: 9-11 Million

37. Holocaust Facts • Jewish Population • Greek Origin • Maria Mandel • Amount of Z-klon B • Nazi Escape • Grave Discovery • Berlin Olympics • Chocolate

38. Where was America? • Did Americans know the Holocaust was happening? If so, why didn’t they do anything earlier? Why did they wait so long to help? • Similar stories during WWI • Thought it was an exaggeration • Major news sources downplayed its importance • New York Times reported the victims as “refugees” • Were timid about mixed Jewish – German readership • Never highlighted its importance

40. CLOSURE • What fact/term/concept/idea about the Holocaust sticks out the most to you? Explain! • Many German citizens knew about the Holocaust as it was happening but chose to do nothing. Do you think this makes them just as guilty? • What could they have done to help? • What might have happened if they decided to speak out against the government?