THE HOLOCAUST

1. THE HOLOCAUST Hitler’s Final Solution

2. Anti-Semitism • Anti-Semitism – Hostility or prejudice toward the Jews • What created this environment in Germany? • The hardships after World War I created anger for many Germans – scapegoats needed • Mass immigration of Jews into Germany from Russia – they were being persecuted there under the Czar and under the new Communist governments • Many Jews moving in were middle class and had money – were not as poor as German people • Adolf Hitler preached that Germans were a superior race – Aryan Nation • There had been tension between Jews and Christians since middle ages • In the year 1215 – Germans passed law that said Jews had to dress differently from Christians • This law would compare to the Jews having to wear the Star of David under Hitler’s regime • Nazi Laws on determining a Jew – anyone who had a Jewish grandparent was considered a Jew. • Hatred based on ancestry and not just religion

3. Hitler and The Jews • Hitler becomes leader of Germany in 1933 – things change for the Jews • Anti-Semitic Laws established – purpose was to drive Jews out of Germany • Nuremberg Laws (1935) – stripped German Jews of citizenship and economic rights and defined who was a Jew and who was an Aryan • Attacks on Jews increase • Kristallnacht – also known as the night of broken glass was an event that occurred from November 9 and 10 in 1938 that saw Nazis unleash attacks on Jewish homes and businesses – killed nearly 100 Jews • Jews were rounded up and isolated from the rest of Germany • Started with creation of ghettos – neighborhoods in a city in which Jews were confined behind walls with armed guards – This kept the Jews separated from the rest of the people • They also used concentration camps – labor camps meant to hold what Hitler called enemies of the state • The result – Jews got the message from Hitler, “Get Out!!!!” • Over 100,000 Jews left Germany – those who found the money and means • German laws had made it impossible for others to get out – these people would face even worse treatment

4. The Final Solution • Final Solution – This was the plan that called for the mass and quick execution of European Jews. • What the plan called for: • Building of six new death camps – these were focused on quick executions of the Jews • Some of these death camps were: Treblinka, Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald • The rounding up of Jews from the ghettos, placing them on trains, and sending them to camps • No one will be safe – old, young, women, men, and children were all to be executed • Jewish Reaction: • Many would try to hide out – built secret rooms in house • Others would face fate – knew they were going to die • Germans told those who were rounded up on trains that they were being relocated so they were to bring all their possessions – Germans would collect these items and sell them and take the money

5. Results of Final Solution • Decrease in Jewish Population in Germany:

6. American Response • American Immigration – was limited and no immigrants were wanted • Limited number of Jews who could move to United States • Americans still unwilling to change knowing Hitler’s policies and after hearing about the Kristallnacht • 1942 – This attitude changes – Americans made aware of Final Solution and the extermination of Jews • Led to formation of War Refugee Board – created by Roosevelt in 1944 which said to take all measures to rescue the victims of enemy oppression • Led to the rescue of 200,000 Jews • Liberation of the Nazi Camps • These were discovered as the Nazi began to fall and shrink back into Germany • American Forces in the West and Russian forces in the East all begin to free those they found left behind in camps • Also they discovered the mass graves and piles of bodies

7. Nuremberg Trials • These were trials held in a court in Nuremberg, Germany • The judges were made up of those from the International Community • Called the International Military Tribunal • These trials were for the purpose of punishing the Nazis for the crimes they committed during the Holocaust – genocidal campaign against the Jews • Tried 22 Nazis for their role in these war crimes • 12 were sentenced to death • Others were sentenced to long prison terms • After Nuremberg: • Many other Nazis were captured and tried in other nations – primarily Israel • Some of these trials continued to carried out into the 1960s