Maus

1. Maus By Art Spiegelman

2. Beginnings • Following WWI, Germany was left in insurmountable debt, for which there was no way to pay • This poverty left many Germans afraid and looking for a savior • The Nazi Party promised retribution and a return of power and dignity to Germans • By 1933 the Nazis had a strong foothold in German politics and it was not long before Germany had a new Chancellor – Adolph Hitler

3. Adolf Hitler Hitler was chosen as leader of the Nazi Party because of his speaking illocution and his ability to connect with people Although the exact cause is not know, Hitler ran an extremely anti-Jewish government. He believed in the existence of a super-race

4. WWII • WWII began on 9-1-1939 when Germany invaded Poland • This invasion led to declarations of war by both Britain and France • Germany would find allies with or conquer nearly 30 countries before the end of the war, including France, Italy, Japan and Russia

5. WWII • In terms of casualties, WWII is undoubtedly the bloodiest war to ever be fought with an unprecedented 70 MILLION casualties, both military and civilian • It is generally thought that Hitler would have succeeded if he had not turned on Russian in 1943/44, which led to the loss of his greatest ally and his ultimate defeat in 1945. • Hitler committed suicide during the battle for Berlin

6. The Holocaust

7. Hitler’s Final Solution • As part of his campaign, Hitler called together a group of intellectuals to decide what to do about the “problem” of Jew and other uncleans, who they blamed for Germany’s misfortunes following WWI • The result of the conference, the Wannsee Conference, was the decision to eliminate all persons of Jewish ancestry

8. The Plan • Jewish people were put through a series of disgraces before meeting their fate • The first part of the Solution stripped Jews of their ability to own businesses and mingle in non-Jewish society • Soon after this, Jews were moved into cramped sections of town, called ghettos, where they often had 7-8 people in small rooms. They lost all of their possessions and lived in horrible conditions

9. Liquidation of the Ghettos • By the end of 1940, Concentration Camps were ready for operation. • Unbeknownst to most of the world, millions of Jews were shipped from the Ghettos to these camps in trains, where many died of starvation, dehydration, suffocation, and disease – I’m just talking about the trains

11. The Camps • Upon arrival at the camps, most children, older people, and the sick were immediately sent for execution • The Nazis kept healthy people for work detail where they were often worked to death • The inmates, consisting of Jews, Communists, Homosexuals, Political Enemies, Catholics, and Blacks, had to survive on around 500 calories per day and were taken for execution when too weak for work.

12. Some Numbers • Around 7 Million Jews were executed • Nearly 4 Million of others were executed • At Auschwitz alone around 1.1 million were executed

13. Execution • Nazis are infamous for their types of execution • Many prisoners were led into showers, scores at a time, with the promise of a shower, only to be gassed • Towards the end of the War, many were killed by being forced to run from camp to camp (50 miles sometimes) in the middle of winter. If one stopped running, he/she was shot on sight

14. Executions con’t • It is reported that at the very end, some Nazis locked the prisoners in buildings and let them burn alive • Others had a group dig huge graves to throw recently shot prisoners into, the diggers were the last to be shot and buried • The vast majority were gassed and burned, as mentioned