Fact or Myth?

1. Fact or Myth? Questions about the Holocaust

2. Fact or Myth? Norwegian non-Jews wore paperclips on their shirts to express their support for Jews.

3. Myth It is true that Norwegian resistance smuggled some Jews to Sweden. It is true that some Norwegians wore paperclips, but it had nothing to do with supporting Jews. It was a way to show support to their king instead of the Nazis, who occupied Norway in 1940.

4. Fact or Myth? Hitler was Jewish or “part” Jewish.

5. Myth It’s true that Hitler took pains to conceal his birth records, but this may be because he was he was afraid to reveal his family’s history of mental disability, not supposed Jewish ancestry. The idea that Hitler was Jewish stems from confusion about his grandfather Alois(dad’s dad). Alois’ mother was unmarried when she had him in Graz, Austria, and refused to say who his father was. This made people guess. Some think he was a Jew named Frankenberger. Simon Wiesenthal, the noted “Nazi hunter,” looked into this and found no evidence of any Jewish family named Frankenberger ever living in Graz. Moreover, the Jews had been expelled from Graz in the 15th century and weren’t allowed back until 20 yearsafter his grandfather was born. When his Aloiswas 5 years old, his mother married a man named Heidler, and when Aloisgrew up, he changed his last name to Hitler (a variant spelling of “Heidler”) and inherited money from this side of the family. So it’s most likely that Hitler’s great-grandfather was Hiedler, not Frankenberger.

6. Fact or Myth? Hitler hated Jews because a Jewish doctor accidentally killed his mother.

7. Myth Some claim that Hitler was angry that his mother’s Jewish physician in Linz, Austria, bungled her breast cancer treatment, causing her to die a long and painful death. But according to the doctor’s testimony, Hitler believed the doctor treated her well and was not angry.The doctor recalled that, after her death, “He [Hitler] stepped forward and took my hand. He said: ‘I shall be grateful to you forever.’ Then he bowed.” Before he became Führer, Hitler sent the doctor postcards, holiday greetings, and gifts of his artwork. In 1937, Hilter asked Linz Nazis if the doctor was still alive and practicing medicine. He called Dr. Bloch a noble Jew and said if all Jews were like him, there would be no Jewish question. Hitler granted him favors. The yellow star was removed from his apartment and office, and the family was allowed to live in their home. They were permitted to leave Austria in 1938 without their life-savings, Hitler’s gifts and notes, and Dr. Bloch’s record book about his mother’s treatment. The book surfaced after the war.

8. Fact or Myth? The Germans made soap from human bodies.

9. Myth Leading Holocaust scholars say this is false. Claims regarding Jewish bodies began to surface as in August 1942 in the concentration camps. If this claim were true, scholars say evidence would prove it conclusively – such as shipping bills, physical evidence from a manufacturing plant, or receipts for economic transactions. These documents have never been found, whereasevidence abounds for other Nazi atrocities such as shipments of hair and dental gold removed from human bodies. Over the years, Holocaust survivors have presented small blue-green cakes of soap, rumoredthat they were made from human fat because they were stamped RIF. Aaron Breitbart, a senior researcher at the Simon Wiesenthal Center explains that this stands for “Reich Industry Fat.” However, in the camps, some Jews believed that the I was a J and that the acronym stood for "Pure Jewish Fat."  However, analysis of the bars turned up no evidence of human DNA.

10. All information summarized from the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education’s website at http://www.mchekc.org/resources/ten_misconceptions.aspx on May 22, 2012.