“The greatest crime in the history of the world”

1. “The greatest crime in the history of the world” Why is it so important to remember the Holocaust?

2. Meanings Freedom through work • Holocaust means death • Jews use term Churban • Anti-Semitism • Concentration camp • 1942-45 Nazis exterminated: 6 million Jews; 100,000s gypsies, trade unionists, ‘deviants’ Arriving at Auschwitz

3.  Your task • Watch the clip from ‘The Second World War in Colour’ and think about the following points: • Why was it important for ordinary Germans to visit the camps after the war? • Why was it difficult to decide who was really responsible for the death of so many people?

4. Beginnings Luther • 1290, all Jews expelled from England • 1543, Martin Luther, ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’ • 1881, Tsar Alexander II assassinated, riots & burning of synagogues Tsar Alexander II

5. Nazi anti-Semitism Click here to find out what Hitler thought about Jewish people • Hitler’s personal hatred Jews • Treaty of Versailles • Fear of communism

6. Nazi anti-Semitism • 1933, Jews excluded from civil service & education • 1935, Nuremberg Laws • 1938, Kristallnacht • 1940, Warsaw Ghetto • 1942, Final Solution A Jewish shopkeeper clears up after the horrors of Kristallnacht

7.  Your task Source • Read the account of Dora Volkel, a Jewish woman who experienced the horrors of Auschwitz at first hand. • What does the source tell us about the attitudes of the Jewish people in the camp & the Nazi guards?

8. Allied reactions • 1942, British & American governments received reports of concentration camps • Reports from journalists, e.g. Martin Gilbert

9. Why do you think the Allies did so little to help Jewish people during the War?

10. German reactions • Nazis controlled media • Public fear of speaking out • Disbelief in extermination policy • Ignorance Click here to find out what Albert Speer knew about the death camps

11. Remembering • 1945, Allies liberated camps • Germans forced to visit • 1948, UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights

12. What rights do you think the UN included in its Declaration? Click here for some examples

13. Remembering • Museums, e.g. Auschwitz & Dachau • Spiro Institute • Books, Diary of Anne Frank • Films, Schindler’s List

14.  Your task template • Draw a Star of David in your books or on your computer. Around the points write down as many reasons as you can why it is important to remember the Holocaust. 

15.  Your task • Write a letter to one of the survivors of the Holocaust explaining that you have just studied the Holocaust at school. Include the following: • what you know and understand about the Holocaust • how you feel about the Holocaust • why we should remember the Holocaust

16. Hitler’s views on Jews “The aim of Jews is the complete destruction of the German ‘Reich’ and the spread of revolution.” “The whole of Germany is governed by Jews. The Jew sits in government and swindles and smuggles. Therefore, Germans be united and fight against the Jews, because they will gobble up our last crumbs.”

17. Albert Speer on the death camps “People have often asked me what I knew about the extermination of the Jews. As armaments minister I really only concerned myself with armaments and was isolated from what else was going on. But that is really only an excuse. I did not know exactly what was going on at the camps, but I have worked it out from the little I did know. I should have done. No apologies are possible.”

18. Freedom through work

19. Arriving at Auschwitz

20. UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty & security of person Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment