The Holocaust Chapter 16-3

1. The Holocaust Chapter 16-3

2. The Persecution Begins • As soon as Hitler took power he ordered all non Aryans to be fired from government jobs • This was the first move in an attempt for racial purity • This would lead to the Holocaust or systematic murder of 6 million Jews • In addition 5 million others would be put to death

3. Jews Targeted • The Jews would not be the only one targeted by the Germans but they would be the focus • Anti-Semitism or hatred of the Jews had a long history in Europe as the Jews were the scapegoat for many German failures • For example the German defeat in WWI as well as the economic crisis of the time • As the Nazi power increased so did the persecution of the Jews • In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, & property • To make identify the Jewish population easier all Jews were forced to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing

4. Kristallnacht • On the nights of November 10-11, 1938, became known as Kristallnacht, or night of broken glass • Nazi Storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, & synagogues • Approximately 100 Jews were killed & hundreds injured as well as 30,000 arrested • Hundreds of synagogues were burned • Afterward the Germans blamed the Jews for the uprising & destruction

5. A Flood of Jewish Refugees • Kristallnacht marked the step up in Nazi policy of Jewish persecution • The Nazi’s tried to speed Jewish emigration but encountered difficulty as many nations were already overwhelmed but the influx • France had accepted 40,000, Britain 80,000, & Palestine (Israel) 30,000 • As far as the U.S. the average Jew had little hope of making it as we were in the midst of the Great Depression & fear of competition for jobs as well as “enemy agents” caused many to call for limits on immigration • In all America accepted 100,000 refugees

6. Hitler’s Final Solution • By 1939 only 250,000 Jews remained in Germany, but the other nations that Hitler had occupied contained millions more • Obsessed with the desire to rid all of Europe of its Jews Hitler initiated the “Final Solution” • This was a policy of genocide or the deliberate & systematic killing of an entire population

7. The Condemned • Hitler’s Final Solution rested on the belief that Aryans were a superior people and that the strength & purity of this “master race” must be preserved • Anyone who did not fit the mold of the master race was imprisoned or put to death as enemies of the state • In the beginning those that spoke out against the government were the main targets • Once these targets were silenced the Nazi turned their attention to the Jews, Gypsies, Freemasons, & Jehovah’s Witnesses • Others attacked included homosexuals, mentally ill, physically disabled, & those that had incurable diseases

8. Forced Relocation • Jews were also forced to leave their homes & businesses & move into deplorable ghettos • These were sealed off areas where they forced to remain • Within the ghettos dead bodies would pile up like wood, people were forced to work in German factories, food & clean water were scarce, & there was always the threat of instant death at the hands of an SS officer for no reason

9. Concentration Camps • Many of the Jews would end up in concentration camps or labor camps • Here people would be tortured, experimented on, & put to death • Those that were “fortunate” to escape the gas chambers were forced to working for the Germans

10. The Final Stage • In 1942 Hitler decided that mass execution was costly & slow in the extermination of the Jews • The Germans would turn to the use of poison gas, Zykon B • Here the prisoners would be herded into a shower & gassed

11. The Survivors • An estimated 6 million Jews would be put to death in the Nazi death camps • Another 6-5 million non-Jews were also put to death • After the fall of the Nazi regime Hitler & his henchmen tried to cover up the atrocities by any means • Many would survive to tell the world of their horror, thus the phrase “Never Forget”