WARM UP



On a piece of paper, draw two concentric circles, one inside the other.



In the small circle, write words that describe you, your family, or your friends.



Write “in-group” in the circle.

 Rank the out-groups from most different to least different from your in-group.

 What factors did you use to order the out groups?

 Explain ways your in-group is better, or superior.

 Describe how your in-group is “threatened” by the most different out group.

The Holocaust

From the term “total burnt offering”



Write groups you consider different from yourself in the large circle.



Write “out-groups” in the large circle.

The Holocaust was not an accident; it was intentional. It was a well-planned attempt to kill every Jew in the world. The Holocaust was so terribly effective because it took advantage of people’s prejudice.

Prejudice

 A positive or negative opinion or feeling formed without knowledge, thought, or reason.

 Prejudice allowed Nazi leaders to proceed to the definition stage.

Introduction

  As part of their vision for Europe, the Nazis proposed a new racial order.

 They proclaimed that the Germanic peoples, or

Aryans

, were a “master race.” (a misuse of the term

Aryan,

the Indian subcontinent around 1500 B.C.) which actually refers to the Indo-European peoples who began to migrate into  The Nazis claimed that all non-Aryan peoples, particularly Jewish people, were inferior.

This racist message would eventually lead to the

Holocaust

, the systematic mass slaughter of Jews and other groups judged inferior by the Nazis.

Discrimination

 Once prejudice defines a group, discrimination (prejudice in action) may occur.

 Discrimination was the driving force behind

expropriation

, taking away the rights, property and livelihood.

The Holocaust Begins

  Hitler knowingly tapped into a hatred for Jews that had deep roots in European history.

 Jews as scapegoats for   personal failures.

Germany’s defeat in World War I Targeting Jews government policy  1935 Nuremberg Laws made it illegal to marry a Jew. Other laws limited the work of Jews.

“Night of Broken Glass”

  On November 7, 1938, Herschel Grynszpan (pictured) a Jewish youth from Germany, shot a German diplomat living in Paris to avenge his father’s deportation to Poland.

November 9, 1938: In retaliation Nazi leaders in Germany launched a violent attack on the Jewish community on November 9, 1938. This attack was carried out by the SA (storm troopers) and SS, who attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues. This night was called

Kristallnacht

.

Burning Synagogue on Kristallnacht

Did you know?



This picture is typical of the smashed windows of Jewish businesses on Kristallnacht.

Kristallnacht

was not just staged without planning, but

served a specific purpose

in Nazi policy toward the Jews. The SA was under strict orders to

confiscate any firearms owned by Jews

when ransacking Jewish homes and businesses. This would prevent any significant armed resistance to Nazi policies in the future.

A Flood of Refugees

  By the end of 1939, a number of German Jews had fled to other countries.

 At first, Hitler favored emigration as a solution to what he called “the Jewish problem.” After admitting tens of thousands of Jewish refugees, France, Britain, and the United States abruptly closed their doors to further immigration.

Isolating the Jews

  Hitler then ordered Jews in all countries under his control to be moved to designated cities called

ghettos

.

After 1941, all Jews in German controlled areas had to wear a yellow Star of David patch (pictured).

The “Final Solution”

   Hitler’s plan called the “

Final Solution

” was a

genocide

people.

plan to systematically kill an entire Hitler wanted to purify the “Aryan” race.

He tried to eliminate other groups he viewed as “subhuman.”     Roma (gypsies), Poles, Russians the insane the disabled the incurably ill

The Killings Begin

   As the Nazis moved across Europe the SS killing squads rounded up men, women, children, and even babies and shot them in pits where they were buried.

Other Jews were rounded up and herded into concentration camps where they were slave labor.

Inmates would work seven days a week for the SS or for German businesses. Food consisted of thin soup, scraps of bread, and potato peelings. Most inmates lost 50 lbs quickly.

The Final Stage

   In 1942 the Germans built huge exterminations camps equipped with gas chambers that could kill as many as 6,000 people in a day.

Committees of Nazi doctors separated the strong (mostly men) from the weak (women, children, and elderly). The weak went to their deaths in the gas chambers usually that day.

The victims were told to undress and head into the gas chambers under the guise they were taking showers. Cyanide gas from Zyklon B granules came through the fake showerheads.

Zyklon B granules on display at Auschwitz Empty Zyklon B canisters found by the Allies at Auschwitz at the end of World War II

Auschwitz Death Camp, Poland

 Except for the picture on this slide, all other Auschwitz pictures are by Elisabeth Yankey taken in 2001.

This wheeled table helped transport the bodies of the gassed victims to the ovens for cremation.

This mechanism rotated the table upon which the bodies of the gassed victims were transferred to the ovens for cremation.

There was once a building standing here, but this is the area where the Nazis themselves burned this building down to attempt to destroy evidence of the death camps.

inmate barracks

These are burned down barracks where the Nazis again tried to destroy evidence of atrocities in the Auschwitz camp.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45416000/gif/_45416119_auschwitz04_44_08_update.gif

Jews Killed Under Nazi Rule*

Poland Soviet Union (area occupied by Germans) Hungary Romania Germany/Austria

Original Jewish Population Jews Killed

3,300,000 2,800,000

Percent Surviving

15% 2,100,000 1,500,000 404,000 850,000 270,000 200,000 425,000 210,000 29% 49% 50% 22%

*Estimates Source: Hannah Vogt, The Burden of Guilt

The Survivors

   About six million European Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Less than four million European Jews survived.

Some Jews were helped by non-Jews who risked there lives, hid Jews in their homes, and helped them escape to neutral countries. One such family was the Ten Boom family of Harlem in the Netherlands. The book and film

The Hiding Place

tells this story.

 Apokaluptetai gar orgh