Holocaust

An Overview of the Holocaust

Using the link, http://www.ushmm.orp/wlc/en/article.php?Moduleld=10007262 (the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website), go to “Education” at the top of the page, scroll down and click on “for teachers”, then go to the left side of the page and click on “essential topics to teach”. Then click on each topic area, read the entire section then answer the question that corresponds to that particular section.

1933-1939

Dictatorship under the Third Reich

In the first months of Hitler's chancellorship, the Nazis instituted a policy of "coordination"--the alignment of individuals and institutions with Nazi goals. Which were the four goals that came under Nazi control?

-Culture

-Education

-Law

-Economy

Early Stages of Persecution

The Nuremberg Laws did not identify a "Jew" as someone with particular religious beliefs. Instead, the first amendment to the Nuremberg Laws defined a “Jew” as?

-Jews contributed significantly to German culture. Many served in World War I and thought of themselves as Germans first and Jews second. They

The First Concentration Camps

Define the term “Concentration Camp”

-A place where large numbers of political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities are imprisoned.

1939-1945

World War II in Europe

What happened on September 1, 1939, that starts WWII? Explain.

-German troops invade Poland by sending in 1.5 million troops at the same time the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields. The attack came without any declaration of war by Germany. Great Britain and France sent Hitler an ultimatum to either withdraw German forces from Poland or face the two nations in war and Two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Murder of the Disabled (Euthanasia Program)

The Euthanasia Program murdered children, young adults, and adults that were considered “physically” and “mentally” disabled. They were put in gas chambers and then burned to ashes. These were not “Jews” but Germans. The families were told that their family membered died from what?

-They were told that they had died from starvation.

Persecution and Murder of Jews

Others than the Jewish people, name three other populations that were targeted under Hitler’s Regime.

-Poles

-Slavic People

-Soviets

Ghettos

What were the three types of ghettos?

-Closed or Seal Ghettos

-Open Ghettos

-Destruction or extermination ghettos

Mobile Killing Squads (Einsatzgruppen)

The “Einsatzgruppen” were mainly German soldiers and Secret Service German men that would go and kill Jews and anyone who was against Hitler. How did they kill these people? At first they only killed men, but as the war continued, did they kill women and children?

-Yes. The women were supposed to protect their children or else they would kill them.

Expansion of the Concentration Camp System

The goods extracted or produced by prisoner labor in the concentration camps were sold to what two German Reich through SS-owned firms?

-SS-owned firms such as the German Earth and Stone Works.

Killing Centers

What was the name of the first “Killing Center”? Where and when did it open?

-The first killing center was Chelmno , which opened in the Warthegau.

Additional Victims of Nazi Persecution

Among the earliest victims of Nazi discrimination in Germany were political opponents -- primarily Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, and trade union leaders. What was the name of the concentration camp that these political enemies were placed?

-Buchenwald concentration camp.

Jewish Resistance and Non-Jewish Resistance

Jewish prisoners rose against their guards at three killing centers. Name two of these center and include the month and year.

Rescue

What is “Zegota” and when did it begin?

-Codename for the Polish Council to Aid Jews. From 1942 to 1945.

United States

After reading this section, why do you think that the United States refused to help the people that were being murdered?

-Because I guess they did not want to be involve with any of it.

Death Marches

The evacuations of the concentration camps had three purposes, what were those reasons?

- (1) SS authorities did not want prisoners to fall into enemy hands alive to tell their stories to Allied and Soviet liberators

(2) the SS thought they needed prisoners to maintain production of armaments wherever possible

(3) some SS leaders, including Himmler, believed irrationally that they could use Jewish concentration camp prisoners as hostages to bargain for a separate peace in the west that would guarantee the survival of the Nazi regime.

Liberation

The Germans tries to destroy the evidence by destroying the concentration camps. However, what evidence was found that proved the Germans had killed an unimaginable number of Jewish peoples?

They said that they had found gas chambers and that was the evidence.

Post- 1945

Postwar Trials

The International Military Tribunal (IMT) defined crimes against humanity as?

-murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation...or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds.

Displaced Persons Camps and Emigration

 Define Zionism

-A Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland.