Background information on the Holocaust: In 1942, a group of Nazis met and decided upon a 'Final Solution' to what they called their 'Jewish Problem'. The Jewish people in Europe were to be exterminated. Historians call this 'the Holocaust' – a Greek word describing a burnt sacrifice – in memory of the crematoria in which the dead bodies were burned. Hitler defined the Jews as a ‘race’ not a religion. Hitler himself, was German. Arbeit macht freiis a German phrase meaning "work sets you free." The slogan is known for appearing on the entrance of Auschwitz and other concentration camps Why Hitler did not like the Jews: Hitler and the Nazis said the Jews were responsible for huge events like losing World War One and the economic crisis. This was totally untrue. The solution to all these problems was to banish the Jews from society. With this political message and the promise to make Germany a large and economically powerful country Hitler’s party won the 1932 election. In 1933 he and his party came to power. Did Hitler invent hatred of Jews? No, Hitler built on and used anti-Semitic ideas that already existed. He was Austrian and grew up in Vienna where the mayor was extremely anti-Semitic and where hatred of Jews was widespread. His hatred of Jews cannot be tied down to a specific event in his life, for example a Jewish childhood friend, as many children think. (Anti-Semitism = a ideology and hatred against Jews). Hitler and the Nazis also thought that people could be divided into different races and that there was a struggle going on between these different races. According to the Nazis the ‘Aryan race’ was the best and strongest race. Jews were of another inferior race. In fact so inferior that they were not considered to be ‘people’ by the Nazis. Before there was hatred: Jewish people in Germany after 1919 were free and legally equal and often felt more German than Jewish. Many were wealthy and successful. What happened when Hitler came into power: As soon as Hitler came to power he introduced a programme of persecution. The Nuremberg Laws (1935) deprived Jewish people of many of their civil rights. On 9 November 1938 – Kristallnacht – Jewish businesses, synagogues and homes were attacked and destroyed. After 1939, the Nazis stepped up the persecution of the Jewish people: They were herded into over-crowded 'ghettos'. After 1941 following the invasion of the Soviet Union, Nazi death-squads, called 'einsatzgruppen', murdered more than a million Jewish people in eastern Europe. In 1942, a Nazi conference at Wannsee decided on the Final Solution – the Jewish people were to be taken to camps such as Auschwitz and gassed (gas chamber – sealed chamber where poisonous gas is leaked) Nobody knows how many Jewish people died during the Holocaust, but the usual figure given is 6 million. - Hitler's 'brown shirts' stood outside Jewish shops and persuaded Germans to boycott them (The Sturmabteilung, or SA, was the Nazi Party's group and these people wore the brown shirts) (1933) - 'Jews not wanted here' posters began to go up round Germany. (1935) - The Nuremberg Laws deprived Jewish people of their civil rights: they were forbidden to vote they were not allowed to marry Germans Other laws were passed forbidding them to go out at night, or own a bicycle, among other things. (1935) - Jewish people were forbidden to be lawyers, doctors or teachers. (1936) - Kristallnacht was when Jewish businesses, synagogues and homes were destroyed. Many Jewish men were killed or put in concentration camps. (1938) - Hitler accused the Jewish people of stirring up other countries against Germany. He threatened them with annihilation if a war broke out. (1939) (Annihilation = complete destruction) The types of work the Jews performed inside the concentration camps: Arbeit macht freiis a German phrase meaning "work sets you free." The slogan is known for appearing on the entrance of Auschwitz and other concentration camps Depending on the type of camp, prisoners were assigned to a whole range of different duties. Some remained inside the camp working on a variety of jobs, from administration tasks to heavy manual labour. Most prisoners worked outside the camps in one the many factories, construction projects, farms or coal mines. They would quite often have to walk several kilometres to their place of work. The Sonderkommando (Special Work Unit) consisted of Jewish prisoners who were selected to work in the crematoriums in camps. They were selected due to their strength and fitness. The life-expectancy of a Sonderkommando was about four months in the camp. While the prisoners were being processed after their arrival, their belongings were taken away. A group of prisoners was assigned to collecting the valuables, while others sifted through the possessions. These were then transported back to Germany. The prisoners working on this task were in a privileged position. They were able to ‘organise’ (steal) extra food on which to survive, a pair of shoes or extra clothing to protect themselves from the severe winter weather. There were examples of prisoners smuggling valuables which could be used to bribe guards. However, if caught, they risked death. The genocide: Genocide is the intent to systematically eliminate a racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural or national group During the Second World War, Nazi persecution of the Jewish people worsened into 'genocide' – the attempt to kill all the Jewish people in Europe.
Consequences: Jewish people call the Holocaust the 'Shoah', which means 'destruction'. Perhaps 6 million Jewish people died. The Nazis also: *exterminated half a million Roma gypsies *put a quarter of a million mentally ill and disabled people to death *sterilised deaf people *imprisoned homosexuals How did the Jews react = IN DIFFERENT WAYS: In some places, the Jewish people resisted, eg the Warsaw Uprising of 1943. Some of them fled from Germany and other countries such as Poland. Some put their children on Kindertransport trains, which took them to Great Britain, where they were fostered. Some hid. In some places, the Jewish people accepted their fate, and even cooperated with the Nazis. Some survived the concentration camps, often against all odds Consequences for the Nazis: After the war, Nazi leaders were put on trial at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials (1945‒1946). War criminals continued to be found and put on trial Adolf Hitler killed himself by gunshot on 30 April 1945 in his Führerbunker in Berlin.[a][b][c] His wife Eva (née Braun) committed suicide with him by taking cyanide (cyanide – is a chemical compound)
Pedagogy: Use different images from the Holocaust to generate initial discussion (child's shoe). Ask students to discuss their thoughts and feelings, and what they think the shoe may represent. Create an interactive museum of information gathered about the Holocaust. Create a diary entry of somebody within the Holocaust.