The Holocaust

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to

repeat it…”

What was The Holocaust? The Holocaust refers to a specific event in 20th century

history where six million Jews were killed by the Nazi regime and their collaborators as a central act of state during World War II. As well, five million Romani, Sinti, African-Germans, homosexuals, mentally challenged, and others were murdered by the Nazis.

How it started Adolf Hitler and the

Nazi party came to power

1933 – 9 million Jews lived in 21 European countries that would become occupied by Germany during WWII

By 1945 2 out of 3 Jews would be dead

Who was Adolf Hitler? Served in German army

during WWI in the front lines (decorated for bravery)

Became involved in politics and tried to seize power by force (crushed by police 1923)

Served time for high treason and then rose to power legitimately

Hatred of Jews Worked to rid Germany of

Versailles Treaty Started WWII invaded Poland

Other figures in Nazi Regime

Henrich Himmler – SS leader/Chief of German police – responsible for implementing the Final Solution

Josef Mengele – ruthless/cruel doctor that conducted medical experiments on Jews

Julius Streicher – Earliest/loyal supporter of Hitler, propaganda publisher “The Stormer”

Under the Nazis… 12, 000, 000 people, half of them Jews were murdered by

the Germans because of hatred and the belief they were inferior

These people were killed by: shooting, starvation, disease, gas, torture, and medical experiments

Who was targeted? Jews People with

mental/physical disabilities

Gypsies Political/religious

(Catholics/Jehovah Witnesses) dissidents, Socialists, Trade Unionists, Homosexuals, Communists

The Holocaust had two main phases

Phase I 1933-1939 Saw Jews, Gypsies,

People with handicaps as serious threat to purity of German “master race”

Hatemongering propaganda – blaming Jews for Germany’s economic depression and defeat in WWI

New Laws enacted against Jews

Forced to quit civil service jobs, boycott Jewish businesses

Stripped of citizenship (Nuremburg Laws)

Segregated – no public school, cinemas, vacation resorts, or even walking in certain German cities

Took over Jewish businesses

Band intermarriages

Kristallnacht 1938“The night of broken glass”

Organized riot of physical destruction of Jewish synagogues, arrest of Jews, destroying of Jewish homes and murders

First Organized Round up… Began after

Kristallnacht of German/Austrian Jews

30, 000 Jewish men were sent to Dachau and other concentration camps with several 100 Jewish women sent to prison

Phase I – Possibility of fleeing dims During phase I approx. 1, 500, 000 Jews rounded up and shot Emphasis changing to extermination camps (murdered in gas

chambers), concentration camps (where prisoners worked to death as slave labour)

Jews attempting to flee to other areas (Palestine, Latin America, other European countries)

Others hindered by lack of money, unable to obtain visas/sponsors, or unwilling to uproot selves

Phase II 1939 - 1945 September 1, 1939

Germany invades Poland – the beginning of WWII

Hitler orders mass executions – creation of mobile killing sites – Most famous: Babi Yar where 33, 000 people killed, mostly Jews

Creation of Ghettos – confined spaces for Jews, & labour camps in addition to concentration camps “Night and Fog Decree”

Executions Jewish men dig own

graves before being executed as SS and German labour service look on

Last Jew on edge of grave before execution

Star of David September 1, 1941 – Jews

ordered to wear the yellow star

6 point star created from two interlocking triangles – each point represents trust in God, his rule over the universe and all six directions (N, S, E, W, & up/down)

All Jews over 10 years of age had to wear the star – it served as a marker, isolation, failing to wear the star meant certain death

The Final Solution 1942-1944 – Elimination of ghettos as residents deported to

concentration/extermination camps January 1942 – Decision to implement The Final Solution – a

formal German state policy to exterminate the Jews Final Solution was carried out by the SS and the Gestapo

Killing Sites 1. Belzec 2. Sobibor 3. Treblinka 4. Chelmo 5. Majdanek 6. Auschwitz -

Birkenau Sites chosen because

close to rail line and rural

Statistics – Killing Sites Belzec – 600, 000 gassed (May 1942) Sobibor – 200, 000 (May ’42-Oct.’43) Treblinka – 750, 000 (July ’42-Nov. ’43) Auschwitz-Bikenau – mass murder daily routine – 1.25 million

killed (9/10 Jews)

“The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved by

indifference.” Main camp gate to

Auschwitz Motto: “Arbeit

Macht Frei” meaning “Work Makes us Free”

The Barrack City

Murder Methods Arrived by rail from

across Europe Men & women

separated Forced to undress and

pass over valuables Sent to gas chambers

disguised as shower rooms

Small minority selected for labour (exposed to malnutrition, hard labour, disease, & medical experiments)

Boys imprisoned in Auschwitz look out beyond barbed wire

Approx. 40, 000 Polish children kidnapped and imprisoned for slave labour

Gas Chambers(Last gas chamber used in Auschwitz – October30,

1944)

Zyklon B pellets (Hydrocyanic acid) – vaporizes when exposed to air, intended as insecticide/disinfectant

Found could kill humans through experimentation

Disguised shower rooms as gas chambers (air tight) pellets dropped through air shaft

Bitter almond smell, deprived body of oxygen

Left blue residue still inside intact gas chambers

Stash of gold wedding rings taken from victims at

Buchenwald

Thousands of shoes taken from prisoners before their

death

Clothing from children gassed at Auschwitz

By February ’43 800 boxcars of confiscated goods left Auschwitz

Cremation oven

Mass graves

Crematorium ovens in Buchenwald concentration camp

Soldiers view pile of cremated remains outside crematorium in Buchenwald

Starvation and disease due to deplorable conditions in the

camps

Famous Photo – Tsvi Nussbaum

Famous Diary – Anne Frank Captures essence of the

horrors of the Holocaust Warsaw 1943, a little

Jewish boy raises his arms in surrender with lowered eyes as a Nazi soldier trains his machine gun on him

What happened to him? Anne Frank – hid from

Germans, betrayed and died in concentration camp – father published her diary

Resistance Pockets of resistance

existed White Rose – group of

university students opposed to Nazis, leaflets on views, leaders executed

Oskar Schindler – set up business employing Jews, prevented their departure to camps, protection through bribery of Nazis

The end of the war in view…

1944 War turning in favour of Allies

Germans attempt to cover actions

“Death Marches” bringing Jews into camps within Germany to prevent liberation

1945 Nazi Germany collapsed

What happened to the Jews after the Holocaust?

Hundreds of thousands homeless seeking a new life Many wished to return to Palestine (only 10, 000

allowed) Sought remnants of families/fate of family and friends Many started new lives in Britain, U.S., France, Israel, etc.

Canada and The Holocaust Canada’s record of accepting Jewish refugees one of the

poorest 1939 – 1945 – only 5, 000 Jewish immigrants allowed into

Canada, compared to the U.S. – 200, 000 or Britain – 195, 000

Requests previously often denied

Famous QuoteMartin Niemoller 1892 - 1984

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, so I did not speak out; they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out; Then they came for the Jews, but I was not Jewish, so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

May History never repeat itself…

May their voice never be silenced