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Thurs 4/5: Genocide and the Holocaust

First they came for the JewsAnd I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the communists

And I did not speak out—Because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out—Because I was not a trade

unionist.

Then they came for me—And there was no one left To speak out for me.

~Pastor Niemoeller

• Bell Work:1. What is the main

idea of the poem?

2. Why do you think some people in the area do not fight against a genocide that is going on around them?

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What is Indifference?

• Indifference: A lack of interest or concern, something of unimportance

• What can this lead to? – Bullying, teasing, exclusion, segregation,

violence

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Lets Destroy Some Common Perceptions

• The Holocaust did not just involve persecuting the Jewish people of Europe

• 12 million people were killed during Its duration

• The Nazi Holocaust also targeted:– Political Opponents, Communists, the Mentally

and Physically Disabled, Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and Many Other Groups

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How is the Holocaust a Genocide?

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1. Classification

People are divided into "us and them".

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Identify the target-Political Opposition

• The Initial Victims of the Holocaust Were Those Who Opposed/or Could Oppose the Nazi Party– Political Opponents– Church Officials

• Why?– Remove Those Opposed to the

Ideas/Plans of the Nazi Party and Could Hinder or Inhibit the Nazi Vision of Germany from happening

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sity • Nazis ban Jews from military.

• Nuremberg race laws against Jews decreed.– Marriages between Jews and subjects of

German blood are forbidden.– A Reich citizen is only that subject of

German blood.– A Jew cannot be a Reich citizen.– Jews may only be given certain names.

Identify the target- Jews

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Identify the target- Mentally & Physically Disabled

• To rid the Aryan race of these people, the Nazis tried the following…– 1930’s

• Isolated children by sending them to “Care Facilities”

– 1939 • Experimentation in Genocide where Nazis

perfected methods of Genocide

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2. SymbolizationWhen combined with hatred, symbols

may be forced upon unwilling members

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3. Dehumanization

One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases.

Hitler said that any filth who was against the Nazi party, was also against the prosperity of Germany and not therefore, no longer considered German

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4. Organization• Genocide is always organized... Special

army units or militias are often trained and armed– Heinrich Himmler-head of the Schutzstaffel (SS)– SS = Military branch of the Nazi Party

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5. Polarization• Hate groups broadcast polarizing

propaganda

• New laws that promote segregation

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6. Preparation

• Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity

Life in the Ghettos

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Ghettos

• Jewish Ghettos were established by the Nazis – Mostly in Eastern Europe, namely

Poland– Neighborhoods where only Jews could

live; poor areas; supervised/guarded with limited resources

– Overcrowded; epidemics and starvation

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Why Ghettos?

• Separate the Jewish population from the non-Jews– Built walls and had guards around

ghettos– No one could come in or out

• Dehumanize the Jews– Take away human rights and sense of a

normal life: curfews, job restrictions, access to food

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Life Goes On

• Not knowing what was to become of them, Jewish people continued to try and live a “normal” life– Tended to the sick, elderly, and very

young– Taught the children history, literature, etc– Tried to preserve their faith through

prayer services

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Dachau

• First Concentration Camp

• Opened 1933• Housed Mainly

Political Prisoners• Dachau Served as

the Model for Concentration Camp Organization

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7. Extermination

• It is "extermination" to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human.

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Concentration vs. Death Camps

• Labor in Camps Helped the War Effort

• Nazis Had Work Narrowed Down to a Science– Knew How Long

an Individual Could Work Before Body Breakdown

• Death Camps• Young Men, Old

Men, & Women• Those Who Could

Not Work• “Showers” of

Zyklon-B• Crematories

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Solution of the Jewish question. We, the SS, have to carry out this order…”– The Final Solution was to kill the

Jews

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The Final Solution• Ghettos were NOT permanent

settlements for Jews– “holding station”

• 1942, Jews in ghettos began to be “resettled”– Others quickly discovered this meant

being transferred to a death camp or immediately to death

– Some strong Jews moved to labor camps for a while before being exterminated

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Locations of Death and Concentration Camps

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Auschwitz

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Majdanek

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Belzec

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Chelmno

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Treblinka

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Liquidation

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The Boxcar Ride

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The Boxcar Ride

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Arrival at Camp

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Arrival at Camp

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Reception

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Sorting the Inmates

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Sorting the Inmates

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8. Denial

• The perpetrators deny that they committed any crimes – Nuremberg Trials

• Nazi officials out on trial for their wrong-doings

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The Aftermath of the Holocaust

• Could This Happen Again?– Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan…

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Rwandan Genocide

• Country located in south-central Africa

• 85% Hutu, 15% Tutsi• In 1994, around 1

million Tutsi are killed

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Hotel Rwanda

• Historical drama film about the hotelier Paul Rusesabagina during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. – Rusesabagina's acts to save the

lives of his family and more than a thousand other refugees, by granting them shelter in his hotel

– an estimated 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi, were killed by the Hutu extremists

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Homework

• Hotel Rwanda Vocabulary Assignment