The Holocaust

Kristallnacht

(Night of the Broken Glass) November 9, 1938, when mobs throughout Germany destroyed Jewish property and terrorized Jews.

atrocity

(n.) an extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel act; something very bad or unpleasant

Nuremberg Laws

1935 laws defining the status of Jews and withdrawing citizenship from persons of non-German blood.

Creation of Israel

1948 1st Jewish state, led to conflict to Israel's Arab neighbors over to the Palestinian issue

Evian Conference

32 countries met to discuss the fate of Jewish refugees No European Country took

How many Nazis were sentenced to death?

37

How many Jews died in the Holocaust?

6 million

What actions taken by the Nazis prevented Jewish people from leaving Germany?

Bank Accounts and Property was seized Passports marked with a J

Displaced Person's Camp

Camps established by the Allied powers to hold survivors of the Holocaust

Why were Jews resettled to Eastern Europe?

Concentrate them in one area and remove them from the population.

Goal of Nazi Propaganda?

Dehumanize the Jews

How did people outside of Germany react to reports from allied forces who liberated the camps?

Disbelief, shock Americans saw it with their own eyes when newsreels would play in movie theaters

Goals of Nuremberg Laws

Exclude the Jewish population Jews were no longer citizens Marriages were anulled

Liberation (Holocaust)

Freeing of the survivors of the Holocaust by British, American, and Soviet troops

United Nations definition of genocide

Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

American response to the Holocaust

Government knew about genocide but was slow to take action against it Full dimensions of Holocaust not known until war end Allies punished those responsible Nuremberg trials - Those responsible for starting WWII and Holocaust

What were the Nazis defense at the Trials?

I was following orders

How did the Holocaust end?

In the final months of the war, SS guards moved camp inmates by train or on forced marches, often called "death marches," in an attempt to prevent the Allied liberation of large numbers of prisoners. As Allied forces moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Germany, they began to encounter and liberate concentration camp prisoners, as well as prisoners en route by forced march from one camp to another.

Warsaw Ghetto

Largest Jewish ghetto during WW2 in the capital of Poland

What was the purpose of "killing centers"?

More than 1.1 million people were killed in the Auschwitz-Birkenau labor camp and killing center. Of those, nearly one million were Jews. Those Jews who were not sent directly to the gas chambers were deployed in forced labor.

Extermination Camps

Nazi camps equipped with gassing facilities for mass murder of Jews

What was the purpose of the Nuremberg Trials?

Persecute prominent members of the Nazi Party for war crimes

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me

Poem by Martin Niemöller Shows that we cant blame one person for the Holocaust Many people took a blind eye

Displaced Persons

Survivors of the Holocaust who had no homes after the war and were placed in Displaced Persons Camps.

What is one major reason the Holocaust is considered an unique event in modern history?

Systematic and required the cooperation of thousands of people.

Aushwitz-Birkenau

The largest Nazi death camp (located in southwestern Poland)

What was the job of the mobile killing squads in Eastern Europe?

The mobile killing units acted swiftly, taking the Jewish population by surprise. The killers entered a town or city and rounded up all Jewish men, women, and children. The killing squad members marched their victims to open fields, forests, and ravines on the outskirts of conquered towns and cities. There they shot them or gassed them in gas vans and dumped the bodies into mass graves.

Methods used by Nazis to Confine the Jews

creation of large ghettos

What crimes were the Nazis being charged with?

crimes against humanity, war crimes, etc.

What were the conditions of the ghettos?

crowded, disease, starvation

Describe what happened when Jewish people arrived at a concentration camp?

f they arrived at a camp with both male and female inmates, they were then usually separated into two groups: men and then women and children separately. Prisoners would often then be registered, and given a prisoner number. From this point onwards, they would typically only be referred to by this number rather than their name. Heads shaved and given a uniform

Mobile Killing Squads

groups of SS early in the war that would round up Jews, have them dig their own mass grave and shoot them into the grave or death by mobile gas chamber about one million people died this way

Concentration Camps

prison camps used under the rule of Hitler in Nazi Germany. Conditions were inhuman, and prisoners, mostly Jewish people, were generally starved or worked to death, or killed immediately.

Who were the victims of the Holocaust?

the Jews (and anyone who tried to help them), Gypsies, homosexuals, non-Aryans, etc...

Why was the word genocide created?

the atrocities of the Holocaust needed a new name to describe them so he combined the prefix geno- meaning "race or tribe" with the suffix -cide which denotes killing.

Genocide

the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

Mobile Killing Units

vans that would go to Jewish neighborhoods and ghettos and gas Jews to death

Holocaust

A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

Nuremberg Trials

A series of court proceedings held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II, in which Nazi leaders were tried for aggression, violations of the rules of war, and crimes against humanity.

Who were the judges at the Nuremberg Trials?

Allied Powers: USA, USSR, Britain, France

What evidence was brought forth during the Nuremberg trial to support the indictments?

Allied prosecutors submitted thousands of German documents proving that the Nazi regime had carried out the systematic persecution and destruction of the Jewish people. This evidence included numerous photographs and films created by Nazi Germans. Survivor Testimony

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.