OVERVIEW |
The mass murder program, called the Final Solution, was the program that killed millions of Jews.
Targeted: Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, Handicapped, mentally ill, Slavs, Jehovah's Witnesses, Romani, Ukranians, Poles, more of anyone who was non-european. But the most targeted,and the most known was the persecution of Jews. How many were killed? A: Approx. 6 million Jews. 11 million total people were murdered by the Nazi regime. How it worked: Nazis, SS soliders, etc. rounded up all the targeted from around German controlled places, like Poland, and deported them to death camps. |
What is the difference between concentration camp and death camp?
-A death camp is where prisoners are deported where death awaits them. They normally die painfully by shootings or beatings. A concentration camp is where prisoners are used for work, like labor. They are not killed immediately, normally imprisoned. Survival in a death camp is almost impossible, while in a concentration camp, you may live, maybe a little longer. Most people don't know the difference and simply use both terms for the word 'death camp'. Another word used is "killing centers."
Story
Wannsee Conference was held January 20, 1942 in Wannsee, a town in Berlin. It was convened by Reinhard Heydrich, SS head of main office and Chief Heinrich Himmler’s top man. The meeting was held to discuss the plans for the final solution. They were discussing, and ended up fulfilling, the deportation of millions of Jews. Previous experimentation on Zyklon B gas proved that locking prisoners in a chambers and releasing the gas would kill them within minutes, the Nazis were ready to begin their program. Before all this, most Jews had been imprisoned in Ghettos. With the final plan created, the SS soldiers and Nazis began their round up.
There was no one paper or document that announced this plan. Instead, this was more oral, being passed through message. There is no definite event, but the conference is a very close one, as this conference answered "the Jewish Question".
There was no one paper or document that announced this plan. Instead, this was more oral, being passed through message. There is no definite event, but the conference is a very close one, as this conference answered "the Jewish Question".
Thought to have began after the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, utilizing four mobile firing squads., called Einstazgruppen. The mass shootings became an issue, with the murders being stressful on the killers, slow, inefficient gruesome, and difficult to conceal. Eventually, they turned to poison gas. About 1-1.5 million people were murdered were murdered via shootings.
Concentration Camps- Auschwitz, Chelmno, Belzec, Bergen-Belzen Buchenwald, Treblinka, Westerbork, Gross-Rosen,
Historians agree that there wasn't one day or one decision that created the Final Solution, it was a gradual process.
Gradually, the Nazis began rounding up the rest of the people they didn't like, to kill. After an invasion of the Soviet Union, maybe millions of prisoners of war were worked to death in concentration camps.
Concentration Camps- Auschwitz, Chelmno, Belzec, Bergen-Belzen Buchenwald, Treblinka, Westerbork, Gross-Rosen,
Historians agree that there wasn't one day or one decision that created the Final Solution, it was a gradual process.
Gradually, the Nazis began rounding up the rest of the people they didn't like, to kill. After an invasion of the Soviet Union, maybe millions of prisoners of war were worked to death in concentration camps.
The Three Types of Murder
1.Slave LaborThis was often the most brutal, with 12-14 hour long days in the cold or heat. Often the work was useless and it was a slow death. Workers would die of hunger, neglect, or thirst.
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2. ShootingsMillions died via mass shootings. There would often be days where the nazi soliders would line up prisoners and shoot them all one, by one.
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3. Poison GasThis was the quickest and the most efficient. It also killed the most. The chemical was Zyklon B, and millions ended up being gassed. Some would be thrown in the gas chambers on their immediate arrival.
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Liberation
Several death camps ended up being liberated. Auschwitz was liberated Janurary 27, 1945, by Allied soliders, and the day ended up commemorating the Holocaust in general as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Often when a camp was liberated, the survivors could not continue to live, as they were already so close to death. Many, even now free, still died from the previous sufferings. However, hundreds marched out free at last.
Auschwitz, though, the Nazis had taken most of the prisoners to death marches, leaving behind some prisoners, but taking thousands with them elsewhere.
In mid April of 1945, the Bergen-Belsen was liberated by British forces. Bergen-Belsen was where Margot and Anne Frank were held, and both thought to have died weeks or months before liberation. The Allied forces freed about 60,000 prisoners, however about 10,000 died from the disease, hunger, thirst, and a typhus epidemic already.
Often when a camp was liberated, the survivors could not continue to live, as they were already so close to death. Many, even now free, still died from the previous sufferings. However, hundreds marched out free at last.
Auschwitz, though, the Nazis had taken most of the prisoners to death marches, leaving behind some prisoners, but taking thousands with them elsewhere.
In mid April of 1945, the Bergen-Belsen was liberated by British forces. Bergen-Belsen was where Margot and Anne Frank were held, and both thought to have died weeks or months before liberation. The Allied forces freed about 60,000 prisoners, however about 10,000 died from the disease, hunger, thirst, and a typhus epidemic already.
QUESTIONS
- -About how many people were killed using killing centers or poison gas?
- -What was the first killing center?
- -Which one was the largest and how many gas chambers did it have?
- -List some of the conditions regarding forced labor.
- -Name two types of people the Nazis hunted besides Jews.
EUGENICS
This is a topic not touched on very much during the Holocaust period.
Eugenics- (from dictionary)
the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics)or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
During the Nazi regime, America is infamous for moving ahead in its Eugenics program and the state of California sterilizing thousands of its people, thereby destroying unwanted bloodlines.
Hitler is also known for using these tactics when it came to Jews. He used American ideals regarding Eugenics to fuel his own beliefs. Today this idea is illegal, and somewhat horrifying to us, but back then, this was a popular movement in America. The "unwanted" traits, most thought of in a discriminative manor towards Hispanic people, African-American people, anyone not white.
During the war, Hitler favored his own German race, calling for racial purity, believing that the master "Aryan" race, was the only race deemed fit to lead the world. He found that all other races were inferior, especially Jews.
His people experimented on Jews and also killed their own people who were handicapped or mentally ill.
Eventually, after the war, Eugenics was declared illegal, a crime against humanity. The Eugenics movement in America ended, but it is still a dark moment for us.
Eugenics- (from dictionary)
the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics)or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
During the Nazi regime, America is infamous for moving ahead in its Eugenics program and the state of California sterilizing thousands of its people, thereby destroying unwanted bloodlines.
Hitler is also known for using these tactics when it came to Jews. He used American ideals regarding Eugenics to fuel his own beliefs. Today this idea is illegal, and somewhat horrifying to us, but back then, this was a popular movement in America. The "unwanted" traits, most thought of in a discriminative manor towards Hispanic people, African-American people, anyone not white.
During the war, Hitler favored his own German race, calling for racial purity, believing that the master "Aryan" race, was the only race deemed fit to lead the world. He found that all other races were inferior, especially Jews.
His people experimented on Jews and also killed their own people who were handicapped or mentally ill.
Eventually, after the war, Eugenics was declared illegal, a crime against humanity. The Eugenics movement in America ended, but it is still a dark moment for us.
Activity
Examine the quotes on the activity. Guess who said them and answer the questions that go with it.
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From the perspective of Anne Frank
In the Diary of Anne Frank
A Pattern #4
When I can leave,
I yearn,
to leap out the door,
to run into the streets,
to breathe in the air,
To dance into the night,
That’s what I’ll do when I’m free.
In the Diary of Anne Frank
A Pattern #4
When I can leave,
I yearn,
to leap out the door,
to run into the streets,
to breathe in the air,
To dance into the night,
That’s what I’ll do when I’m free.