The Holocaust: 1940 - 1945

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The Holocaust 1940 - 1945
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Prelude to the Final Solution

• Hitler seized power in 1933
• began his attack on the Jews, blamed for bringing
  greed to society and for economic depression.
• 1938 - Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass
• Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues
  had their windows smashed
• By 1939, half of Germanys 500,000 Jews had
  emigrated to escape Nazi persecution.

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The Final Solution

• In January 1942, Heinrich Himmler, director of
  the persecution of the Jews, decided to change
  tactics
• It was decided that the existing methods were too
  inefficient and that a new Final Solution was
  necessary.

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How did the Nazis decide who was Jewish?

• 3 grandparents were Jewish
• Married to a Jew
• Child of a Jew
• Jewish by conversion of faith
• Association with Jews
• By 1940, all Jews had to have their passports
  stamped with the letter J and had to wear the
  yellow Star of David.
• You were marked as Jew so you could be
  monitored by the Germans

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The Final Solution
Women, children and the elderly would be sent to
the showers
The young and fit would go through a process
called destruction through work.
Shooting was too inefficient as the bullets were
needed for the war effort
On arrival at the concentration camps, the Jews
would go through a process called selection.
How was the Final Solution going to be organized?
Jews were to be rounded up and put into
transitional camps called Ghettos
The remaining Jews were to be shipped to
resettlement areas in the East.
The Jews living in these Ghettos were to be used
as a cheap source of labor.
Conditions in the Ghettos were designed to be so
bad that many die whilst the rest would be
willing to leave these areas in the hope of
better conditions
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Children Dying of Starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto
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Entrance to Auschwitz
Notice how it has been built to resemble a
railway station
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Map of Auschwitz
New Arrivals
Showers
Destruction Through Work
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The Gas Chambers

• The Nazis would force large groups of prisoners
  into small cement rooms and drop canisters of
  Zyklon B, or prussic acid, in its crystal form
  through small holes in the roof.
• These gas chambers were sometimes disguised as
  showers or bathing houses.

The SS would try and pack up to 2000 people into
this gas chamber
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Dead bodies waiting to be processed
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The Crematory at Dachau
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Shoes waiting to be processed
Taken inside a huge glass case in the Auschwitz
Museum. This represents one day's collection at
the peak of the gassings, about twenty five
thousand pairs.
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Destruction Through Work
Prisoners would be fed approximately 200 calories
a day. They would be forced into hard labor.
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Destruction Through Work
Same group of Jews 6 weeks later
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The American response to the Holocaust

• Despite knowing about violence toward the Jews,
  American immigration is limited
• Quota of 150,000 annually (per country)
• Prohibited those who would be public charge
• No Exceptions!!!
• Finally in 1944, FDR created the War Refugee
  Board.
• Through this board, the United States was able to
  help 200,000 Jews.

More?
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The American Response

• Liberating the Nazi Camps
• By 1945 Soviets reached Auschwitz.
• Also in 1945, American soldiers came upon
  concentration camps.
• Many camp inmates died after being rescued, but
  some were still strong enough to survive.

• The Nuremberg trials
• 22 Nazis faced trial for their roles in the
  Holocaust.
• The court was located at Nuremberg, Germany.
• Several Nazis have since been captured and tried
  in different courts, including Israel.

Why We Fight
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Was the Final Solution successful?

• The Nazis aimed to kill 11 million Jews
• Results
• 6 million Jews
• 5 million others such as blacks, disabled,
  gypsies, and sick.

• Not all Jews went quietly into the gas chambers.
• In 1943 the Warsaw Ghetto revolted against the
  Nazis when the Jews realized what was really
  happening.
• Was the revolt successful?
• No, outnumbered by Nazis