The holocaust
Originally meaning a sacrificial burning, the word Holocaust has not only changed in meaning but has drastically changed and shaped our world. The word Holocaust is now referred to as the mass persecution of Jews, Gypsies (Romas), slavs, homosexuals and mentally or physically disabled people. This took place in Nazi Germany from 1933-1945. The Nazis, a right-wing political group came into power under Adolf Hitler in 1933. Hitler was appointed chancellor by the President Paul Von Hindenburg. As soon as the Nazis seized power they began consolidating the people of the country under the dictatorship of Hitler ridding the country of all opposition. The Nazis appealed to the people's needs by promoting economic reliefs and by eliminating corrupt government officials. Hitler rose to power by promising the German's many things that they were in dire need of such as jobs. Many Germans followed him unquestionably with the hopes for a broadening of security and stability. However the Nazis also introduced a more crooked and malicious plan. This plan incorporated the death and expulsion of all Jews and people that Hitler considered a threat to the German nation. He depicted Jews as representatives of communism and corrupt capitalism, two things that did not appeal to the German people well at that time.
Hitler advocated for a pure German state made up of "Aryans." Hitler believed that the struggle between races was what created conflict and that either more advanced races fought inferior, less dominant races or have these inferior races exploit their nation. Racial purity was even measured by doctors and was taught in schools. Hitler used children as a way to impose his views. Under Nazi Germany people were taught that certain characteristics such as intelligence, strength, behavior applied to certain races, with the German race being the most pure. Although the German race was the most "pure" Hitler saw it as a threatened race. He believed that the purity of the "Aryans" were jeopardized due to the intermarriages between lower races and superior races. He also saw the loss of German land as a sign that the German people were dying out. He took action by eliminating the people that he viewed as a threat and expanding German's border in order to become the rightful world power that he believed it should be. Basically Hitler saw the Jews and other people as a threat to the Germans and if the Germans did not act now than the Jews and other "sub races" would expand and the German race would vanish. Hitler took slow steps to install this ideology into the daily life of people and in 1933 the elimination of Jews from German society began. Jews were slowly extracted from society. At the beginning of the Nazi's reign they weren't allowed into public spaces or allowed public education. They were not permitted to work in certain professions and were separated from "true" Germans through propaganda. Jews were made to be seen as theives and evil and were portrayed this way in public events. In parades people would carry around signs and balloons that portrayed Jews greedy, thieves with a big noses. The Nazi government used propaganda to persuade them that Jews and other inferior races were bad to society. From 1933-1938 hundreds of laws that restricted Jews from participating in public programs were created. Life for Jews became very difficult in Germany and Austria by 1938 when Germany had annexed Austria. One significant incident takes place on November 9, 1938, the Krisstalnacht or the night of shattered glass. On this night hundreds of Jewish shops and synagogues were burned. Over 90 Jews died and many people started to criticize the Nazi regime because of the murder of a German official from the German Embassy in France by a Jew. This Jew killed the German official when he heard that the Germans had forced his father out of Germany after he had been living there for 27 years. In 1939 the second world war started. Nazi Germany soon had most of eastern and western Europe. As Nazi Germany increased their territories and as WWII raged on they were able to implement their ideology more radically. Jews in eastern Europe also lost economic and social rights. At the beginning (pre-war and 1939) Jews were forced to immigrate as a means to get rid of them. However after a while when Hitler noticed that countries did not want to take anymore Jews he began to get of them himself by deporting them into ghettos where they were intended to die of starvation or disease. They were treated horribly and the ghettos eventually became areas where Jews would be shipped off into death camps. In July 1941 the Nazis carried out "The Final Solution," a plan to kill all Jews. Jews were brought into mass killing sites commonly known as concentration camps. Some of the most popular were Aushwitz, Treblinka and Chelmo. At these camps people were either selected to work or die based on their physical condition. It wasn't until 1945 towards the end of the war, that these camps were liberated. Nazi Germany killed about 11 million innocent people. 6 million Jews and the other 5 million were POW or Slavs or others that the Nazis saw as "subhuman" or inferior. The Holocaust was a devastating event that has cast a big shadow on our world. These were people similar to us who killed other people based off of racial purity.
Hitler advocated for a pure German state made up of "Aryans." Hitler believed that the struggle between races was what created conflict and that either more advanced races fought inferior, less dominant races or have these inferior races exploit their nation. Racial purity was even measured by doctors and was taught in schools. Hitler used children as a way to impose his views. Under Nazi Germany people were taught that certain characteristics such as intelligence, strength, behavior applied to certain races, with the German race being the most pure. Although the German race was the most "pure" Hitler saw it as a threatened race. He believed that the purity of the "Aryans" were jeopardized due to the intermarriages between lower races and superior races. He also saw the loss of German land as a sign that the German people were dying out. He took action by eliminating the people that he viewed as a threat and expanding German's border in order to become the rightful world power that he believed it should be. Basically Hitler saw the Jews and other people as a threat to the Germans and if the Germans did not act now than the Jews and other "sub races" would expand and the German race would vanish. Hitler took slow steps to install this ideology into the daily life of people and in 1933 the elimination of Jews from German society began. Jews were slowly extracted from society. At the beginning of the Nazi's reign they weren't allowed into public spaces or allowed public education. They were not permitted to work in certain professions and were separated from "true" Germans through propaganda. Jews were made to be seen as theives and evil and were portrayed this way in public events. In parades people would carry around signs and balloons that portrayed Jews greedy, thieves with a big noses. The Nazi government used propaganda to persuade them that Jews and other inferior races were bad to society. From 1933-1938 hundreds of laws that restricted Jews from participating in public programs were created. Life for Jews became very difficult in Germany and Austria by 1938 when Germany had annexed Austria. One significant incident takes place on November 9, 1938, the Krisstalnacht or the night of shattered glass. On this night hundreds of Jewish shops and synagogues were burned. Over 90 Jews died and many people started to criticize the Nazi regime because of the murder of a German official from the German Embassy in France by a Jew. This Jew killed the German official when he heard that the Germans had forced his father out of Germany after he had been living there for 27 years. In 1939 the second world war started. Nazi Germany soon had most of eastern and western Europe. As Nazi Germany increased their territories and as WWII raged on they were able to implement their ideology more radically. Jews in eastern Europe also lost economic and social rights. At the beginning (pre-war and 1939) Jews were forced to immigrate as a means to get rid of them. However after a while when Hitler noticed that countries did not want to take anymore Jews he began to get of them himself by deporting them into ghettos where they were intended to die of starvation or disease. They were treated horribly and the ghettos eventually became areas where Jews would be shipped off into death camps. In July 1941 the Nazis carried out "The Final Solution," a plan to kill all Jews. Jews were brought into mass killing sites commonly known as concentration camps. Some of the most popular were Aushwitz, Treblinka and Chelmo. At these camps people were either selected to work or die based on their physical condition. It wasn't until 1945 towards the end of the war, that these camps were liberated. Nazi Germany killed about 11 million innocent people. 6 million Jews and the other 5 million were POW or Slavs or others that the Nazis saw as "subhuman" or inferior. The Holocaust was a devastating event that has cast a big shadow on our world. These were people similar to us who killed other people based off of racial purity.
Ten Best Articles:
1. An overview of the Nazi's beliefs, assumptions about the "hierarchy" of race and an explanation to why the Nazi's believed that the Jews were vile, "Victims of the Nazi Era: Nazi Racial Ideology."
2.The Holocaust This articles is about how the Nazis got into power and how they used their new terrirtory of Eastern Europes to create concentration camps where groups, such as the Jews, Slavs and others were targetted. It goes into detail about the concentration camps, explaining who ran them, where they were and how many people died there.
3. Nazi anti-semitism and the Holcocaust. Anti-Semitism in Europe and been around for numerous years however it was never taken the the extent that the Nazis took it in their Final Solution plan. This article goes into detail about Jewish life in countries all over the world such as Russia, Islamic states and even Poland.
4. What are the Concentration Camps? Concentration Camps were run by Himmler through the Gestapo and the SS. Before the war the number of Concentration camps were actually very small however as soon as the war started the Nazis speed up the executions. They used programs such as the Enthanasia program and the Einsatzgruppen to kill inferior people.
5. Nazi Ideological Theory. Hitler believed that great nations consisted of great races and that weaker nations consisted of inferior races. In order to have a great race he proposed the extermination of all the inferior races in order to end quarrel and essentially put the power in the hands of the Aryans, the "master race."
6. How did the Nazis gain control? The Nazis used propaganda to brainwash the people into following them and put them into submission by threatening opposition fiercely. The Nazis were able to use the economic depression as a stepping stone to get votes, people saw that they were doing something about the depression in Germany and liked the Nazis for doing that.
7. The Enabling Act March 1933. This article is about the Enabling Act in 1933 which gave Hitler complete control over the German state. It is about how he dismantled his political opposition and explains how he merged the president's position and the chancellor's position in a position called the Führer.
8. Propaganda in Nazi Germany. Joseph Goebbles was the head of propaganda and enlightenment for the Nazi Party. He burned books, censored certain newspapers and even censored certain films in order to destroy anything that could be detrimental to the Nazis influence over the people.
9. Holocaust History - How vast was the Crime - Yad Vashem. This article gives a brief description on how many people the Nazis killed, the life of a Jew in Nazi Germany and the legacy of devastation that the Holocaust left behind.
10. The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking. Over a decade ago it's been discovered that there were over 42,500 Nazi camps and ghettos across Europe. This is a shocking number and this article gives an idea of just how big the Holocaust really was. Most people only know about the famous ones such as Aushcwitz or Treblinka but there are way more places making us wonder how much the Holocaust had an affect on people.
Audio/Video:
http://www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust/path-to-nazi-genocide
This video gives a large overview on how and why the Nazis eradicated the Jews in Nazi Germany. It is very helpful and beneficial towards fully understanding the Holocaust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKmUZprD3RA
Although many people watched as the Nazis killed thousands there were some who helped. This video explains about the people who helped but also talks about life in the concentration camps and the methods that the Nazis used to killed Jews.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGlqn9GvOv8
This is a poem about a day in a life for the Jews as they enter the concentration camps. It is very interesting and the credits roll in at about 7 minutes and 35 seconds
Primary Source Documents:
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/fuchs.htm
Nazi propaganda was very influential especially books and the radio. In this article there are multiple examples of Nazi children books that are very belittling to the Jews. The Nazi's aim was to successfully persuade the population to hate the Jews and by targeting the young people they were able to grow that hate in the young people who would eventually grow up and hate jews with a burning passion.
http://tellingstories.org/holocaust/klyon/index.html
This is the account of a German who left for America due to the rise in Nazism and then came back to fight the Nazis.
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/responses/cierslik/
In 1944 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto staged an uprising, above this is a link to a comic phamplet that was printed out in 1944 by a polish writer and depicts the bombings imposed on the Jews in response to the protest.
MAPS:
1. An overview of the Nazi's beliefs, assumptions about the "hierarchy" of race and an explanation to why the Nazi's believed that the Jews were vile, "Victims of the Nazi Era: Nazi Racial Ideology."
2.The Holocaust This articles is about how the Nazis got into power and how they used their new terrirtory of Eastern Europes to create concentration camps where groups, such as the Jews, Slavs and others were targetted. It goes into detail about the concentration camps, explaining who ran them, where they were and how many people died there.
3. Nazi anti-semitism and the Holcocaust. Anti-Semitism in Europe and been around for numerous years however it was never taken the the extent that the Nazis took it in their Final Solution plan. This article goes into detail about Jewish life in countries all over the world such as Russia, Islamic states and even Poland.
4. What are the Concentration Camps? Concentration Camps were run by Himmler through the Gestapo and the SS. Before the war the number of Concentration camps were actually very small however as soon as the war started the Nazis speed up the executions. They used programs such as the Enthanasia program and the Einsatzgruppen to kill inferior people.
5. Nazi Ideological Theory. Hitler believed that great nations consisted of great races and that weaker nations consisted of inferior races. In order to have a great race he proposed the extermination of all the inferior races in order to end quarrel and essentially put the power in the hands of the Aryans, the "master race."
6. How did the Nazis gain control? The Nazis used propaganda to brainwash the people into following them and put them into submission by threatening opposition fiercely. The Nazis were able to use the economic depression as a stepping stone to get votes, people saw that they were doing something about the depression in Germany and liked the Nazis for doing that.
7. The Enabling Act March 1933. This article is about the Enabling Act in 1933 which gave Hitler complete control over the German state. It is about how he dismantled his political opposition and explains how he merged the president's position and the chancellor's position in a position called the Führer.
8. Propaganda in Nazi Germany. Joseph Goebbles was the head of propaganda and enlightenment for the Nazi Party. He burned books, censored certain newspapers and even censored certain films in order to destroy anything that could be detrimental to the Nazis influence over the people.
9. Holocaust History - How vast was the Crime - Yad Vashem. This article gives a brief description on how many people the Nazis killed, the life of a Jew in Nazi Germany and the legacy of devastation that the Holocaust left behind.
10. The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking. Over a decade ago it's been discovered that there were over 42,500 Nazi camps and ghettos across Europe. This is a shocking number and this article gives an idea of just how big the Holocaust really was. Most people only know about the famous ones such as Aushcwitz or Treblinka but there are way more places making us wonder how much the Holocaust had an affect on people.
Audio/Video:
http://www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust/path-to-nazi-genocide
This video gives a large overview on how and why the Nazis eradicated the Jews in Nazi Germany. It is very helpful and beneficial towards fully understanding the Holocaust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKmUZprD3RA
Although many people watched as the Nazis killed thousands there were some who helped. This video explains about the people who helped but also talks about life in the concentration camps and the methods that the Nazis used to killed Jews.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGlqn9GvOv8
This is a poem about a day in a life for the Jews as they enter the concentration camps. It is very interesting and the credits roll in at about 7 minutes and 35 seconds
Primary Source Documents:
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/fuchs.htm
Nazi propaganda was very influential especially books and the radio. In this article there are multiple examples of Nazi children books that are very belittling to the Jews. The Nazi's aim was to successfully persuade the population to hate the Jews and by targeting the young people they were able to grow that hate in the young people who would eventually grow up and hate jews with a burning passion.
http://tellingstories.org/holocaust/klyon/index.html
This is the account of a German who left for America due to the rise in Nazism and then came back to fight the Nazis.
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/responses/cierslik/
In 1944 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto staged an uprising, above this is a link to a comic phamplet that was printed out in 1944 by a polish writer and depicts the bombings imposed on the Jews in response to the protest.
MAPS:
Map of Jewish population in Europe around 1933.
A map of Auschwitz.
Map of the death of Jews.
The Warsaw Ghetto- An animated map of Jewish slums.
Dachau Concentration Camp- An animated map of Dachau.
The Warsaw Ghetto- An animated map of Jewish slums.
Dachau Concentration Camp- An animated map of Dachau.