Download The greatest crime in the history of the world

“The greatest crime in
the history of the world”
Why is it so important to remember
the Holocaust?
Meanings
Freedom through work





Holocaust means death
Jews use term Churban
Anti-Semitism
Concentration camp
1942-45 Nazis
exterminated: 6 million
Jews; 100,000s gypsies,
trade unionists, ‘deviants’
Arriving at Auschwitz
 Your task

Watch the clip from ‘The Second World War in
Colour’ and think about the following points:
Why was it important for ordinary Germans to visit
the camps after the war?
 Why was it difficult to decide who was really
responsible for the death of so many people?

Luther
Beginnings



Tsar Alexander II
1290, all Jews expelled
from England
1543, Martin Luther, ‘On
the Jews and Their Lies’
1881, Tsar Alexander II
assassinated, riots &
burning of synagogues
Nazi anti-Semitism
Click here to find out
what Hitler thought
about Jewish people



Hitler’s personal
hatred Jews
Treaty of Versailles
Fear of
communism
Nazi anti-Semitism





1933, Jews excluded
from civil service &
education
1935, Nuremberg Laws
1938, Kristallnacht
1940, Warsaw Ghetto
1942, Final Solution
A Jewish shopkeeper clears up after the
horrors of Kristallnacht
 Your task
Source

Read the account of Dora Volkel, a Jewish
woman who experienced the horrors of
Auschwitz at first hand.

What does the source tell us about the attitudes
of the Jewish people in the camp & the Nazi
guards?
Allied reactions


1942, British &
American governments
received reports of
concentration camps
Reports from journalists,
e.g. Martin Gilbert
Why do you think the
Allies did so little to help
Jewish people during the
War?
German reactions




Nazis controlled media
Public fear of speaking
out
Disbelief in
extermination policy
Ignorance
Click here to find out what
Albert Speer knew about
the death camps
Remembering



1945, Allies liberated
camps
Germans forced to visit
1948, UN Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights
What rights do you think
the UN included in its
Declaration?
Click here for some
examples
Remembering




Museums, e.g. Auschwitz
& Dachau
Spiro Institute
Books, Diary of Anne
Frank
Films, Schindler’s List
 Your task

template
Draw a Star of David in your books or on your computer.
Around the points write down as many reasons as you can why it
is important to remember the Holocaust.

 Your task

Write a letter to one of the
survivors of the Holocaust
explaining that you have just
studied the Holocaust at school.
Include the following:

what you know and understand
about the Holocaust
how you feel about the Holocaust
why we should remember the
Holocaust


Hitler’s views on Jews
“The aim of Jews is the complete destruction of
the German ‘Reich’ and the spread of
revolution.”
“The whole of Germany is governed by Jews.
The Jew sits in government and swindles and
smuggles. Therefore, Germans be united and
fight against the Jews, because they will gobble
up our last crumbs.”
Albert Speer on the death camps
“People have often asked me what I knew about
the extermination of the Jews. As armaments
minister I really only concerned myself with
armaments and was isolated from what else was
going on. But that is really only an excuse. I did
not know exactly what was going on at the
camps, but I have worked it out from the little I
did know. I should have done. No apologies are
possible.”
Freedom through work
Arriving at Auschwitz
UN Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty & security
of person
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment