Download THE HOLOCAUST THE HOLOCAUST

THE HOLOCAUST
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately
six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by
fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and
that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were "life unworthy of life." During the era of the Holocaust, the Nazis also
targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the handicapped, and some of
the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political and behavioral grounds,
among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.
In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. Most European Jews lived in countries
that the Third Reich would occupy or influence during World War II. By 1945, close to two out of every three
European Jews had been killed as part of the "Final Solution", the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe.
Although Jews were the primary victims of Nazi racism, other victims included tens of thousands of Roma (Gypsies).
At least 200,000 mentally or physically disabled people were murdered in the Euthanasia Program. As Nazi tyranny
spread across Europe, the Nazis persecuted and murdered millions of other people. More than three million Soviet
prisoners of war were murdered or died of starvation, disease, neglect, or maltreatment. The Germans targeted the
non-Jewish Polish intelligentsia for killing, and deported millions of Polish and Soviet citizens for forced labor in
Germany or in occupied Poland. From the earliest years of the Nazi regime, homosexuals and others deemed to be
behaving in a socially unacceptable way were persecuted. Thousands of political dissidents (including Communists,
Socialists, and trade unionists) and religious dissidents (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) were also targeted. Many of
these individuals died as a result of incarceration and maltreatment.
Before beginning the war in 1939, the Nazis established concentration camps to imprison Jews, Roma, other
victims of ethnic and racial hatred, and political opponents of Nazism. During the war years, the Nazis and their
collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union
in June 1941, Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) carried out mass-murder operations against Jews, Roma, and
Soviet state and Communist party officials. More than a million Jewish men, women, and children were murdered by
these units. Between 1942 and 1944, Nazi Germany deported millions more Jews from the occupied territories to
extermination camps, where they murdered them in specially developed killing facilities.
(In the final months of the war, SS guards forced camp inmates on 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 on
Germany, they began to encounter and liberate concentration camp prisoners, many of whom had survived the
death marches. World War II ended in Europe with the unconditional surrender of German armed forces in the west
on May 7 and in the east on May 9, 1945.)
THE HOLOCAUST
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately
six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by
fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and
that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were "life unworthy of life." During the era of the Holocaust, the Nazis also
targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the handicapped, and some of
the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political and behavioral grounds,
among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.
In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. Most European Jews lived in countries
that the Third Reich would occupy or influence during World War II. By 1945, close to two out of every three
European Jews had been killed as part of the "Final Solution", the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe.
Although Jews were the primary victims of Nazi racism, other victims included tens of thousands of Roma (Gypsies).
At least 200,000 mentally or physically disabled people were murdered in the Euthanasia Program. As Nazi tyranny
spread across Europe, the Nazis persecuted and murdered millions of other people. More than three million Soviet
prisoners of war were murdered or died of starvation, disease, neglect, or maltreatment. The Germans targeted the
non-Jewish Polish intelligentsia for killing, and deported millions of Polish and Soviet citizens for forced labor in
Germany or in occupied Poland. From the earliest years of the Nazi regime, homosexuals and others deemed to be
behaving in a socially unacceptable way were persecuted. Thousands of political dissidents (including Communists,
Socialists, and trade unionists) and religious dissidents (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) were also targeted. Many of
these individuals died as a result of incarceration and maltreatment.
Before beginning the war in 1939, the Nazis established concentration camps to imprison Jews, Roma, other
victims of ethnic and racial hatred, and political opponents of Nazism. During the war years, the Nazis and their
collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union
in June 1941, Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) carried out mass-murder operations against Jews, Roma, and
Soviet state and Communist party officials. More than a million Jewish men, women, and children were murdered by
these units. Between 1942 and 1944, Nazi Germany deported millions more Jews from the occupied territories to
extermination camps, where they murdered them in specially developed killing facilities.
(In the final months of the war, SS guards forced camp inmates on 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 on
Germany, they began to encounter and liberate concentration camp prisoners, many of whom had survived the
death marches. World War II ended in Europe with the unconditional surrender of German armed forces in the west
on May 7 and in the east on May 9, 1945.)
Life Before the Nazis
In order to better understand what Jewish cultural and communal life was like in
Europe before World War II, you will be finding a photograph from that time
period and analyzing it. Follow the assignments below in order…
ASSIGNMENT #1, Photo Collection
Research and print one photo that reflects Jewish life prior to the Nazi invasion
of that country (before 1939) using the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum’s Web site, www.ushmm.org (go to “research”, “collections”, “photo
archive”, and finally “search online catalog”); search the collection of thousands
of photos using key words (check the list brainstormed in class). Once you have
found a photo you would like to use, copy and paste it into a new word
document. Then return to the photo on the Web site, and copy and paste the
date and location to the word document with the photo (do NOT include any
other information, including the captions). Print it.
Guidelines for choosing photos:
• People must be in the photo.
• The photo cannot be what’s classified as a portrait. (aka, they shouldn’t be posing for the picture)
• The photo must include the date and place that the photo was taken.
ASSIGNMENT #2, Photo Analysis
Write a caption for the photo – give it a title that you think describes the picture…
ASSIGNMENT #3, Photo Parallel (for homework)
Find a family photo at home that relates in some way to the one you researched and bring to class. Now write an organized,
well-thought-out and complete response to the following questions concerning the photos:
1) In examining your researched photo, what evidence suggests that life was normal for Jews before the Nazis?
2) What did you find as you looked through your own family’s photos in relation to the one that you had researched? * *
3) Which one did you choose to share that relates and why?
4) In comparing the photos, how do they show the similarities between you, your family, or your community and those
in the researched photo? Are there any comparisons?
5) What do these photos, yours and the researched one, tell you about Jewish life in Europe before World War II?
- Extra Credit - Photo Research
Research the town/city that is the setting of your photo and determine the following:
1) Where is or was that town/city located?
2) How large was the town’s/city’s Jewish population and how long had Jews been living there?
3) What was Jewish life/culture in the town/city like prior to the Nazi invasion?
4) When and how did the town/city come under Nazi rule (timeline)?
5) What was the fate of this particular town’s/city’s Jews during the Holocaust?
Life Before the Nazis
In order to better understand what Jewish cultural and communal life was like in
Europe before World War II, you will be finding a photograph from that time
period and analyzing it. Follow the assignments below in order…
ASSIGNMENT #1, Photo Collection
Research and print one photo that reflects Jewish life prior to the Nazi invasion
of that country (before 1939) using the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum’s Web site, www.ushmm.org (go to “research”, “collections”, “photo
archive”, and finally “search online catalog”); search the collection of thousands
of photos using key words (check the list brainstormed in class). Once you have
found a photo you would like to use, copy and paste it into a new word
document. Then return to the photo on the Web site, and copy and paste the
date and location to the word document with the photo (do NOT include any
other information, including the captions). Print it.
Guidelines for choosing photos:
• People must be in the photo.
• The photo cannot be what’s classified as a portrait. (aka, they shouldn’t be posing for the picture)
• The photo must include the date and place that the photo was taken.
ASSIGNMENT #2, Photo Analysis
Write a caption for the photo – give it a title that you think describes the picture…
ASSIGNMENT #3, Photo Parallel (for homework)
Find a family photo at home that relates in some way to the one you researched and bring to class. Now write an organized,
well-thought-out and complete response to the following questions concerning the photos:
1) In examining your researched photo, what evidence suggests that life was normal for Jews before the Nazis?
2) What did you find as you looked through your own family’s photos in relation to the one that you had researched? * *
3) Which one did you choose to share that relates and why?
4) In comparing the photos, how do they show the similarities between you, your family, or your community and those
in the researched photo? Are there any comparisons?
5) What do these photos, yours and the researched one, tell you about Jewish life in Europe before World War II?
- Extra Credit - Photo Research
Research the town/city that is the setting of your photo and determine the following:
1) Where is or was that town/city located?
2) How large was the town’s/city’s Jewish population and how long had Jews been living there?
3) What was Jewish life/culture in the town/city like prior to the Nazi invasion?
4) When and how did the town/city come under Nazi rule (timeline)?
5) What was the fate of this particular town’s/city’s Jews during the Holocaust?