Download Holocaust Glossary and Timeline

Holocaust Glossary and Timeline
Allied Powers
The nations fighting Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II, primarily Great
Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States.
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, originally Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, extended to Japan when it
entered the war.
Antisemitism
Dislike or hatred of the Jews.
Aryan
Term used by the Nazis to describe northern European physical characteristics (such as
blonde hair and blue eyes) as racially “superior”.
Auschwitz-Birkenau
The largest and most notorious concentration, labor and death camp where 1.6 million
died; located near Oswiecim, Poland.
Concentration Camp
Camps in which Jews were imprisoned by the Nazis, located in Germany and Nazioccupied Europe. There were three different kinds of camps: transit, labor and
extermination. Many prisoners in concentration camps died within months of arriving
from violence or starvation.
Crematorium
Ovens built in concentration camps to burn and dispose of the large number of
murdered bodies
Dachau
Himmler’s model camp located outside Munich, opened March 20, 1933; initially
designed to hold political prisoners.
Final Solution
Term used by the Nazis to describe their plan to annihilate the entire Jewish population
of Europe.
Fuhrer
German word for "leader," it was adopted by Adolf Hitler as his title after Hindenburg’s
death.
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Gas Chambers
Large, sealed rooms (usually with shower nozzles) used for murdering prisoners of
concentration camps; many people were led into gas chambers with the belief they
were going in to take a shower.
Gestapo
The secret state police of the German army, organized to stamp out any political
opposition.
Ghetto
A section of a city where Jews were forced to live, usually with several families living in
one house, separated from the rest of the city by walls or wire fences, and used
primarily as a station for gathering Jews for deportation to concentration camps.
Hitler Youth
Was a Nazi youth auxiliary group established in 1926. It expanded during the Third
Reich. In January 1933, the Hitler Youth had only 50,000 members, but by the end of
the year this figure had increased to more than 2 million. By 1936 membership in the
Hitler Youth increased to 5.4 million before it became mandatory in 1939. The German
authorities then prohibited or dissolved competing youth organizations.
Kristallnacht / Crystal Night
“The Night of the Broken Glass.” On this night, November 9, 1938, almost 200
synagogues were destroyed, over 8,000 Jewish shops were sacked and looted, and
tens of thousands of Jews were removed to concentration camps. This pogrom received
its name because of the great value of glass that was smashed during this anti-Jewish
riot. Riots took place throughout Germany and Austria on that night.
Nazi
Name for members of the NSDAP, National Socialist Democratic Workers Party, who
believed in the idea of Aryan supremacy.
Nürnberg Laws or Nuremberg Laws
Anti-Jewish laws enacted in 1935; included denial of German citizenship to those of
Jewish heritage and segregation of them from German society; also established
“degrees of Jewishness" based on family lines.
Pogrom
An organized, state-sponsored attack on a group of people.
SS
Schutzstaffel; the German army’s elite guard, organized to serve as Hitler’s personal
protectors and to administer the concentration camps.
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Swastika
Once an ancient symbol used to ward off evil spirits, the Nazis adopted it as their official
symbol.
Third Reich
The Third Empire; name given to the Nazi regime in Germany; Hitler boasted that the
Third Reich would reign for 1,000 years. Historically, the First Reich was the medieval
Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. The Second Reich included the German
Empire from 1871-1918.
Treaty of Versailles
Peace treaty ending the First World War, in 1919. Created many of the issues of
bitterness between European countries and, especially, a feeling of resentment by
Germans.
4 Terms:
1. Germany had to apologize for WWI
2. Germany had to pay 428 Billion in damages
3. Germany had to disband their army
4. Germany had to give up land outside of Germany
Weimar Republic:
The German republic, and experiment in democracy (1919-1933), was established after
the end of World War I.
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Timeline:
1914-1919: WWI
1919: Treaty of Versailles signed
1926: Hitler Youth is started
1929: Anne Frank is born on June 12 in Frankfurt, Germany
1930-1932: The National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) party begins its rise to
power. The Nazis proclaim the superiority of the German “master race” and blame Jews
for the German defeat in World War I and for the troubled economy.
1933: The Franks leave Germany for Amsterdam.
January 30: The Nazi party leader, Adolf Hitler, becomes chancellor of Germany.
March 10: The first concentration camp is established by the Nazis, at Dachau,
Germany.
April: The Nazis pass their first anti–Jewish law, banning the public employment
of Jews.
1934: August 2: Paul von Hindenburg, president of the Weimar Republic of Germany,
dies, opening the door for the tyranny of Adolf Hitler, whom he had appointed chancellor
in 1933.
Immediately, Hitler stated, "The Reich Government has enacted the following law which
is hereby promulgated.
Section 1. The office of Reich President will be combined with that of Reich Chancellor.
The existing authority of the Reich President will consequently be transferred to the
Führer and Reich Chancellor, Adolf Hitler. He will select his deputy.
Section 2. This law is effective as of the time of the death of Reich President von
Hindenburg.".
1935: September 15: The Nuremberg Laws are passed, denying Jews German
citizenship and forbidding marriage between Jews and non-Jews.
1936: October 25: Germany and Italy form an alliance (the Axis).
The German Gestapo, the state secret police, was placed above the law
1938: November 9-10 “The Night of Broken Glass”
1939:
September 1: Germany invades Poland; World War II begins. France and Great Britain
declare war on Germany two days later.
November 23: Yellow stars were forced to be worn by all Jewish people over the age of
ten
1940: September 27: Japan joins the Axis.
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1941: December: The United States enters the war on the side of the Allied nations
(including Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and other countries) after Japan attacks the
U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor.
1942:
January: The “Final Solution” is secretly announced at a conference of Nazi officials:
Europe’s Jews are to be “exterminated,” or murdered. Construction of death camps
begins in Poland. Millions of people (Jews and non-Jews) will die in those camps.
June 12: Anne Frank receives a Diary for her birthday
July 6: The Franks go into hiding after Margot receives an order to appear for
deportation to a labor camp in Germany. The Van Pels family joins them one week later.
1944: June 6: D-day. Allied forces land in Normandy, in northern France, and launch an
invasion of Western Europe.
August 4: Nazi police raid the Secret Annex; the occupants are sent to concentration
camps.
1945:
January: Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets. Soviets were first liberation troops to
enter concentration camps.
April 4, 1945: Camp Ohrdruf was liberated. It was the first Nazi concentration camp liberated by
the U.S.A.
**Mrs. Carbone’s Grandpa Tony was one of these soldiers at Camp Ohrdruf!
April 11, 1945: US forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar,
Germany, a few days after the Nazis began evacuating the camp.
April 30, 1945 Hitler Died
May 8: (V-Day) The war in Europe ends with Germany’s unconditional surrender to the
Allies.
September 2: Japan surrenders after the United States drops atomic bombs on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. World War II ends one week later.
December: President Harry Truman loosened the restrictions on immigration into the
US of persons displaced by Nazi regime
1948:
The Displaced Persons Act gave Jews in Germany Visas to the U.S.
The State of Israel was established and gave Jewish displaced persons and
refugees a new home
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