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Who was Hitler? • Born in Austria. • Reared Catholic. • Aspired to be an artist. Rejected by Vienna Academy of Arts on two occasions. Never attended college. • Exposed to antisemitic influences while in Vienna. • Moved to Germany to avoid Austrian draft. Fought for Germany in World War I. Born in Austria Braunau-am-Inn Insert Hitler Family tree Reared Catholic Adolf (center) with schoolmates, 1900. St. Michael’s Catholic Church attended by Hitler as a child. Leonding, Austria Who Was Hitler? • Born in Austria. • Reared Catholic. • Aspired to be an artist. Rejected by Vienna Academy of Arts on two occasions. Never attended college. • Exposed to antisemitic influences while in Vienna. • Moved to Germany to avoid Austrian draft. Fought for Germany in World War I. Aspired to be an Artist Rejected by Vienna Academy of Arts Never Attended College Oedensplatz (Feldherrnhalle), Munich, 1914 Artist: Adolf Hitler The Rotterdam Cathedral Munich, 1930 Artist: Adolf Hitler Exposed to antisemitic influences while in Vienna. Hitler’s description in Mein Kampf of how he had become an antisemite in Vienna: For me this was a time of the greatest spiritual upheaval I have ever had to go through. I had ceased to be a weak-kneed cosmopolitan and become an antisemite. Vienna, he said, had significantly contributed to his becoming antisemitic: At the time of this bitter struggle between spiritual education and cold reason, the visual instruction of the Vienna streets had performed invaluable services. Vienna Opera House by Adolf Hitler Moved to Germany to avoid Austrian draft. Fought for Germany in World War I. Hitler served in the Bavarian contingent of the German Army. Factors Contributing to the Rise of the Nazis All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke, British Philosopher, 1729-1797 • Treaty of Versailles • Economics • German Nationalism • Antisemitism Treaty of Versailles European alliances on the eve of World War I After World War I, the need for security on the continent led France to support a buffer zone of new nations between Russia and Germany, carved out of the former Austrian Empire: Yugoslavia, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were created. German territory along the French border was demilitarized out of the same concern for protection. Europe after World War I German territorial losses as dictated by the Treaty of Versailles. Unemployment in Germany 1928-1933 September 1928 650,000 September 1929 1,320,000 September 1930 3,000,000 September 1931 4,350,000 September 1932 5,102,000 January 1933 6,100,000 Inflation in Germany DATE GERMAN MARKS U.S. DOLLARS 1919 4.2 1 1921 75 1 1922 400 1 Jan. 1923 7,000 1 July 1923 160,000 1 Aug. 1923 1,000,000 1 Nov. 1, 1923 1,300,000,000 1 Nov. 15, 1923 1,300,000,000,000 1 Nov. 16, 1923 4,200,000,000,000 1 German children with stacks of inflated currency, virtually worthless in 1923. Worldwide Depression, 1929 Bread lines for the unemployed in the U.S. German Nationalism 1st Reich 800 - 1806 Charlemagne 800-814 His vast realm encompassed what are now France, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, half of present-day Italy and Germany, and parts of Austria and Spain. 2nd Reich 3rd Reich Otto von Bismarck 1871-1890 Engineered the unification of the numerous states of Germany. Adolf Hitler 1933 - 1945 Hitler promised to return Germany to its previous glory with an empire that would last 1000 years. In reality, the 3rd Reich lasted only 12 years. 1871 - 1918 1933 - ? Antisemitism Recognizing public support for his antiJewish comments, Hitler capitalized on these anti-Jewish feelings that had existed for centuries in the German population and offered the Jews as a scapegoat for the country’s current financial woes. He would claim that Germany had lost World War I because of the Jews, that democracy and communism were Jewish inventions, and that the Jews were engaged in a conspiracy for world domination. It was the Jews who controlled society and made Germans suffer. Antisemitic political cartoon entitled "Rothschild" by the French caricaturist, C. Leandre, 1898. Hitler’s Rise to Power The world is too dangerous to live in – not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen. – Albert Einstein • Birth of the Nazi Party • The Weimar Republic • Beer Hall Putsch (November 8-9, 1923) • Nazis Become a Legitimate Party • Hitler Appointed Chancellor (January 30, 1933) • Reichstag Fire (February 27, 1933) • Emergency Decree (February 28, 1933) • Enabling Act (March 23, 1933) • Night of the Long Knives (June 30, 1934) • Hitler Becomes Führer (August 2, 1934) Birth of the Nazi Party • In 1919 Hitler joined the fledgling “German Worker’s Party.” German propaganda postcard showing an early Hitler preaching to the fledgling Nazi Party. • In 1920 he took control of the group and changed the name to the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei, NSDAP, or Nazi for short. • It was here that Hitler discovered two remarkable talents: public speaking and inspiring personal loyalty. Assembly of the Nazi Party, 1922, Coburg, Germany The Weimar Republic ♦ How the New Government Was to Be Run ♦ PRESIDENT Publicly elected to 7-year term. CHANCELLOR Appointed by President CABINET REICHSTAG Unlimited number of political parties. Elected to 4-year term by proportional representation. (e.g., 10% of the vote equals 10% of the seats) 421 members (1919) 647 members (1932) Beer Hall Putsch November 8-9, 1923 Part of a photo-card collection used by the Nazis to indoctrinate German children. This beer hall was the scene of the failed Nazi Putsch. It symbolized the birth pangs of Nazi power. Munich, Germany, 1923, Masses in the streets during the Putsch. • Historical experience … shows with terrifying clarity that in every mingling of Aryan blood with that of lower peoples the result was the end of the cultured people. • Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live. • The [Nazi party] should not become a constable of public opinion, but must dominate it. It must not become a servant of the masses, but their master! • The personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew. - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf Number of Reichstag Deputies Elected Total Deputies Jan 1919 423 Jun 1920 459 May 1924 472 Dec 1924 493 May 1928 491 Sept 1930 577 July 1932 608 Nov 1932 584 Mar 1933 647 SPD, Social Democrats 165 102 100 131 153 143 133 121 120 USPD, Independent Socialists 22 84 4 62 45 54 77 89 100 81 64 65 69 62 68 75 70 74 21 16 19 16 19 22 20 18 Date KPD, Communists Centre Party (Catholics) 91 BVP, Bavarian People’s Party DDP, Democrats 75 39 28 32 25 20 4 2 5 DVP, People’s Party 19 65 45 51 45 30 7 11 2 Wirtschafts Partei, Economy Party 4 4 10 17 23 23 2 1 DNVP, Nationalists 44 71 95 103 73 41 37 52 52 32 14 12 107 230 196 288 19 12 28 49 9 11 7 NSDAP, Nazis Others 3 5 Nazi propaganda poster illustrating the Nazi’s desire to break the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles. • The Nazi Party, political unknowns, promised the German people a solution to their hunger and poverty: Work & Bread. • After the Nazis came to power, public works programs similar to those initiated by FDR’s “New Deal” stimulated the German economy. • Prior to World War II, average Germans credited the Nazis with their improved standard of living. “Work and Bread!” Nazi Party election poster from the early 1930’s. Hitler Appointed Chancellor January 30, 1933 Adolf Hitler greets a crowd of enthusiastic Germans from a window in the Chancellery building on the day of his appointment. Hitler in Berlin as new Chancellor of Germany, January, 1933 Newly appointed Chancellor Adolf Hitler shakes hands with German President Paul von Hindenburg. Reichstag Fire February 27, 1933 The Nazis accused the Communists of the arson as well as attempting to overthrow the state. The Nazis would use this event to eliminate all political opposition. Emergency Decree February 28, 1933 President Hindenburg was persuaded to issue an Emergency Decree invoking Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. This gave the Chancellor the authority to impose dictatorial power to protect the democratic order from being overthrown. Members of the Communist Party were arrested. Enabling Act March 23, 1933 • Hitler won the office of Chancellor in a legal fashion, but he was determined to rule Germany without the restraints of a democratically elected parliament. • The Enabling Act was a special power allowed by the Weimar Constitution that gave the Chancellor and his cabinet the power to pass laws by decree for a specified period of time, without Reichstag involvement. It was only to be used in times of emergency. • Because it altered the constitution, passing the Enabling Act required a 2/3 majority vote of the Reichstag. This was achieved by Nazi maneuvering. •The Enabling Act gave Hitler’s government dictatorial powers for four years. German Reichstag in session. Night of the Long Knives “The Roehm Putsch” June 30, 1934 Ernst Roehm, Leader of the SA Political Cartoon by David Low, July 3, 1934 Hitler Becomes Führer August 2, 1934 With President Paul von Hindenburg's death, Hitler consolidated power by joining the offices of Chancellor and President. He assumed the title of Führer (leader) and Reich Chancellor of the German nation. "One People, One Empire, One Führer." Placing one hand upon the Nazi flag and raising the other in obedience, these German soldiers swear their allegiance to the Führer. What the Nazis Believed Anyone who interprets National Socialism as merely a political movement knows almost nothing about it. It is more than a religion. It is the determination to create the new man. - Adolf Hitler •What the Nazis Believed •Racial Science •Nazi Platform •Symbols What the Nazis Believed The Nazis valued authority and order. The Nazis valued emotion more than reason. The Nazis valued the community rather than the individual. The Nazis had a strong belief in the traditional family. The Nazis were strong nationalists. The Nazis saw politics as a religion. The Nazis valued the concept of a select race. “Second Creation” Theodor Seuss Geisel, April 3, 1942 Racial Science The law of existence requires uninterrupted killing, so that the better may live. – Adolf Hitler Nazi physicians conducted “bogus” medical research in an effort to identify physical evidence of Aryan superiority & non-Aryan inferiority. The Nazis could not find evidence for their theories of biological racial differences among human beings. This kit contains 29 hair samples used by doctors, anthropologists, and geneticists to determine racial makeup of individuals. Establishing racial descent by measuring an ear at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology. Caliper to measure skull width. Nazi Platform We demand: 1. A union of Germans to form a great Germany. 2. Abolition of the Treaty of Versailles. 3. Lebensraum (living space) for Germans as well as surplus populations. 4. German blood as a requirement for citizenship. No Jew can be a citizen. 5. Non-citizens live in Germany as foreigners only, subject to the law of aliens. 6. Only citizens can vote or hold public office. 7. The state insures that every citizen live decently and earn his livelihood. 8. No further immigration of non-Germans. Any non-German who arrived after August 2, 1914, shall leave immediately. 9. Revision of the national system of education with citizenship being taught. 10. All newspapers must be published in the German language by German citizens. Symbols The Perpetrators History teaches us to beware of demagogues who wrap themselves in the flag in an attempt to appeal to the worst aspects of nationalism. - Alistair Nicholson Reinhard Heydrich Joseph Goebbels Hermann Goering Adolf Eichmann Rudolf Hess Heinrich Himmler Name Age:1933 Profession Position(s) Hans Frank 33 Lawyer Governor General of Poland Victor Capesius 26 Physician Headed camp pharmacy at Auschwitz Helmut Knochen 23 Professor of Literature Colonel, SS; Commander of Security Police, Paris, ’40-44 Otto Ohlendorf 26 Economist In Einsatzgruppen Werner Best 30 Lawyer First legal advisor to SD & Gestapo Albert Speer 28 Architect Minister of Armaments & War Production August Hirt 35 Anthropologist & Surgeon SS Director of Anatomical Research; studied skulls Willi Frank 30 Physician Chief of Dental Station at Auschwitz Bernhart Rost 40 Secondary Teacher Reich Minister of Science, Education & Culture Wilhelm Frick 56 Lawyer Reich Minister of Interior; close friend of Hitler Heinz Kammler ---- Engineer Head of SS Works Department; built gas chambers at Auschwitz Joseph Goebbels 36 PhD Literature & Philosophy Propaganda Minister of the Reich Fritz Ter Meer ---- Scientist w/ doctorate Chief executive of I.G Farben Nazi Intentions Revealed Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? - Lillian Hellman •Anti-Jewish Policies •Boycott of Jewish Shops: April 1, 1933 •Nazi Book Burnings: May 10, 1933 •Nuremberg Laws: September 15, 1935 •The November Decree: November 14, 1935 Anti-Jewish Policies How can such a monstrous crime as the Holocaust occur? It begins when people start thinking of themselves as ‘us’ and of others as ‘them’. - Ted Gottfried, Deniers of the Holocaust Goals: • social death of Jews • removal of Jewish presence/influence from German society Means of Accomplishment: • verbal assaults • physical assaults • legal/administrative restrictions Laws Restricting Civil Rights The Law for the Protection of German Blood & German Honor forbade either marriage or sexual relations between Jews and Germans. Laws Restricting Personal Rights Jews were only permitted to purchase products between 3-5 p.m. This was one step in the overall Nazi scheme of eliminating Jews from economic, social and cultural life. Bench with inscription “Only for Jews.” Sign on a phone booth in Munich prohibiting Jews from using the public telephone. Sign forbidding Jews in public pool. Jews are forced to walk in the street. The original photo caption read, "Jews in gutter." Belgium, 1943 October 5, 1938 All Jewish passports must be marked with the letter "J“ for Jew. Laws Restricting Education Political Cartoon from Der Stürmer entitled: “Away with Him” The long arm of the Ministry of Education pulls a Jewish teacher from his classroom. March 1933. Laws Restricting Occupation With the rise of Nazism, nothing the Jews had done for their country made any difference… - Alfred Gottschalk, Jewish Survivor Erich Remarque, author. Albert Einstein, Nobel Prize winner. Sigmund Freud, psychoanalyst, Otto Klemperer, conductor. Laws Restricting Private Property and Business "Aryanization" announcements in a newspaper. Aryanization was the process of transferring Jewish businesses to German control. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, “regretted,” that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these “little measures” that no “patriotic German” could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head. Heinrich Hildebrandt, non-Jewish German high school teacher during the Nazi years, interviewed in 1952. They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer Boycott of Jewish Shops April 1, 1933 SA soldiers stood at the entrances to Jewish shops and professional offices discouraging non-Jewish patrons from entering. Signs were posted warning: “Germans! Beware! Don’t Buy from Jews!” Nazi Book Burnings May 10, 1933 Where books are burned, in the end, people will be burned. - Heinrich Heine (19th century German poet) Uniformed Nazi party officials carrying confiscated books. Hamburg, Germany, The public burning of "un-German" books by members of the SA and university students. Nuremberg Laws September 15, 1935 Reich Flag Law • Official colors of the Nazi state are black, red, and white. • The national flag is the swastika flag. • Jews are forbidden from flying the German flag. Reich Citizenship Law • German citizenship is denied to Jews. They are given the status of “subjects.” • Jews can not vote, own property, operate a business, or be paid wages as employees. Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor • Forbids marriage or sexual relations between Jews and Germans. • Bans employment in Jewish homes of any German female under 45 years of age. The November Decree November 14, 1935 German: Mischlinge, 2nd Degree: 4 “German” grandparents 1 Jewish grandparent Mischlinge, 1st Degree: * 2 Jewish grandparents Jew: 3+ Jewish grandparents * 1st Degree Mischlinge would be considered Jews if they met any of the following criteria: - practiced the Jewish religion - were married to a Jew - or were children born after September 15, 1935 to one Jewish parent and one German parent Nazi Propaganda How can such a monstrous crime as the Holocaust occur? It begins when people start thinking of themselves as “us” and of others as “them”. -Ted Gottfried, Deniers of the Holocaust • The Hitler Youth • Education in Nazi Germany • Media • 1936 Olympics in Berlin The Hitler Youth GIRLS German Girl’s League, Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) BOYS Hitler Youth, Hitlerjügend (HJ) "Youth Serves the Fuëhrer. All ten-year-olds join the Hitler Youth." “All girls join us.” Education in Nazi Germany The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. - Diogenes “The Jewish Question is the Key to World History.” The German National Catechism for Young Germans in School and on the Job: “Which race must the National Socialist race fight against? The Jewish race. Why? The goal of the Jew is to make himself the ruler of humanity. Wherever he comes, he destroys works of culture. He is not a creative spirit, rather a destructive spirit.” Werner May, Deutscher National-Katechismus 2nd edition (Breslau: Verlag von Heinrich Handel, 1934), pp. 22-26 Typical School Day The teacher begins and ends the instruction by leading the assembled students in the greeting: The teacher raises the right arm and declares “Heil Hitler.” The students raise their right arms and respond Heil Hitler.” Raising the Swastika Flag at a school in Berlin. Changes in the Curriculum Math Problems Twisted to Promote Nazi Ideology According to careful estimates there are 300,000 mentally ill persons, epileptics, etcetera in long-term care facilities in Germany. The Jews are aliens in Germany. What is the total yearly cost of their care assuming daily costs of 4 RM per person? What is the percentage of aliens? How many marriage loans for 1,000 RM each could be made yearly with this money? In 1933 there were 66,060,000 inhabitants of the German Reich, of whom 499,682 were Jews. Excerpt from this Nazi Biology Textbook for Middle School Students: As we have already noted, people do not live as individuals like animals and plants, but as peoples, which largely have come together as ethnic states. We know something similar only with insects. Bees and ants are not only the sum of individuals; each individual shares a united drive in service of the entire group…. The ethnic state must demand of each individual citizen that he does everything for the good of the whole, each in his place and with his abilities. See Marie Harm and Hermann Wiehle, Lebenskunde für Mittelschulen. Fünfter Teil. (Halle: Hermann Schroedel Verlag, 1942), pp. pp. 168-173. Math Book for First Grade, Hirt Publishing, 1937. The Poisonous Mushroom “The Poisonous Mushroom” “How Jewish Traders Cheat” “The Experience of Hans and Else with a Strange Man” “How To Tell A Jew “ Popular children’s board game, “Juden Raus!” (Jews Out). By throwing dice, the winner manages to get six Jews out of their homes and businesses (the circles) and on the road to Palestine. It sold over a million copies in 1938, when Nazi policy was forced Jewish emigration. Additions to the Curriculum: Teaching Nazi Racial Ideology Classroom chart entitled "German Youth, Jewish Youth." Published in a textbook on heredity, genealogy, and racial studies. Two Jewish children humiliated in front of the classroom. The blackboard reads: "The Jews are our greatest enemy! Beware of Jews." Racial instruction is to begin with the youngest pupils (six years of age) in accordance with the Führer’s instruction that no boy or girl should leave school without complete knowledge of the necessity and meaning of blood purity. - Bernhard Rust, Reich Minister for Science & Education Additions to the Curriculum: Teaching War Oriented Sports Throwing grenades as a school sport. Education in a general way is to be the preparation for later army service. The Army will then not need, as has hitherto been the case, to give the young man a grounding in the simplest exercises and rules…. it should rather change the young man, already physically perfect, into a soldier. - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf Battle Ball (Kampfball) Media-Newspaper “Der Stürmer“, an antisemitic tabloid, was posted on billboards for all to read, under the heading: Die Juden sind unser Unglück (The Jews are our Misfortune). Völkischer Beobachter, (“People's Observer”), daily newspaper published by the Nazi Party in Germany from the 1920’s until 1945. Media-Radio Free distribution of radios in honor of Joseph Goebbel’s birthday. Berlin, October 29, 1938. "All Germany hears the Führer on the People's Receiver." The Nazis, eager to encourage radio listenership, developed an inexpensive radio receiver to make it possible for as many as possible to hear Nazi propaganda. Media-Film The Eternal Jew, the most famous Nazi propaganda film. Jew Pests, a film aimed at influencing audiences to hate Jews. A propaganda film designed by Nazis for Nazis. Media-Posters For young men, service to the totalitarian state meant fighting the Fuhrer's wars, but for women service meant producing racially pure children for the Reich. "Healthy Parents have Healthy Children." Nazi propaganda poster encouraging healthy Germans to have large families. 1936 Olympics in Berlin The torch lighting ceremony. Spectators salute Adolf Hitler during the games. German spectators spell out the phrase, directed at Adolf Hitler, "Wir gehoeren Dir" [We belong to you]. Jesse Owens' medal ceremony for the long jump. Violations of Treaty of Versailles Violations of Treaty of Versailles History shows us that appeasement does not lead to peace. It invites an aggressor to test the will of a nation unprepared to meet that test. - Ronald Reagan •The Rhineland Falls: March 1936 •The Anschluss of Austria: March 13, 1938 •Sudetenland Falls: September 1938 The Rhineland Falls March 1936 German forces enter Aachen, on the border with Belgium, following the remilitarization of the Rhineland. Aachen, Germany, March 18, 1936. German civilians salute German forces crossing the Rhine River in open violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Mainz, Germany, March 7, 1936. Anschluss of Austria March 13, 1938 Germany neither intends nor wishes to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, to annex Austria, or to conclude an Anschluss. Adolf Hitler, May 21, 1935 A public building in Vienna, adorned with decorations and a large banner bearing a quote from Hitler, "Those of the same blood belong in the same Reich!" Such banners were hung throughout Austria in the weeks preceding the April 10th plebiscite on the incorporation of Austria into the German Reich. Austrian Antisemitism A group of SA hold hands on the steps of the University of Vienna in an attempt to prevent Jews from entering the building. Jews forced to erase slogans from the streets of Vienna during the period following the Anschluss. Sudetenland Falls September 1938 Signing of the Munich Agreement. From left to right: Chamberlain, German troops march Daladier (French), Hitler, Mussolini into the town square of (Italian), and Ciano (Italian), pictured Friedland. before signing. Refugees from the Sudetenland, following its annexation by Germany, arrive in Prague, Czechoslovakia, a month later. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain Now we have “peace in our time!” Herr Hitler is a man we can do business with. Czechoslovakia Becomes Part of the Third Reich: 1939 German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact August 23, 1939 Soviet Foreign Minister, Molotov, signs pact. German Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop (back center) and Josef Stalin (back right). Rome-Berlin Axis, 1939 The “Pact of Steel” Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931 The Japanese Invasion of China, 1937 Italy Attacks Ethiopia, 1935 Emperor Haile Selassie U. S. Neutrality Acts: 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939 World War II: 1939-1942 World War II Begins Close your eyes to pity! Eighty million people (the population of Germany) must obtain what is their right! The stronger man is right! Be harsh and remorseless! - Adolf Hitler, August 31, 1939 • The Invasion of Poland: September 1, 1939 • Poland’s Largest Jewish Communities on the Eve of War • The Blitzkrieg of Poland • The Division of Poland • The Germanization of Polish Gentiles • The Isolation of Polish Jews The Blitzkrieg of Poland September 1 - 27, 1939 The Division of Poland Germanization of Polish Gentiles Two masters cannot exist side by side, and that is why all members of the Polish intelligentsia must be killed. -Adolf Hitler Poles with Aryan features were allowed to remain in Poland. Some Aryanlooking children were kidnapped and taken to Germany to raised as German. Some Polish men were drafted into the German army, others were deported to the Reich for slave labor. Monuments to Polish history and culture were destroyed. Valuable collections of art and science were transported out of the country. Museums and libraries were demolished. Polish press and theaters were closed. Polish cities and streets were renamed with German names. Universities and secondary schools were closed. Education after the 4th grade was forbidden as Poles would need little education as slave laborers. Use of the Polish language in public and private life was forbidden. Gentile Poles assembled for forced labor. June 1943 A German soldier stands on a toppled Polish monument. Krakow, Poland Attack in the West Denmark & Norway: April 9, 1940 The Lowlands: May 10, 1940 France: May 13, 1940 Great Britain: July 10, 1940 Invasion of Denmark & Norway April 9, 1940 • With the outbreak of war, Scandinavia had proclaimed itself strictly neutral. • With Poland now secured and the Soviet Union safely on hold, Hitler was eager to attack in the west. • Russia attacked Finland in November 1939, making Norway and Denmark vulnerable to a Russian takeover. Germany recognized the need to advance into Scandinavia first. • The Norwegians and Danes were seen as fellow Aryans and offered a “partnership” with Nazi Germany. Invasion of the Lowlands May 10, 1940 • All hoped to remain neutral after World War II began. • Germany attacked without declaring war. • Allied assistance was requested, but it was too late. British and French forces were able to rush into Belgium, but fell into a German trap. • Luxembourg surrendered in 1 day, the Netherlands surrendered in 5 days, and Belgium surrendered in 18 days. (Yellow lines are borders of countries.) Invasion of France: May 13, 1940 Dunkirk • Dunkirk Evacuation at Dunkirk, June 4, 1940 Ardennes Forest ● France was the country Hitler most wanted to conquer and humiliate. ● France’s military was larger and more technologically advanced than Germany’s. ● The German army entered France just north of the Maginot Line through Luxembourg and the dense Ardennes Forest of Belgium. ● The Allied forces in Belgium found themselves surrounded and were forced to retreat to Dunkirk. June 14, 1940 German troops enter Paris as French and Allied forces retreat. June 22, 1940 Armistice is signed. June 23, 1940 Hitler tours Paris. The conquest of France was the zenith of Hitler’s career and the peak of popularity for the Nazis among the German people. ● The Armistice with was signed on June 22, 1940 on the very spot of Germany’s humiliating surrender at the end of World War I. ● A separate agreement was reached with Italy, which had entered the war against France on June 10, well after the outcome of the battle was beyond doubt. ● France was divided into 2 zones: - An occupied zone in the north, under German control, with Paris as the official capital. - An unoccupied zone in the south under the control of a collaborative French government led by Marshal Pétain, with the town of Vichy as the administrative center. “Stamps” drawn on the blank borders of a sheet of postage stamps by Karl Schwesig, a non-Jew interred in Gurs concentration camp in France. The words “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” were the motto of the French Revolution. The founding principle’s of the state. The stamps tell ironically what Schwesig believed had become of these noble ideas. Italy Joins the Axis June 10, 1940 Benito Mussolini with Adolf Hitler. Italy enters World War II as a Germany ally hoping to establish a “New Roman Empire.” Although allied with Germany, Mussolini did not willingly cooperate in the Nazi plan to kill the Jews of Europe. Mussolini called himself “Il Duce“ (the leader). He was Prime Minister & Dictator of fascist Italy, 1922-1943. The Battle of Britain July 10, 1940 ● This was the first major battle to be fought entirely in the air. ● Britain’s survival was crucial for the Allied war effort. ● Hitler’s plan was to take London by August 1940. ● In October 1940, unable to accomplish his goals, Hitler had to postpone the invasion. “The Painter and the Clipper”, 1940 Arthur Szyk The Tripartite Pact September 27, 1940 Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany Emperor Hirohito, Japan Benito Mussolini, Italy Attack in the East The Invasion, June 22, 1941 Soviet P.O.W.’s Einsatzgruppen Bialystock Massacre, June 27, 1941 Babi Yar Massacre, September 28-29, 1941 The Invasion, June 22, 1941 The invasion of the Soviet Union was an “ideological battle and a struggle of races” according to Heinrich Himmler. The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. - Adolf Hitler, 1941 German soldiers in the Soviet Union. December 1943 Soviet P.O.W.’s Soviet P.O.W.’s from the Ukrainian front. Kharkov, Soviet Union, June 18, 1942 Camp for Soviet P.O.W.’s. Shelter was minimal, consisting of rough dug outs. Wietzendorf, Germany, 1941-1942. Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. With confidence in our armed forces – with the unbounded determination of our people – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God. - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941 U.S.S. Maryland and capsized U.S.S. Oklahoma. View down “Battleship Row.” Midway (June 3-6, 1942) – Japanese planned a diversionary attack on the Aleutian Islands while the main force attacked Midway to destroy the American fleet – Thanks to code breaking intercepts, the US didn’t fall for the Alaska fake out and reinforced Midway – Americans destroyed four Japanese carriers and most of their flight crews – Japanese advance was checked and initiative in the Pacific began to turn to the Americans Greatest Extent of Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere The Final Stages of War • Allied Invasion at Normandy: June 6, 1944 • The Allies Close In • Death Marches • Liberation • Yalta (Crimea) Conference: February 4-11, 1945 • Hitler’s Last Days • The Fall of Berlin: May 2, 1945 • Surrender in the West: May 8, 1945 • Allied Occupation and Denazification Allied Invasion at Normandy D-Day: June 6, 1944 The Allies Close In The war against the Jews continued as the Allies closed in on the crumbling Nazi empire. Extermination of the Jews was so efficient that by the time the Soviet army re-crossed the Polish border in 1944 and D-Day occurred on June 6, most of the approximately 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust were already dead. Yalta (Crimea) Conference February 4 - 11, 1945 Roosevelt & Churchill “How are we feeling today?” – a 1945 British cartoon shows Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin as doctors, working together to heal the world. The "Big Three": Winston Churchill, D. Roosevelt , Joseph Stalin Franklin Hitler’s Last Days One of the last pictures taken of Hitler in his bunker before he committed suicide. On the left is Col. Gen. Ferdinand Schoerner who was appointed commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht in Hitler’s will. In the garden outside his bunker, Hitler decorates Hitler Youth who have been newly recruited as soldiers. After the ceremony, he returns to his underground refuge. The Fall of Berlin May 2, 1945 Soviet soldiers celebrate the fall of Berlin by hoisting the Red Flag over the ruined Reichstag. As his last significant official act, Hitler appointed Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz to succeed him as führer. The Reichstag lies in ruins as did most of Berlin. Surrender in the West May 8, 1945 With this signature the German people and the German Armed Forces are, for better or worse, delivered into the hands of the victors … In this hour I can only express the hope that the victor will treat them with generosity. - General Alfred Jodl (during the signing of the unconditional surrender), Reims, France. Move to last days?????????? General Alfred Jodl, Chief of the Operations Staff in the German High Command, signs the document of unconditional German surrender on May 7. Left is Admiral Von Friedeburg of the German Navy. Right is Major Wilhelm Oxenius of the German General Staff. German Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel signs a surrender document at Soviet headquarters in Berlin, May 9, 1945. The Soviets had insisted that a second ceremonial signing take place in Sovietoccupied Berlin. Allied Occupation & Denazification Final Campaigns • From Feb 19 to Mar 11, 1945 the Marines captured Iwo Jima • From Apr to June Americans captured Okinawa o Total American battle casualties were 49,151, of which 12,520 were killed or missing and 36,631 wounded o Approximately 110,000 Japanese were killed and 7,400 more were taken prisoners o Okinawa showed how costly an invasion of the Japanese home islands would be Raising the flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima Potsdam Conference July 17 – August 2, 1945 POLAND Churchill, Truman, Stalin The "Big Three" pose with their principal advisors. Seated (left to right): British Prime Minister Clement Atlee; U.S. President Harry S. Truman; Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. Standing (left to right): Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, Truman's Chief of Staff; British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin; U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes; Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Plan to Invade Japan • US planned to invade Japan with eleven Army and Marine divisions (650,000 troops) • Casualty estimates for the operation were as high as 1,400,000 • Truman decided to use the atomic bomb to avoid such losses Operation Cornet, the plan to take Tokyo The Atomic Bomb • In the early 1940s, America had started an atomic weapons development program code named the “Manhattan Project” • A successful test was conducted at Alamogordo in New Mexico in July 1945 J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves at the Trinity Site soon after the test Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Hiroshima Aug 6, 1945 – “Little Boy” o 90,000 killed • Nagasaki Aug 9, 1945 –”Fat Man” o 35,000 killed • Okinawa had been much more costly than Hiroshima and Nagasaki Captain Paul Tibbets piloted the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima Hiroshima Before Hiroshima After Nagasaki Before Nagasaki After Surrender – August 15th, 1945 Japan surrenders Sept 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri Europe after World War I