Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Rise of Nazi Germany Christensen 2014 Losing WWI • Weimar Republic was weak – Too many political parties • All Germans hated the Versailles Treaty • Many made German Jews the scapegoat • Germany owed $33 billion – and needed to rebuild their own country • Government printed huge quantities of money 1923-issue 50 million mark banknote. Worth approximately $1 US when printed, this sum would have been worth approximately $12 million, nine years earlier. A New Leader • Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889 • Was rejected from art school, and developed hatred for Jews • Fought for Germany in WWI • After the war, joined the National Socialist German Workers party (Nazi Party) Hitler as a soldier in WWI. In Munich at the outbreak of WWI. Nazis • Hitler’s book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) reflected Nazi ideals: – Extreme Nationalism – Hatred of the Versailles Treaty – Need for German “living Space” – Superior Aryan “master race” – Anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews) FACT Hitler described how his political career had been dedicated to undoing the Versailles Treaty: “I have endeavored to destroy sheet by sheet the treaty which contains the vilest oppression which peoples and human beings have ever expected to put up with.” Reichstag Burns • Hitler lost the Election of 1932 to Paul von Hindenburg • Hindenburg was pressured to appoint Hitler Chancellor • Feb 27, 1933, the Reichstag building was burned down • The Enabling Act passed giving Hitler full control over government for 4 years • Pres. Hindenburg died in 1934 Hitler Youth • Nazis indoctrinated youth with their ideology • Boys are taught outdoor skills – Hiking, camping, shooting • Girls are taught to exercise and stay in shape and the importance of motherhood • All are taught obedience to Hitler and the Nazis, Supremacy of German culture, and the evils of the Jews Persecution of the Jews • Nazi SS destroyed Jewish property, businesses, and synagogues • Jews banned from Govt. jobs, attending public school • Nuremberg Laws 1935: • Forbade marriage between Jews and Non-Jews • Stripped Jews of citizenship • Defined how a person could be classified as a Jew Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) FACT Many Jews wanted to leave Germany, but other countries, including the United States, would not accept them. • Nov 9-10, 1938 Nazi mobs destroyed 8,000 Jewish businesses, 900 synagogues, killed 100 Jews • Jews’ insurance money was seized to pay for the damages War and the Holocaust • War and Conquest – Hitler attacked Poland, starting WWII, conquered most of Europe – Nazi police units round up Jews in conquered lands • Ghettos – After taking Poland, Nazis force Jews into fenced off areas of cities – Kept to await deportation to Concentration Camps Extermination • Mass shootings in conquered Russian lands – Shooters complained the task was “too unpleasant”, a new solution was needed • Final Solution: Concentration Camps – Jews were told they were being “re-settled” in the east – Those deemed unable to work were killed immediately – Victims were first killed in mobile gas vans, later permanent gas chambers were set up. • Began using Zyklon B (acid pellets) to reduce killing time • 30 percent of incoming Jews were kept and used for profit as slave laborers • Prisoners rarely survived longer than 4 months • Many were chosen for medical experiments, especially twins Aftermath • As the war wound down, the camps and prisoners were abandoned. • About 6,000,000 Jews had been killed, and another 6,000,000 prisoners, political enemies, gypsies, homosexuals, and others • Nuremberg Trials 1945-46 – Allies wanted to punish Nazi leaders for war crimes – Many leaders already had committed suicide – They were meant to send a warning to countries to behave humanely