did it really happen?

Did it Really Happen?

American History Chapter 24-2

The Holocaust

Anti-Semitism:• The Nazis practiced hostility & prejudice against Jews.– Hitler blamed all of Germany’s problems on the Jews.

• Anyone with a Jewish grandparent was considered a Jew.

• The Nazis passed anti-Semitic laws:– Nuremberg laws removed Jewish citizenship.

• Violence against Jews was encouraged.– Kristallnacht: Night of violence.

• Nearly 100 Jews were killed.• Thousands of Jewish businesses & synagogues were damaged.• 26,000 Jews were sent to concentration (labor) camps.

Kristallnacht

Jewish Reaction

• Thousands fled the country.• Many couldn’t leave as all of their belongings had

been taken.• Some had no where to go.– The U.S. set limits on the number of German immigrants.

• When Hitler took power there were approx. 9 million Jews living in Europe.

• The goal of Hitler & his Nazi SS was to incarcerate of annihilate all of the Jews.

Incarceration and Annihilation

Incarceration and Annihilation• Concentration camps: Prisons for Jews & enemies of

the Reich.– Little food & hard labor.– Severe punishments.

• Ghettos: Confined Jews to certain neighborhoods.– Disease & starvation spread rapidly.

Warsaw

The Final Solution• The goal was genocide: The killing of an entire group

of people.• Began with Einsatzgruppen: Mobile killing units.

Final Solution Continued:• Six extermination camps were built to speed up the

killing of Jews.– Used inmates for cruel medical experiments.– Most were killed in gas chambers.– 3 million Jews died in the extermination camps.– 3 million Jews died by other means.– 5 million others died at the hands of the Nazis, including,

the disabled, prisoners of war, and Gypsies.

• It’s sad when it seems like death is the best option available.