“For the dead and the living we must bear witness” Eli Wiesel

How did the Holocaust Happen?

This power point was completed from the work of

Dr. Karl Schleunes UNC- Greensboro

And The North Carolina Council on the Holocaust

Audio clips courtesy of WWII German Veteran, Gerd Hans Marohm, February 22, 2014

Credits

1) Separation of “us” and “them”2) Idea that “us” are better than “them”3) “us” is superior and “ them” is inferior – less than, unworthy of life

These three factors lead to things like prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes

How did it start?

Bystander – one who stands by and does nothing when injustice takes place

The majority of people were bystanders often out of fear or because they considered Jews and others affected to be “not us”

Opposite of a bystander: upstander – those who are willing to stand up

Bystander

“The longest hatred in Western culture”Pagan Era – Jews introduce monotheism into

a polytheistic world… what does that mean?Jews became defined as the “other”, a

peculiar people – they were telling polytheistic believers (by implication) that their religion was wrong.

The Longest Hatred

Early Christianity defines and shapes the new European world… Jews seen as evil

Church decrees that loaning money at interest is a mortal sin – stereotype – Jews as money lenders, stingy, people who will cheat you

1215 – Pope decrees that Jews must wear a star so that they can be avoided

The Longest Hatred

1300s – Blamed for the spread of the bubonic plague

1290-1500s – Jews constantly expelled from Western Europe

The Longest Hatred

Martin Luther originally wrote a pamphlet that said he understood why the Jews didn’t want to convert (when Rome was in charge)

Later on, after Luther reformed the church, he published “The Jews and Their Lies” (1543)

“First, their synagogues or churches should be set on fire… Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed…They ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like gypsies…Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer books…Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach anymore.”

He went on to suggest that Jews should be placed into work camps…

Protestant Reformation and the Jews

Revolution = the idea of legal EQUALITY of men

Rousseau wrote an essay on the origin of the inequality of man – these inequalities were created by men, not a higher power, and can be undone

Enlightenment/Revolution

Jews began to assimilate into 19th century German societyEntry into business world (Industrial

Revolution)Entry into German cultural world (art,

literature, music, etc.)Entry into medicine, law, journalismHigh rate of marriage between Jewish and

Germans**People began to resent the success of the Jews

Things Looking Up?

The threat of this century – The birth of Modern Racism: suggested that inequalities among humans are made by biology

There are superior (Aryan) and inferior races…Science says it, so it must be true… Right?

Meanwhile in the 19th Century…

Darwin’s concepts in “On the Origin of Species” (1859) of survival of the fittest and natural selection applied to nations and races

Social Darwinism was especially popular in Germany

1879 – the term Anti-Semitism is introducedJews = Semitic race, Anti = against

Connecting Modern Racism and Social Darwinism

Jews were assimilating into German culture and life, while doing this, they were also infusing into the German race (Jews and Germans marrying)

Jews = inferior raceGermans = superior, Aryan race

This will drag the superior people down…

The problem with Jews in Germany

Notion that nations can be superior because of their social composition = they have been naturally selected by nature to control

So what’s the problem with Jews being in Germany and infusing into their race, culture, daily life, government, etc.?

Darwin’s idea on a national scale…

Breed a superior raceRoot out “inferior stock”Solve social problems – crime, poverty,

disease

How?Selective breeding/sterilization, and

eventually much worse

Birth of a new science = Eugenics “good breeding”

How did all of this translate for a man like Adolf Hitler?

Why Germany?Why Hitler?

Why the Holocaust?

1900 – Germany had become the world’s leading power

What went wrong?WWI – Germans did not believe that they

were responsible for WWI starting – they had been attacked unfairly by the Allies who were jealous

Rush to defend the motherland, millions of young men volunteer

Why Germany?

Many thought it would be over by Christmas, but it was not over by Christmas 1914…1915…1916… or 1917

Tremendous sacrifices demanded on the battlefield and the home front – Turnip winter – turnips replaced essential foods

The war was supposed to be short…

German leaders insist that Germany is winning – demand more sacrifices

October 1918 – Germans are told that they are losing the war = shock “How could we be winning for four years and then suddenly surrender?”

The Cold Hard Truth

November 1918 – Revolution – monarchy overthrown

1919 – Versailles Treaty – German Guilt Clause

1919-1933 The shock continues…Hyperinflation - $$ worth lessBrutalization of German politics –

assassinations, roving political armies

Big Question: Who is to blame for all of this?

Falling Apart…

1929: The Great Depression begins 1930s: Failure of democratic politics in

Germany

Situation is ripe for a manipulator to come in and save the day… Wonder who that could be?

Depression

** Pressure on the political system allowed Hitler to come to power, he had an answer to the problems…

Hitler was extremely charismatic - remarkable speaking abilities

Hitler’s promises:1. Restore Germany to world leadership2. Restore the economy3. Purify the Aryan race (eugenics)4. Solve the “Jewish Problem”

Why Hitler

AUDIO: 6:42-8:39 Hitler’s charisma/ Plan for Germanyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEMvuJiwTU

“Big Lie” Theory of PropagandaJews are responsible for all of Germany’s

troublesJews are revolutionaries, communists, run the

world capitalsJews are responsible for the Versailles treaty

and the war guilt clauseJews “stabbed the German army in the back”Jews are responsible for $$ inflation Jews are responsible for Germany’s racial

decline

Hitler draws on the hate throughout history to fuel his argument against the Jews:

The Eternal Jew

Illustration from a children's book. The headlines say "Jews are our misfortune" and "How the Jew cheats." Germany, 1936. — US Holocaust Memorial Museum

“The God of the Jews is money. To earn money, he commits the greatest crimes…” "The Jew: The inciter of war, the

prolonger of war."

January 1933 – Hitler becomes Chancellor and soon established a total dictatorship

One of the many speeches:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0Et56Hxt4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFNUdCtMXWE

Chancellor to Dictator

Hitler’s racial policies – purifying the German race

1933 – sterilization law – people with hereditary problems were sterilized so that they could not reproduce1935 – Nuremburg Laws – brings an end to race mixing 1939 – euthanasia of the physically and mentally handicapped

Why the Holocaust?

The Gestapo’s Helpers: poster justifying the prohibition of “interracial” relationships between Jews and Non-Jews under the Nuremburg Laws. Many Germans reported suspicions of the “crime” to the police, who needed the public to be their eyes and ears in this and other matters. Informers were variously motivated by political beliefs, personal prejudices, and desire to settle petty quarrels, or the patriotic desire to be a “good citizen”

“Everyone cringes with fear… No letter, no telephone conversation , no word on the street is safe anymore. Everyone fears that the next person might be an informer.” – Jewish professor, Victor Klemperer, 1933Photo of poster and information taken from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Hitler’s racial policies – Jewish PoliciesSegregation of Jews – March 1933

Concentration Camps – starting with DachauAryanization – Jews robbed of property and

assetsAryan paragraph, 1933“prevented Jews from becoming members of German political parties, social clubs, student groups, sports groups and others and included in constitutions of nationalist and racist student associations.”

Why the Holocaust?

Six Jews in the middle of the board game… you had to get yours out first…

“Jews Out” board game

It was nearly impossible …Emigration – where to?

Difficult due to the DepressionRestrictive immigration laws in the U.S. and

elsewhereFDR calls a conference to discuss Jewish

Refugees – countries would come ONLY if they didn’t have to take any Jews

Jews can’t stay anywhere and can’t go anywhere…

Why didn’t the Jews leave?

“The whole function of all education is to create a Nazi” - Bernhard Rust, Reich Minister of Science and Education

Nazification of Schools

Poster promoting the League of German Girls

At that time we are now in the beginning of the war -- announcements preceded by march music, we learned about the number of ships the u boasts sunk constantly. During that time, I got excited … you have to take into the context that we were taught to support Hitler. At 10 a boy became a member of the Hitler youth. You went to weekly meetings, any time things were going on politically in Berlin we had to be present there. I laugh about that fact that me and the Pope were both the same age and were both Hitler youths. He grew up like I did, not in Berlin, but a smaller city, but he was a Hitler youth too.

From Gerd’s perspective as a Hitler youth:

National Socialist Teacher’s League – aligning all teachers with Nazi ideology – 97% of all teachers were members, 32% were also Nazi party members

Nazification of Schools

Removal of Jewish teachers

AWAY WITH HIM

The long arm of the ministry of education pulls the Jewish teacher from his classroom.

Nazification of Schools

Ghettoes for Jews Created by Nazis

Death camps built in Poland – Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka

Hundreds of Concentration camps across occupied Europe

Heinrich Himmler in charge of operation

With WWII Comes the Holocaust

The Holocaust and War Crimes

Hitler’s hatred of Jews led to his “final solution”

Holocaust – the killing of millions of Jews and anyone else considered undesirable

between 9 and 12 million people were murdered, 6 million were Jews

Video about the US Holocaust Museum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf2u17yKR0Q&safe=activeChild of the

Holocausthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWneASsotkc&safe=active

The Death CampsAfter deportation trains arrived at the killing centers, guards ordered the deportees to get out and form a line. The victims then went through a selection process. Men were separated from women and children. A Nazi, usually an SS physician, looked quickly at each person to decide if he or she was healthy and strong enough for forced labor. This SS officer then pointed to the left or the right; victims did not know that individuals were being selected to live or die. Babies and young children, pregnant women, the elderly, the handicapped, and the sick had little chance of surviving this first selection.

Selection at Auschwitz

The Death CampsThose who had been selected to die were led to gas chambers. In order to prevent panic, camp guards told the victims that they were going to take showers to rid themselves of lice. The guards instructed them to turn over all their valuables and to undress. Then they were driven naked into the "showers." A guard closed and locked the steel door. In some killing centers, carbon monoxide was piped into the chamber. In others, camp guards threw "Zyklon B" pellets down an air shaft. Zyklon B was a highly poisonous insecticide also used to kill rats and insects.

Gas Chamber at Auschwitz

The Death CampsUsually within minutes after entering the gas chambers, everyone inside was dead from lack of oxygen. Under guard, prisoners were forced to haul the corpses to a nearby room, where they removed hair, gold teeth, and fillings. The bodies were burned in ovens in the crematoria or buried in mass graves. Many people profited from the pillage of corpses. Camp guards stole some of the gold. The rest was melted down and deposited in an SS bank account. Private business firms bought and used the hair to make many products, including ship rope and mattresses.

Crematorium at Auschwitz

A Glimpse of those affected

Excerpt from Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize Lecture

Indeed this was another universe; the very laws of nature had been transformed. Children looked like old men, old men whimpered like children. Men and women from every corner of Europe were suddenly reduced to nameless and faceless creatures desperate for the same ration of bread or soup, dreading the same end. Even their silence was the same for it resounded with the memory of those who were gone. Life in this accursed universe was so distorted, so unnatural that a new species had evolved. Waking among the dead, one wondered if one were still alive...

AUDIO: 33:10- 34:12 (Intro) resume at 35:09- 40:34 “That Jewish Question is a terrible question”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEMvuJiwTU

LiberationAllied troops moved

across Europe Encountered tens of

thousands of concentration camp prisoners

Many of these prisoners had survived forced marches (Nazis moved them and destroyed camps)

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” – Elie Wiesel

Never…

6 million Jews were killed as a result of Hitler’s final solution. The question now is, who will be held responsible? “We were just following orders…”

So What Now?

The Allies and the TrialsWinston Churchill did not want a trial

Thought all should be hungAmericans and Russians wanted a trialHow do you try people for the murder of

millions of people that had been made “legal” under Hitler?

The CrimesCrime of conspiracy

Leaders, organizers, instigators, and accomplices in the formulation or execution of a common plan, or a conspiracy to commit any of the following crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in executing such a plan.

The CrimesCrimes against peace

Planning, preparing or initiating a war of aggression.

War CrimesThis meant breaking the rules of war. It

included killing prisoners or war and destroying homes and property

The CrimesCrimes against humanity

The murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population before or during the war.

Who should be tried?The first job facing the

court at Nuremberg was to decide who should be tried.

24 Nazi’s were indicted22 stood trialThe rest were turned

over to local trials

How the trials were set upAllies formed the International Military

Tribunal (IMT) to bring the Nazi leaders to trialTribunal is a court of justice

The defendants were made aware of all charges, each was entitled to a lawyer and had the right to plead his own case, offering witnesses and evidence on his behalf.

The Nuremberg TrialsBegan Nov. 20,

1945 and lasted 10 months

Chief prosecutor was Robert H. Jackson, justice on United States Supreme CourtOpening

Statement by Jackson

Statement by Jackson“We must never forget that the record on

which we judge these defendants today is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well.”

The ProsecutionUsed the Nazi’s own recordsTried to show the Nazis planned a war and

planned to conquer the world if they couldA crime against peace

A minor part of the prosecution was documents and witnesses of the Holocaust

The DefenseToo much evidence to claim the Holocaust

didn’t happenHad to make case on other issues

Said tribunal had no legal authoritySaid they were just following orders

The DefenseVehemently denied responsibility for crimes

against humanityUsed the argument Fuhrer-prinzip

Nazi “leadership principal”All orders given in Germany were Hitler’s orders

and the punishment for not obeying was death.

The details of what the Nazi’s had done became vivid to the rest of the world

PBS Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsOpcMFkrFs

AUDIO: 52:12-end Lasting Impression about Germany, German people https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEMvuJiwTU

Audio from Morris Glass, a Holocaust survivor:

https://vimeo.com/44009592

Primary Sources