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Research Paper

Holocaust Overview

Justin Lyman

Eng Comp 102-102

Mr. Neuburger

2 April 2012

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The Holocaust was approximately a three year period during the thirty year rise and reign

of the Nazi Party. How the Nazi Party came to be and how it annihilated approximately twelve

million people needs to be remembered and understood in order to prevent events such as the

Holocaust from ever occurring again. The systematic and intentional attempt to exterminate Jews

from German occupied territories may have occurred over a three year period, but it was a series

of events and German engineering that took place over a thirty year period that allowed to

Holocaust to happen.

Rise of the Nazi Party

After World War II, Germany fell into an

economic crisis. This is due to unpreparedness from the

German government to losing the war. The propaganda

that they did use made the nation think that they

couldnt lose the war so when they did the whole

nation took a huge blow to their pride. The Treaty of

Versailles didnt help matters either due to the fact that

it charge the German people to pay for the war damages which were way over Germanys head.

In all of this misery, the German Workers Party slowly started to gain support. In 1919,

Hitler rose in rank in the new party. He promoted national pride, a racially pure Germany, and

militarism. To spark up more support from the poor Germans, he blamed the crisis on the Jews in

turn creating anti-Semitic feelings. Later he changed the name to the party we all know as the

National Socialist German Workers Party, or the Nazi Party. In 1921 Hitler became the partys

official leader.

Picture of Hitler addressing part of the Nazi Party.

Source: http://bit.ly/Itd8rl

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In 1923, Hitler attempted to overthrow the government which failed. This is known as the

Beer Hall Putsch. He used his public trial as a way of insulting the Weimar government. At the

end of his trial Hitler had actually gained support for his cause. He was given a much lighter

sentence than what he normally would have and was eligible for parole. He was out of prison

after one year. While in prison, Hitler wrote his book called Mein Kampf, which means My

Struggle. The book was basically an outline of what was to follow when he took control of the

government.

Once out of prison, Hitler brought back the Nazi Party. He waited for the right opportune

moment to make his move on the government. The Party grew from 27,000 members in 1925 to

108,000 members in 1929. Most of this growth had come from propaganda. The Nazi Party

mostly identified with young men of the lower middle class.

In 1932, the existing capitalistic government collapsed while arguing about the rising cost

of unemployment benefits. This caused the existing Reich president Paul von Hindenburg to

invoke the constitutions emergency presidential powers. He created a new government to rule

by emergency decrees instead of laws passed by the Reichstag.

Basically, he created a dictatorship with advisors. Slowly the

Nazi Party continued to gain support until Hitler finally took

over the government.

Nazi Anti-Semitism. The original anti-Semitism came

from a view that Jews had rejected Christianity causing a

widespread hatred for them. Also they were portrayed as

children of the Devil for killing the Christian children. The

Anti-Semitic photo of a Jewish banker.

Source: http://bit.ly/hql3lt

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Nazi view of Jews came specifically from racial anti-Semitism and social Darwinism. They

viewed the Jews as an inferior race. It wasnt until the rise of the Nazi party though that anti-

Semitism was used as a political instrument and an official policy of the modern state.

After this the essence of being Jewish was thought to be biological. The Jews couldnt

avoid persecution then by means of denouncing his or her faith of adopting a non-Jewish faith.

The Nazis made the Germans look as though that they were the perfect race of the Aryan-Nordic

people. They then accused the Jewish people as challenging the dominant races and as being

subhuman. They then stated that the Jews would destroy the world and that the Aryan race had to

win the struggle.

Nuremberg Laws. The Nuremberg Laws were

racial laws used by the German Parliament. The laws

were the basis for the anti-Jewish policy in Germany. The

first of the Nuremberg Laws was the Reich Citizenship

Law. This law stated that only those of Aryan decent

could be citizens of the Reich. It named the Jews as state

subjects instead of citizens of the Reich. Jewish war

heroes and state officials had exemptions in the early anti-Jewish policy. The Nuremberg Laws

nullified these exemptions. The second law was the Law for the Protection of German Blood

and Honor. This law forbade marriages and extramarital sexual relations between Germans and

Jews, the employment of German maids under the age of 45 in Jewish homes and the raising of

the German flag by Jews. The Nuremberg Laws came from a push to help bring down anti-

Jewish rioting. The laws were to appease the Nazi officials who wanted a set system for dealing

with the Jews.

The original copies of the Nuremberg Laws.

Source: htt ://bit.ly/HwFoVD

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Nazi Propaganda. Propaganda is used as a systematic

way to promote specific ideas and practice in order to benefit

ones cause. Usually propaganda will stretch the truth and

leave out important facts. The Nazis used propaganda in one

of the most creative ways in history.

The Nazi Party used propaganda before they rose to

power to attract the attention of anyone in the public to gain

support for their cause. They made Hitler out to be infallible

and they promoted greatly his dynamism. After the Party took power, they continued to use

propaganda to re-enforce the image of Hitler as being untouchable.

In Mien Kampf, Hitler states that propaganda should be used on the masses that are easily

swayed by emotions and by the crowd. It also stated that propaganda should be repeated until

everyone would have it on their minds constantly. The propaganda that the Nazis used always

pointed at the one enemy which was the Jews. He kept the thought in the Germans heads that

the Jews were parasites who were sub-human.

Soon after Hitler came to power, he created the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment

and Propaganda. Over this ministry he appointed Joseph Goebbels as the Propaganda Minister.

The Ministry was divided up into 7 sections which consisted of radio, the press, films, theater,

adult education, administration and organization, and propaganda. (Propaganda, Nazi)

One thing that does stand out from Hitler as a person is that he was an incredible speaker.

Using this skill he held many Nazi rallies and succeeded in gaining much German support. They

also published anti-Semitic newspapers. Usually these papers depicted Jews in a much distorted

view but did succeed in creating much more hatred towards Jews.

Propaganda stating, Long live Germany!

Source: http://bit.ly/IDeii5

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Anti-Semitic films were also produced which portrayed the Jews as being dirty, immoral,

and ugly. (Propaganda, Nazi) Other movies were created also that over all portrayed the common

Jew as just nasty and out right wrong. They went as far as to say that Jews killed Christian

children for religious rituals. Some films were also made in which the Nazis were glorified as

well as glorifying Germany.

Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht was a pogrom

carried out by the Nazis throughout Germany and

Austria on November 9-10, 1938. (Kristallnacht)

Kristallnacht is also known as Night of the Broken

Glass due to the thousands of Jews businesses broken

windows. Kristallnacht was launched, officially, in

response to the assassination on November 7th

of a

German named Ernst vom Rath by a Jewish refugee.

A group of Nazi leaders were gathered in Munich commemorating the anniversary of the

Beer Hall Putsch that same night. They agreed that the time had come to strike at the Jews. They

told their men to join in the riots but not to start them. Very soon, riots broke out all throughout

Germany.

Many shop windows were broken and looted of all items. Hundreds of Jewish

synagogues and homes were burnt down with many Jews physically assaulted. Approximately

30,000 Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps. Around 90 Jews were killed

during the rioting. After the pogrom was over, the Jews continued to receive intensified pressure

from the Nazis. They set up a Central Office for Jewish Emigration to help the Jews leave the

Ruined synagogue after Kristallnacht.

Source: http://bit.ly/UX99

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country. (Kristallnacht) Many western countries started to admit more refugees as a result of

Kristallnacht.

Ghettos. The Jews were sent to Ghettos after

Kristallnacht. The Ghettos were actually a Jewish only

part of cities which had very poor living standards.

While in the Ghetto, many Jews died but there is no

official confirmation that the Ghettos were used as a

way for killing the Jews. Still the Nazis could have

cared less about a bunch of starving Jews.

There is no evidence that the Nazi leadership ordered the establishment of ghettos in the

form that they eventually took. (Ghetto) In this way, there was no exact way the ghettos were to

be established. They were formed by local officials and were unique in how each was set up.

The first ghetto to be established was in Poland in the city of Piotrkow Trybunalski in

October 1939. (Ghetto) It was established a month after war broke out. After that many others

were established throughout Europe and the Soviet Union. For the most part, these ghettos were

established after many local Jews had been killed.

Each ghetto was also guarded differently. The Warsaw Ghetto was surrounded by an 11-

mile wall. (Ghetto) Some of the ghettos werent guarded either and Jews could come and go as

they pleased. Though eventually, all of the ghettos were locked during deportation. The Jews

never got much food in the ghettos. They were given ration cards by the Nazis to eat a very small

bit of food. For the most part they were forced to buy food off the black market. Many of the

Jews didnt have money to afford this so they starved. Only the wealthy could manage to buy

food.

A Jew being assaulted in the Ghetto.

Source: http://bit.ly/HMlTNx

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Resistance. Though it isnt talked about enough,

the Jews did form resistances against the Nazis. Every

time there was an organized resistance, many lives were

at stake including non-Jews.

One group in particular was the women.

According to Weinstock, women were thought of be for

only child rearing, the home, and for religion. (Women

and Resistance) The Nazis never expected women to be a threat. Women would bring

information along with supplies to the other people in their group of resistance.

Another form of resistance was spiritual resistance. This was the course of many of the

Jews. This refers to attempts to remain sane during Nazi rule and their degradation. According to

Weinstock, spiritual resistance proved that while physical resistance was necessary, spiritual

resistance was just as important.

The isolation of the ghettos was meant to break down the Jews and make them feel

worthless. Many of the Jews actually found inner strength from this and were made stronger

through it. Some Jews also created social programs for each other to remain strong for each

other. These included a struggle for humanity, culture, normalcy, and for life according to

Weinstock. (Spiritual Resistance)

Education was also a form of resistance. The Jews would teach each other everything

they knew. They actually created a library inside the ghetto and would pass around the books so

that they may read all of the books. They also perform theaters for each other and also sang

operas.

Two Jewish Resistance officers.

Source: http://bit.ly/HG1O62

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The Wannsee ConferenceThe Final Solution.

There is no written document ordering the Final

Solution to the extermination of Jews. Instead it is

believed that it was given orally by Hitler himself. (The

Wannsee Conference) On July 31, 1941, the Final

Solution was put into effect and so began the mass

extermination of the Jewish people.

There was already a program that was used called the Euthanasia Program which used

poison gases to kill tens of thousands of physically and mentally handicapped people. This

program was stopped due to public pressure though. It did serve as the basis of the gas chambers

that used Zyklon B.

On January 20, 1942, another meeting was held at Wannsee. At this meeting, it was

announced that 11,000,000 Jews could be introduced into the Nazi program for the Final

Solution. (The Wannsee Conference.) As a result of this meeting, the emigration plan for the

Jews was replaced with the extermination of the Jews of Europe.

Extermination Methods. There were three ways

that the Nazis first killed the Jews. The first was by

firing squad. The second was by mobile gas vans. The

third method was by the gas chambers.

Firing squads worked by lining up a group of

Jews and just shooting them until they died. Sometimes

they would line up the Jews by a pit and fire so that

they would fall into the pits. They would later have to dig up the bodies to burn them so that

Villa where Wannsee Conference took place.

Source: http://bit.ly/yHfKrG

The results of the Extermination Methods.

Source: http://bit.ly/HY4A5A

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there was no evidence of them. This method proved ineffective and too demoralizing to the

soldiers carrying out the orders. So they stopped using firing squads.

They then moved onto mobile gas vans. What these actually were are large vans that they

would load a large group of Jews in and they would drive around until the Jews died. They Jews

died by carbon monoxide poisoning. What the Nazis did was they put the exhaust flow into the

back of the van to kill the Jews. They would then dispose of the bodies in a mass grave. This

method was ended because it took too long.

The third and final method was using Zyklon B into sealed chambers in which many

Jews were killed. This was the most effective method of extermination and was used throughout

the Holocaust.

Death Camps. The Death Camps were where the

Gas Chambers took place. One of the more famous Death

Camps is Auschwitz. The first extermination camp that

was established was Chelmno. It began its exterminations

from December 8, 1941 until January 1945. (Death

Camps) When the Jews arrived at Chelmno, they were

ordered to undress and surrender all of their belongings

and to get onto gas vans, approximately 300,000 Jews were killed at this death camp with only

three surviving Jews from there.

In the death camps, permanent gas chambers were constructed. There was no selection

process and everyone was sent straight to the gas chambers. Around 1,700,000 Jews were killed

in the three extermination camps of Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka. The common way of killing

these Jews were to attach large tank engines to the gas chambers in turn suffocating them.

Entrance to a Death Camp.

Source: http://bit.ly/rEa1ua

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There were a small few that survived by being workers to clear out the dead bodies and to

remove the clothing of the victims from the gas chambers. After a couple of months they would

be replaced and killed also in the gas chamber. All the other people, though, that had failed to

stay strong were sent straight to the gas chamber and were killed.

Liberation. As the Allies advanced, they came

across different camps. Sometimes when they got there

they would find that the Nazis had tried to conceal what

they had done there. They also found some places where

the Nazis had left with the Jews and were most likely

sending the Jews on Death Marches. In most of the

camps though, the Allies would find very large groups of

Jews suffering from malnourishment and disease.

The Russians were the first to stumble upon the camps but often didnt report their

findings. They did, however, liberate many Jews from the camps. The first time the British and

American troops stumbled upon the Jews they were awe struck. They could not believe the

condition that the Jews were living in. They tried as much as they could but they just couldnt

save all the Jews they found. For some it was just a matter of it was too late. They also found

many piles of corpses.

The feelings of the Jews after liberation were very mixed. For one they were very happy

to be free of the Nazi tyranny but they also had nowhere to go. Many times they were the sole

survivors of their families and communities. They would just stay at the camps which became

Displaced Persons camps. They would move around if they happened to find a relative that they

A group of children leaving a Nazi Camp.

Source: http://bit.ly/gSyMdZ

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recognized. They did this until Israel was finally reformed. After that many of the Jews moved to

Israel and began re-building their families.

During the Nazi Reign, they murdered approximately twelve million people were

annihilated. During this time also there were choices made on both sides of the war that

shouldnt have been made of done. One example would be of American bombers NOT bombing

the rail lines that transported the Jews or bombing the concentration camps. Through a ridiculous

struggle, the Jewish people did make it through the Holocaust with a much smaller number of

them. If only steps were taken to possibly save more of their numbers then they wouldnt have

resentment toward Americans.

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Works Cited

"Gas Chambers." Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

"Ghetto." SHOAH Resource Center. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes'

Remembrance Authority. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

"Holocaust Timeline: The Rise of the Nazi Party." Florida Center for Instructional Technology.

2005. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

"Kristallnacht." Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

"Liberation." Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. Web.

14 Apr. 2012.

"Nuremberg Laws." Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

"Propaganda, Nazi." SHOAH Resource Center. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes'

Remembrance Authority. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

"Selektion." Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. Web. 14

Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust."After Liberation. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust."Antisemitism. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance

Authority. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

"The Holocaust." The Death Camps. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes'

Remembrance Authority. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

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"The Holocaust." The Wannsee Conference. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes'

Remembrance Authority. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

Weinstock, Yael G. "The International School for Holocaust Studies." Spiritual Resistance. Yad

Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. Web. 14 Apr.

2012.

Weinstock, Yael G. "The International School for Holocaust Studies." Women and Resistance

during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance

Authority. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.