The Holocaust

1933-1945

Why?

Hitler considered Jews an “internal enemy” Felt they did not support Germany in

WWI Hitler wanted a “pure” Germany

Belief in the superiority of the Aryan Race

Who Who?

Jews Slavs Roma Disabled and Mentally ill Homosexuals Freemasons and Jehovah’s Witnesses Political activists Christians

What?

Jews removed from society Lost jobs

Forbidden to own farms Lawyers were disbarred Newspaper editors

Excluded from schools and universities Nuremberg Laws

Lost their citizenship Lost all civil rights

Cont.

Kristallnacht – Night of broken glass Nov. 9, 1938 Jews attacked and property vandalized 100 killed, 30,000 sent to camps Shops and synagogues destroyed

Madagascar Plan Move all Jews to island of Madagascar

Was not carried out

Concentration Camps Auschwitz

Largest of the camps Located in Poland 1.1-1.6 million deaths

Gas chambers Starvation Forced labor Disease Executions Medical experiments

Medical Experiments Used human subjects

Pressure chambers – study effect of high and low air pressure on humans

Drug testing Effects of freezing/cold temperatures Attempted to change children’s eye color

by injecting chemicals into eyes Amputations Other surgeries – including at least 1

attempt to “create” Siamese twins

Total Deaths 6 million Jews 2-3 million Slavs 2 million Poles 100,000-200,000 Romas 100,000 Mentally ill 10,000 homosexuals, 1000s more were

“rehabilitated” Freemasons and Jehovah’s Witnesses

80,000-200,000 Political activists – unknown 5 million Christians Total – 15-16 million people

People Responsible Hitler Heinrich Himmler

Oversaw camps and death squads Committed suicide after being arrested

Ernst Kaltenbrunner Highest ranking SS leader to face trial

Adolf Eichmann “the architect of the Holocaust” Was in charge of transportation of Jews Fled to Argentina after war – Israeli agents

tracked him down and arrested him Tried, convicted, and hanged for 15 criminal

charges

Claims that it did not happen Nazis had no official policy on exterminating Jews Nazis did not use gas chambers 5-6 million deaths is “grossly” exaggerated Survivor testimonies are filled with incosistencies Nazi confessions extracted through torture Documentary evidence is fabricated Stories were a myth created by Allies to “de monize”

Germans Treatment of Jews no different than what Allies did to their

enemies “The Holocaust — the alleged extermination of some

six million Jews (most of them by gassing) — is a hoax and should be recognized as such by Christians and all informed, honest and truthful men everywhere."

Proof it did happen

Written documents Eyewitness testimony Photographs The camps themselves Inferential evidence – if they were not

killed, where did they go? Holocaust denial is illegal in 13

countries

Auschwitz

Auschwitz

Auschwitz