The Holocaust Chapter 16-3

The Persecution Begins As soon as Hitler took

power he ordered all non Aryans to be fired from government jobs

This was the first move in an attempt for racial purity

This would lead to the Holocaust or systematic murder of 6 million Jews

In addition 5 million others would be put to death

Jews Targeted The Jews would not be the only one

targeted by the Germans but they would be the focus

Anti-Semitism or hatred of the Jews had a long history in Europe as the Jews were the scapegoat for many German failures

For example the German defeat in WWI as well as the economic crisis of the time

As the Nazi power increased so did the persecution of the Jews

In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, & property

To make identify the Jewish population easier all Jews were forced to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing

Kristallnacht On the nights of November

10-11, 1938, became known as Kristallnacht, or night of broken glass

Nazi Storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, & synagogues

Approximately 100 Jews were killed & hundreds injured as well as 30,000 arrested

Hundreds of synagogues were burned

Afterward the Germans blamed the Jews for the uprising & destruction

A Flood of Jewish Refugees Kristallnacht marked the step up in Nazi policy of Jewish

persecution The Nazi’s tried to speed Jewish emigration but

encountered difficulty as many nations were already overwhelmed but the influx

France had accepted 40,000, Britain 80,000, & Palestine (Israel) 30,000

As far as the U.S. the average Jew had little hope of making it as we were in the midst of the Great Depression & fear of competition for jobs as well as “enemy agents” caused many to call for limits on immigration

In all America accepted 100,000 refugees

Hitler’s Final Solution By 1939 only 250,000

Jews remained in Germany, but the other nations that Hitler had occupied contained millions more

Obsessed with the desire to rid all of Europe of its Jews Hitler initiated the “Final Solution”

This was a policy of genocide or the deliberate & systematic killing of an entire population

The Condemned Hitler’s Final Solution rested on the belief that Aryans

were a superior people and that the strength & purity of this “master race” must be preserved

Anyone who did not fit the mold of the master race was imprisoned or put to death as enemies of the state

In the beginning those that spoke out against the government were the main targets

Once these targets were silenced the Nazi turned their attention to the Jews, Gypsies, Freemasons, & Jehovah’s Witnesses

Others attacked included homosexuals, mentally ill, physically disabled, & those that had incurable diseases

Forced Relocation Jews were also forced to

leave their homes & businesses & move into deplorable ghettos

These were sealed off areas where they forced to remain

Within the ghettos dead bodies would pile up like wood, people were forced to work in German factories, food & clean water were scarce, & there was always the threat of instant death at the hands of an SS officer for no reason

Concentration Camps Many of the Jews

would end up in concentration camps or labor camps

Here people would be tortured, experimented on, & put to death

Those that were “fortunate” to escape the gas chambers were forced to working for the Germans

The Final Stage In 1942 Hitler decided

that mass execution was costly & slow in the extermination of the Jews

The Germans would turn to the use of poison gas, Zykon B

Here the prisoners would be herded into a shower & gassed

The Survivors An estimated 6 million Jews

would be put to death in the Nazi death camps

Another 6-5 million non-Jews were also put to death

After the fall of the Nazi regime Hitler & his henchmen tried to cover up the atrocities by any means

Many would survive to tell the world of their horror, thus the phrase “Never Forget”