Holocaust Overview

An Overview of the Holocaust

Using the link, http://www.ushmm.orp/wlc/en/article.php?Moduleld=10007262 (the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website), go to “Education” at the top of the page, scroll down and click on “for teachers”, then go to the left side of the page and click on “essential topics to teach”. Then click on each topic area, read the entire section then answer the question that corresponds to that particular section.

1933-1939
Dictatorship under the Third Reich
In the first months of Hitler's chancellorship, the Nazis instituted a policy of "coordination"--the alignment of individuals and institutions with Nazi goals. Which were the four goals that came under Nazi control?

The four goals that came under Nazi control were culture, the economy, education, and the law.

Early Stages of Persecution
The Nuremberg Laws did not identify a "Jew" as someone with particular religious beliefs. Instead, the first amendment to the Nuremberg Laws defined a “Jew” as?

The Nuremberg Laws defined a “Jew” as Non-Aryan.

The First Concentration Camps
Define the term “Concentration Camp”

Concentration Camp means a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy.

1939-1945
World War II in Europe
What happened on September 1, 1939, that starts WWII? Explain.

On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland after signing the German-Soviet pact of nonaggression which started WWII.

Murder of the Disabled (Euthanasia Program)
The Euthanasia Program murdered children, young adults, and adults that were considered “physically” and “mentally” disabled. They were put in gas chambers and then burned to ashes. These were not “Jews” but Germans. The families were told that their family membered died from what?

The Families were told that their family members died from natural causes.





Persecution and Murder of Jews
Others than the Jewish people, name three other populations that were targeted under Hitler’s Regime.

Other than the Jewish people, Roma(Gypsies), the disabled, and the Slavic People(Poles, Russians, Others) were targeted under Hitler’s Regime.

Ghettos
What were the three types of ghettos?

The three types of ghettos where closed ghettos, open ghettos, and destruction ghettos.

Mobile Killing Squads (Einsatzgruppen)
The “Einsatzgruppen” were mainly German soldiers and Secret Service German men that would go and kill Jews and anyone who was against Hitler. How did they kill these people? At first they only killed men, but as the war continued, did they kill women and children?

They killed those people by going to their homes and massacred them. Later on while the war continued they did start to kill women and children regardless of age.

Expansion of the Concentration Camp System

The goods extracted or produced by prisoner labor in the concentration camps were sold to what two German Reich through SS-owned firms?

The goods extracted or produced by prisoner labor in the concentration camp were sold to German Earth and Stone Works.

Killing Centers
What was the name of the first “Killing Center”? Where and when did it open?

The name of the first “Killing Center” was Chelmno which was opened in Warthegau in December 1941.

Additional Victims of Nazi Persecution
Among the earliest victims of Nazi discrimination in Germany were political opponents -- primarily Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, and trade union leaders. What was the name of the concentration camp that these political enemies were placed?

The name of the concentration camps that those political enemies were placed was called Dacha.

Jewish Resistance and Non-Jewish Resistance
Jewish prisoners rose against their guards at three killing centers. Name two of these center and include the month and year.

Two of the centers that Jewish prisoners rose against their guards were Warsaw in April-May 1943 and Treblinka in August 1943.


Rescue
What is “Zegota” and when did it begin?

Zegota is a code name for Rada Pomocy Zydom, the Council for Aid of Jew that was a Polish underground organization that provided social warfare needs to Jews which began in September 1942.

United States
After reading this section, why do you think that the United States refused to help the people that were being murdered?

I think the United States refused to help the people that were being murdered because they could not try to help without legal actions.

Death Marches
The evacuations of the concentration camps had three purposes, what were those reasons?

The evacuations of the concentration camps had the purposes which were because the SS didn’t want prisoners to fall into enemy hands and tell their stories to the Allied and Soviet liberators. Second, they thought they needed prisoners to maintain production of armaments wherever possible. And last but not least some leaders believed that they could use Jewish concentration prisoners as hostages to bargain for a separate peace in the west that could guarantee the survival of Nazi Regime.

Liberation
The Germans tries to destroy the evidence by destroying the concentration camps. However, what evidence was found that proved the Germans had killed an unimaginable number of Jewish peoples?

Gas chambers and some killing centers that the Soviet have found with many Jews of Poland already killed and found many people alive when they entered the concentration camp in Auschwitz.

Post- 1945
Postwar Trials
The International Military Tribunal (IMT) defined crimes against humanity as?

The International Military Tribunal defined crimes against humanity as murder, extermination,, enslavement, deportation or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds.

Displaced Persons Camps and Emigration
Define Zionism
Zionism means the movement to return to the Jewish homeland in what was then British-controlled Palestine