The Evolution of Nazi Policies Against European Jewry

1933: removed from economy

Initiated with a boycott on April 1, 1933; the master plan did not yet conceive of murdering Jews, only focused on emigration.

1935: revoked citizenship

Implemented through the Nuremberg Laws; the master plan still did not conceive of murdering Jews, focusing on emigration, but evolved into racial laws.

1937-1938: voluntary Aryanization

Initially voluntary, it evolved to forced Aryanization; the master plan did not yet conceive of murdering Jews, focusing on emigration.

1938-1939: forced Aryanization

Followed Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938, which discredited radicals; the master plan did not yet conceive of murdering Jews, focusing on emigration.

1940: ghettos in Poland/eastern Europe

Example: Lodz (April 1940); the master plan was less restrained but still lacked a clear goal, evolving to utter control of Jews.

1941: Final Solution

Marked the definitive plan for extermination; evolved from machine gunning to mobile killing (e.g., Chelmno) to gas chambers and death camps.

1942-1943: deportations to death camps

Occurred from March 1942 to May 1943; the master plan prioritized exterminating Jews, evolving with the efficiency of operations like Operation Reinhard.

Refugee crisis 1938-1941

Characterized by British and American immigration restrictions, impacting the Nazi approach to Jewish emigration.

Nuremberg Laws

Laws enacted in 1935 that revoked citizenship from Jews, marking a significant step in the Nazi racial policy.

Kristallnacht

A violent pogrom against Jews on November 9, 1938, which led to increased Nazi control and the shift to forced emigration.

Operation Reinhard

The code name for the Nazi plan to exterminate Jews in the General Government of occupied Poland, including camps like Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka.

Zyklon B

A pesticide used by the Nazis in gas chambers for mass extermination, notably at Auschwitz.

Auschwitz

One of the most notorious Nazi death camps, where mass exterminations occurred, and which closed in 1944.

Chelmno

The first Nazi extermination camp where mobile killing units operated.

Lodz

A city in Poland where a ghetto was established in April 1940 as part of the Nazi's control over Jews.

Final Solution

The Nazi plan for the systematic extermination of the Jewish people, formally decided in 1941.

Belzec

One of the extermination camps established under Operation Reinhard.

Sobibor

Another extermination camp established under Operation Reinhard, known for its rapid killings.

Treblinka

An extermination camp that was part of Operation Reinhard, where hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered.

Death marches

Forced marches of camp inmates towards the interior of Germany as Allied forces advanced, beginning in 1944.

Anschluss

The annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, which contributed to the refugee crisis.

British White Paper

A 1939 document that restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine, impacting the refugee crisis.

Old narrative

Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews

Hitler's decision in winter 1941

To simultaneously kill Jews of USSR while planning invasion of USSR

SS Einsatzgruppen

Rounded up and killed Jews during the invasion

1941 letter from Hitler

Asked Heydrich to develop plans to kill all Jews of Europe (July 31)

1942 Wannsee Conference

Discussed resettlement in the East (January 20)

Annihilation decision

Grew out of bureaucratic realization that mass deportation would not work, but was a decision from Hitler

Functionalists' emphasis

Local decisions and racial engineering to annihilation

1990s Nazi records

More records became available

Madagascar Plan

Plans for resettlement in USSR and Madagascar (racial engineering)

Gotz Aly's work

Final Solution: Nazi Population Policy and the Murder of the Jews in Europe

Goal of Nazi policies

To move Jews out to make room for ethnic Germans in expanded Germany

Commissar Order

Carried out by Einsatzgruppen, evolved into killing Jews as communists without decision from Hitler

New narrative

Role of antisemitic ideology and leaders in setting tone and agenda

Christopher Browning's work

The Origins of the Final Solution (2000s)

Planned deportation during 1941

Rather than killing during the USSR invasion

Ethnic cleansing timeline

Not genocide until late summer 1941

Process evolution

From decimation to genocide to Final Solution

Letter's purpose

To look into feasibility of Final Solution

Local initiatives

Nazi leaders seized on local initiatives to achieve their goals

Belzec initiative

By Odilo Globocnic, gas chambers and killing centers

Meaning of 'resettlement to the East'

Changed from literal deportation to a euphemism for murder

Survival strategies in ghettos

Adopted by Jewish Councils in ghettos like Warsaw, Lodz, Vilna

Warsaw strategy

Reluctance and refusal to cooperate under Adam Cherniakov

Lodz strategy

Rescue-through-work under dictatorial Chaim Rumkowski

Vilna strategy

Rescue through work, then malicious cooperation under Jacob Gens

Purpose of ghettos in Poland

Temporarily concentrate Jews to deport East and make room for ethnic Germans

Evaluation of Judenrats

Not fair; they were put into impossible situations

Resistance activities

Various forms of resistance against the Nazis by Jews

Spontaneous Resistance

Fighting guards and disobeying orders.

1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

An uprising on April 19 by ZOB using homemade hand grenades, where about 80 escaped.

Partisan Actions

Partisans blew up trains and attacked Nazis.

1943 Treblinka Uprising

On August 2, the camp was set on fire.

Individual Escape Attempts from Auschwitz

Walter Rosenberg and Alfred Wetzler reported on escapes; Sonderkommando group blew up gas chamber with smuggled dynamite.

Revitalization of Jewish Identity

Solidarity in synagogues and new meanings of holidays (e.g., Passover).

Suicide Example

Adam Cherniakov.

Defiance of Death

Smuggling food and medicine, establishing ration systems, soup kitchens, orphanages, and hospitals.

Maintaining Humanity

Self-help networks for education and occupational training, religious and cultural activities.

Jewish Culture Association

Headed by Kurt Singer, employed Jewish artists.

Martin Buber's Education

Educated adults.

RV National Jewish Organization

Led by Rabbi Leo Baeck.

Desire to Bear Witness

Diaries (e.g., Dawid Sierakowiak) and documentation (e.g., Oyneg Shabbes led by Emmanuel Ringelbaum).

Post-War Normalcy

Returning to normal life after the war.

Responses of German Jews in the 1930s

Stayed and coped, assumed temporary until Kristallnacht, revitalization of Jewish identity and culture.

Responses of Polish Jews during WWII

Dazed and stunned, some armed resistance, collaboration to survive.

Similarities in Jewish Responses

Overpowered in both cases, largely nonviolent resistance.

Differences in Jewish Responses

More overt resistance in Poland.

Factors for Deportation Success

Local cooperation/control, timing in war, concentration of Jews.

Operation Reinhard Death Camps

Total Nazi control in Germany, Austria, and Poland yielded high success (90%).

Nazi Occupation in Holland

High control, low antisemitism, natural concentration (75%).

Nazi Occupation in Norway

Significant antisemitism and local control, half escaped to Sweden (50%).

Nazi Occupation in Denmark

Significant antisemitism and local control, but government helped Jews escape to Sweden.

Nazi Occupation in France

Large Jewish community, Vichy regime collaborated but mainly deported foreign Jews (26%).

Nazi Alliance in Italy

Low antisemitism and concentration, not occupied until 1944 (20%).

Ion Antonescu's Refusal

High antisemitism in Romania, but refused to deport Jews out of fear of postwar retribution (50%).

Miklos Horthy's Refusal

High antisemitism in Hungary, but refused to deport Hungarian Jews out of fear of postwar retribution (75%).

Establishment of Concentration Camps

Began for containing political enemies, later used to pressure Jews to leave and concentrate them for deportation.

Conditions in Concentration Camps

Filth, disease, starvation, overcrowding, overwork, brutality, death.

Reasons for Camp Conditions

Dehumanization, repression, weakening, mass murder.

Fair

This charge by Raul Hilberg, Hannah Arendt, and others ignores Jewish resistance and wrongfully assumes resistance made a difference.

Physical resistance

Was difficult for Jews without support from other resistance movements, access to arms, and military experience.

Response

Military and moral resistance as well as passivity and compliance.

Nazis' method of killing Jews in the USSR

How did the Nazis kill Jews in the USSR? Why not pursue a similar policy in the rest of Europe?

Commissar Order

A directive for the execution of Soviet political commissars by the Einsatzgruppen.

Einsatzgruppen

SS units that rounded up and killed Jews during the invasion of the USSR.

April 1, 1933 Boycott

Initial step in the economic exclusion of Jews, leading to further discriminatory laws.

1935 Nuremberg Laws

Revoked citizenship of Jews, institutionalizing racial discrimination.

1937-8 Voluntary Aryanization

The process where Jewish businesses were sold to non-Jews voluntarily.

1938-9 Forced Aryanization

The compulsory transfer of Jewish businesses to non-Jewish ownership.

November 9, 1938 Kristallnacht

Escalation of violence against Jews, leading to increased emigration and international outrage.

Radicals

Nazis who advocated for extreme measures against Jews.

Rationalists

Nazis who believed in a systematic approach to the Jewish question.

Ghettos

Enclosed districts where Jews were forced to live under harsh conditions.

April 1940 Lodz

First ghetto established in Poland.

1938-41 refugee crisis

Period when many Jews sought refuge from Nazi persecution.

Late Summer/Early Fall 1941 Final Solution

The Nazi plan to exterminate the Jewish population, marking a shift from emigration to genocide.

Chelmno

The first extermination camp established by the Nazis.

Operation Reinhard camps

Sobibor, Belzec, Treblinka death camps, resulting in the deaths of millions of Jews.

Auschwitz and Majdanec

Concentration and extermination camps used for mass murder.