L7 - development of anti-semitic policies & poland 1939-1940

when did the germans invade poland? consequence?

september 1939

• led to declaration of war by britain and france

how did the nazis benefit from the outbreak of war? (in terms of escalation of jewish policy)

• war gave nazis new freedom and incentives to escalate persecution of the jews

• war gave regime greater emergency powers and greater cover of secrecy

• germans more susceptible to propaganda machine → more inclined to patriotism & hate non-jews

  • supported hitler’s pursuit of judenfrei empire

how did the nazis divide newly gained polish territory in the pursuit of a judenfrei empire?

• WEST - become a part of ‘greater germany’, mainly populated by german speakers previously denied right to self-determination by TOV

• CENTRAL - named ‘general government of poland’, would now house jews

after the annexation of poland, how did the focus of nazi anti-semitic policy shift?

• ultimately focused on deportation and resettlement of jews from germany and west poland

• aimed to house them in german controlled ‘general government of poland’ area

  • to create lebensraum for ethnic germans

how many jews did the nazis hope to resettle within poland? and germany? how many did eichmann begin with?

to create lebensraum:

• 2 million polish jews → considered to be ‘untermenschen’

• hitler ordered 300,000 german jews to be deported from germany into general government area of poland

• eichmann intially deported 70,000 jews from german occupied poland

• hitler also orders ALL jews to be removed from vienna

what problems did the nazis encounter following their drastic escalation in their emigration policy?

• general government area of poland was not well enough prepared to house so many jews under such short notice

• governor of the central government area reported that he couldn’t cope with influx of so many jews

• arrived to awful living conditions with poverty and squalor swiftly following

when and where was the first ghetto set up? how many did it house?

• february 1940

• lodz, poland

• 320,000 jews

where were the jews in lodz forced to go once the ghetto had reached capacity?

• forced into work gangs

• accommodated in temporary barrack

  • may be purposeful imposition of squalor from the nazis or indicative of haphazard organisation

general conditions within ghettos

• jewish council of elders given responsibility to distribute food, housing, finance, security & accommodation

• jews sent to ghettos had their homes confiscated

• forced to sell valuables to buy food

• many forced to work for no wages

• ghettos were overcrowded → avg 15 people sharing a small apartment

• rapid spread of disease and infection

how many people shared apartment in ghettos on average?

15 people within one small apartment

what are the 2 key interpretations of the nazis escalation to ghettoisation to solve the ‘jewish question’?

1. reaction to invasion of poland and sudden drastic increase in jewish population under regime leadership

   • failure to have planned in advance where to house jews during aryanisation of western poland, reactionary

2. continuation of pre-existing plan to eliminate jews within europe

   • relocate jews and increase death rate via ‘natural wastage’ principle through poor housing and shortage of rations

when was the warsaw ghetto built?

october 1940

• built and paid for by jews themselves

who lived inside the warsaw ghetto?

• approx 400,000 jews

• some of the roma and sinti people

how many people died in the warsaw ghetto 1940-1941?

100,000+ people

conditions within the warsaw ghetto (4)

• richer jews housed in ‘small ghetto’ → vast majority in ‘large ghetto’ which was still small and overcrowded

• food in large ghetto was at starvation levels → avg 300 calories per day

• malnutrition and overcrowding led to proliferation of diseases like typhus

• many worked to death carrying out forced labour

examples of jewish resistance within ghettos (4)

• buying food on black market and smuggling into ghettos

• breaking the law by continuing to have prayer meetings and observe religious festivals

• organising illegal schools

• illegal printing presses

what was the approach of the majority of jews in ghettos?

• avoid confrontation and ‘wait it out’

• believed the fall of regime was inevitable and hoped to survive until then

• failed to predict further radicalisation/escalation → indicative of social isolation and gradualist approach

when were star of david badges introduced within poland and germany? why was there a difference?

• poland: almost immediately after invasion of poland, mandatory and strictly enforce by german occupying forces

• germany: december 1941

  • wanted to see efficacy before escalation, may not have wanted to further damage already fragile morale or alienate public who needed to be desensitised further to anti-semitic violence

why did the nazis implement mandatory star of david badges?

• identification/catagorisation had been intrinsic to ineffective, inconsistent implementation of policy

  • annexation of poland allowed method to be trialled unquestioned

  • would allow for easier persecution and further more drastic escalations of policy

• aimed to isolate and dehumanise jews, visibly marking them as ‘inferior’ within wider society

  • further develops hostile environment

what motivated the establishment of the madagascar plan?

conquest over france and seizure of paris

• madagascar was a french colony

what was the madagascar plan?

• proposed a solution to the ‘jewish problem’

• relocate french occupants on island and transport 4 million european jews to the island

  • begin with builders and farmers who would initially prepare island

• intended to make conditions deliberately harsh to reduce jewish population by ‘natural wastage’

why was the madagascar plan unfeasible? new plan?

• dominance of british navy prevented jews being transported by boat

• focus shifted to removal of jews to siberia instead

what were the 3 key aims of new legislation that escalated ‘racial’ policy WITHIN germany

1. stop jews from colluding with the Allies and acting against the state

2. help direct rations to non-jews

3. help people clearly identify jewish people

what new legislation was made to stop jews from colluding with the allies and acting against the state? explain?

• nov 1939 - jews were banned from purchasing radio sets, existing ones were confiscated

  • restricts communication and education

  • becoming increasingly isolated and uninformed, unable to anticipate, easier to persecute

  • prevents open/active resistance that could threaten atmosphere of fear and terror

• regulations requiring jews to obtain police permit to travel were tightened

  • unable to get to work, socio-economically isolated

what new regulations WITHIN germany were designed to help direct rations to non-jews?

• dec 1939: banned from buying chocolate

• 1940: excluded from entitlement to wartime rations of clothes and shoes

• july 1940: times in which jews could enter shops were limited → berlin jews only able to enter shops 4-5pm

  • not inherently threatening but dehumanised and isolated through restriction of consumer good/wartime luxuries

  • further developed hostile environment

what new legislation WITHIN germany was designed to help people identify jewish people?

• december 1941: manadatory order for all jews to wear star of david after success of the policy in poland

  • enabled policy to be further enforced and escalated

what was the overarching aim of new legislation WITHIN germany?

• make life more difficult for jews, add to humiliation, segregate

• condition public to believe jews were ‘different’ and facilitate further mistreatment

• demonstrate deliberate policy of gradualism, encouraged through circumstances developed by war

• enabled through removal of citizenship by 1935 nuremberg laws

themes for essay on clear and consistent policy in relation to jews 1933-1940

1. exclusion from economy and society

2. kristallnacht/november pogrom

3. emigration/deportation

4. polish jews