Studied by 2 people
September 1939 - Poland invasion
Poland was the first country invaded and occupied by Germany in WW2
the Nazis divided the country into different regions which were centrally controlled
one of these regions was the ‘General Government’ named this instead of the Polish government as the Nazis saw Poland as inferior
due to the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Germany handed over the eastern sections to the Soviet Union
1940 - hundreds of thousands of Polish Slavs were forced to leave their properties to go to forced labour camps
500,000 ethnic Germans moved into these evacuated houses
who governed the General Government
Nazis
with Hans Frank leading this
he ruled by terror
and set out to destroy Polish culture
how did the Nazis views Polish people
untermensch
how were non-Jewish Poles treated by the Nazis
SS started to execute Polish civilians
1939 - 1945 - 1.9 million non-Jewish Poles had been executed, 1.5 million non-Jewish Poles had been deported to forced labour camps
what happened to Polish Jews
1939 - population of Jews in Poland was c.3.5 million
1940 - Polish Jews were concentrated in ghettos
1942 - 1945 - the Nazis murdered 3 million+ Polish Jews
this significant as it the largest number of Jews killed by the Nazis in any country
half the mortality rate of the Holocaust (c.6 million) was Polish Jews
examples of Polish resistance
Delegatura - secret state within Poland
Poland had one the largest and most complex resistance movements in Europe
the leaders of Poland escaped to London in 1939, running a Polish resistance government whilst in exile
how did the Dutch react to the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands
5 days after the invasion (May 10th 1940) there was intense fighting, resulting in the destruction of Rotterdam by bombing
after this, the Dutch government surrendered
May 1940 - April 1945 the Nazis occupied the Netherlands
how did the Nazis view the Dutch
ubermensch
describe how the Dutch were treated by the Nazis
no mass-murder of Dutch people
Netherlands lost no land to Germany
Germany allowed the Netherlands to keep the country name
no Germans emigrated to live on Dutch land
Dutch civil servants were allowed to continue working
Dutch education and culture wasn’t changes
from 1943 - Germans began to use force and violence against the Dutch people
how were Dutch Jews treated
Dutch Jews were the main target of police brutality
April 1942 - all Jews now had to wear the Star of David
1943 - Nazis began mass-deporting Jews to extermination camps
76% of Dutch Jews were deported to extermination camps
500,000+ Dutch Jews were sent to perform forced labour in Germany
example of Dutch resistance to Nazi rule
there were many illegal printing presses that made anti-Nazi leaflets
resistance organisation helped Dutch Jews escape
Dutch civilians attacked Nazi officers, stole ration coupons and made blank identity cards
almost 20,000 Dutch resistance members were arrested and sent to concentration camps
2,000 Dutch resistance members were executed
describe similarities between the Polish and Dutch occupations
both Dutch and Polish people fought the occupation with organised and individual resistance
Jewish communities were targeted
populations were made to do forced labour for Germany
Nazis used violence and terror to quell anti-Nazi uprisings
describe differences between the Polish and Dutch occupations
Polish occupation was more sever and violent as Poles were viewed as untermensch, whereas the Dutch were viewed as ubermensch
the Polish occupation was more violent - 3 million/3.5 million Polish Jews were murdered
Poland lost its country name due to the Nazi's’ desire to erase Polish culture, whereas the Netherlands were permitted to keep their country name
forced labour had a bigger impact on the Netherlands due to its larger population
what were the 3 differing responses of occupied populations to the Nazis
collaboration - working with the Nazis and helping them rule
accommodation - doing as you were told by the Nazis
resistance - actively or passively opposing the Nazis
how was France split after the Nazi takeover
France was split into two different countries
North and West were under German occupation
East and South were a ‘free zone’
how did the French respond to Nazi occupation
1940-1944 - France was occupied by Axis powers
France was divided on how to respond to the occupation
France’s population all separately resisted against, collaborated with or accommodated Nazi forces
who was Andre Trocme
Protestant Pastor
living in Le Chambeau, eastern France
he believed the persecution, imprisonment and execution of Jews was wrong
how did Andre Trocme respond to Nazi occupation
1940-1944 - Trocme helped to hide over 5000 Jews in Le Chambeau
1943-1944 - Trocme had to hide after the SS realised his resistance
the entire village of Le Chambeau collaborated AGAINST the Nazis and refused to turn him or Jews over to the SS
who was Coco Chanel
fashion designer living in France during the occupation
how did Coco Chanel respond to Nazi occupation
Chanel actively collaborated with the Nazis
Chanel befriended and had a romance with a Nazi officer
she tried to persuade this officer to remove the Jewish directors from her company
Chanel was rumoured to be a Germany spy, having contact with Heinrich Himmler
June 15th 1940
British government decided that the Channel Islands were no longer of strategic importance and would not be defended
June 30th 1940
German forces landed on Jersey and Guernsey (Channel Islands)
why was resistance on the Channel Islands difficult
most men were away fighting for the British Army
4000 Channel Islanders were sentenced for the breaking Nazi law
570/4000 Channel Islanders were imprisoned
what ways did many people on the Channel Islands find to oppose Nazi control
printed underground anti-Nazi newspapers
broke Nazi rules
refused to speak to Germans
anti-Nazi graffiti
why were 4 concentration camps built on Alderney (Channel Islands)
built to house 16,000 prisoners
many of the local refused to work for the Nazis, so prisoners were shipped to the island to do slave labour
May 9th 1945
Channel Islands were liberated from Nazi occupation
March 1938
Austria was invaded and occupied by the Nazis
persecution and emigration under Austria occupation
1938-1940 - 110,000 Austrian Jews emigrated from Austria
leaving 192,000 Austrian Jews left in Austria
ghettos
September 1939 - Polish Jews were moved to ghettos, as it was too large scale for the Nazis to forcibly emigrate 3.5 million Jews
Polish Jews were isolated and effectively imprisoned behind high walls and barbed wires within these ghettos
by March 1941 - 445,000 Polish Jews were placed in the Warsaw ghetto
impact of ghettos
large numbers of Jews were placed into the cramped, poor conditions of the ghettos
this allowed for the rapid spread of diseases such as typhus throughout the Jewish community
ghettos as sites of resistance
April 1943 - largest uprising against the Nazis took place in the Warsaw ghetto
it took a month for the Nazis to supress this resistance and left 13,000 Jews dead
the remaining 50,000 residents were removed to the death camps: Majdanek and Treblinka
January 20th 1942
Wannsee Conference was held
what happened at the Wannsee Conference
meeting of Nazi officials in Berlin suburb of Wannsee
to plan the ‘Endlosung’ (final solution) to the ‘Judenfrage’ (Jewish question)
July 31st 1941 - Goerring tasked Reinhard Heydrich, the SS leader and Gestapo chief to create the ‘Endlosung’
the conference was attended by 15 Nazi senior bureaucrats
significance of the Wannsee Conference
marked a turning point in Nazi policy towards the Jews
with them abandoning the idea of deporting all European Jews to Madagascar
and instead focusing on a place to round up all European Jews and transport them east to forced labour gangs
the Nazis planned for the working and living conditions to be severe as to fell large numbers by “natural diminuton”
with those that survived being “treated accordingly”
June 1941
Einsatzgruppen (special groups of SS soldiers) were sent to murder all the Jews they could find
by the end of 1941, approx. 500,000 Jews had been shot
