CHAP 5; Germany during WW2

What was the Nazi Ghettoization policy?

The relocation of all Jews to ghettos in Germany-occupied Poland.

What were the conditions of the Jewish ghettos?

extremely poor;

• crowded into poor housing

• food restricted & starvation was common

• disease spread rapidly - from 1941-42 thousands were dying monthly

What were the Nazi death squads?

Special units following the army as it conquered Western USSR. They had orders to put the Jews to death and did so by rounding them up, killing them and putting them in mass graves. Around 1.2 million USSR civilians were murdered by 1943

What idea lead to the Holocaust?

The “final solution” to get rid of all Jews in 1941. All Jews were sent to concentration camps for forced labour, and in 1942 some were converted into extermination camps, starting the holocaust.

How many killed in the Holocaust?

6 million Jews - 50% Polish.

+
approx. 5 million non-Jews (disabled, homosexuals, gypsies)

Treatment of Jews in the Holocaust

divided into 2 groups;

• The fit/healthy people were made to work until failure. Some were forced into inhumane medical experiments

• The rest were killed in gas chambers, thousands at a time

How did the Nazis keep the Holocaust secret? Did this work?

Propaganda films showed the concentration camps as labour camps with good conditions.

• This prevented the Germans from reacting negatively and Jews were even willing to help with the relocation.

• However, over time the Jews realized what was going on and there was an uprising in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943.

• The Nazis tried to cover it up when it was clear Germany was losing, but Allied soldiers found out and the Auschwitz commandant was hanged for war crimes.

Evacuation of children

There were plans to evacuate children from major population centers. Many families didn’t at first, but when Allied bombings became more common in 1942 there was mass evacuation of children to rural areas. They were placed in camps supervised by Hitler Youth officials.

When was the Holocaust?

1941-45