Studied by 18 people
Holocaust
the systematic murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany during World War 2; comes from Greek word meaning “sacrifice by burning” became a English word in 1950
Genocide
the deliberate of annihilation of an entire race of people
Anti-Semitism
hatred of Jews
Nazi persecution in 1930’s
Attacks on the streets by Nazi storm troopers
Boycotts of Jewish businesses
Book Burning of books by Jewish authors
Signs Posted “Jews Not Wanted” “Jew Free Village”
Jews were designated by wearing the Yellow Star of David on their outer clothing
The Nazis used propaganda to promote and took over media and schools to spread false info
passports had to stamped with a J
Nuremburg Laws
17 Articles that took away the rights of Jews under law
5 articles from Nuremburg laws
took away citizenship
banned marriage between Jews and Germans
prohibited Jews from voting and holding public office
banned from practicing law and medicine
by the summer of 1936, nearly half of Germany’s Jews were jobless
Kristallnacht
“Crystal Night”, violence against the Jews on the night of November 9, 1938 retaliation for killing of a German Diplomat, stage attacks against the Jews that would appear spontaneous popular reaction to news of murder, smashed property, threw furniture into the streets, firebombed synagogues and beat Jews
Joseph Goebbels
Hitler’s minister of propaganda
Jews Fled between 1933-1939
350,000 Jews escaped Nazi Germany including Albert Einstein
Some countries refused to accept Jews due to economic wrong times
German Jews could not take more then $4.00 out of Germany
Einsatzgruppen
Specially trained SS mobile killing units that were sent into German-occupied territories to round up the Jews, taken to deserted areas, forced to dig open its, then shot and buried in these pits (mass graves)
eventually the SS group killers were affected physiologically by the face to face mass killings
Ghettos
Sections of the city that were sealed off with brick walls, barbed wire, and police guards
movement in and out strictly controlled, no radios, no communication with the outside, severe over crowding, limited food, conditions were terrible, typhus and tuberculosis
The Final Solution
On January 20, 1942, 15 high ranking officials met in a suburb of Berlin called Wannsee to plan the complete extermination of Jews
Move the Jews out the Ghettos and place them in Camps
Prisoners’ clothing and belongings were taken, heads were shaved, and numbers were tattooed on their arms or identification
Concentration Camps
Jews were sent here to work slave labor until they died of exhaustion and starvation; food rations were meager, famous concentration camps were Bergen-Belsen and Dachau
Extermination Camps (Death Camps)
Jews would be exterminated by poison gas called Zyklon B and their bodies would be burned in the Crematoria
Auschwitz
Largest Death Camp
12,000 A day died in Auschwitz
1.6 million total
44 rail lines going into Auschwitz
Work Makes you free at the entrance
Factory of Death
Sonderkommando
Jews who were forced to put bodies into ovens
Nuremberg Trails
Several Nazi leaders committed suicide to avoid being punished for their crimes: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Heidrich Himmler
The Allies formed the International Military Tribunal to bring Nazi leaders to trail
22 Nazis were brought to trial in Nuremberg, Germany 3 categories of Crimes: Crimes against peace (for carrying out a war of aggression), War Crimes (for killing prisoners of war), Crimes against Humanity (mass murder of civilians including Holocaust Victims)
Outcomes of the Nuremburg Trials
12 were sentenced to death; 7 were sentenced to life in prison; 3 were acquitted
Investment
citizens were encouraged to buy war bonds to fund the war
War Bonds
a loan from American people to the American Government to help fund the war
War effort posters urged citizens to where
Investment, production, and conservation
Production
the government regulated prices and wages, factories started producing war goods and military clothing
women entered the workforce alongside some men
Conservation
Saving, Recycling, and Rationing
The Office of Price Controls
created to set limits on items
issued ration cards
issued a certain number of stamps or coupons per month
Victory Gardens
Gardens grown at homes to provide vegetables
The Battle of the Atlantic
Defeat of the Axis powers depended on the control of the Atlantic Ocean in order to safely deliver supplies, war goods, and troops
U-boats
German Submarine and undersea boats traveled in packs called wolf packs
known as iron coffins
Enigma
Germany’s code system of where their U-Boats where located and where they were going to attack
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941-Feburary 2, 1943
German Invasion of the Soviet Union
Largest Military Operation and a decisive turning point in the war
German Strategy for Invasion of the Soviet Union
battles on encirclement and blockade
3 groups the German forces advanced to
Army Group North- Leningrad-Soviet’s main naval base
Army Group Center- Moscow-capital city of Soviet Union
Army Group South- Ukraine-region with rich oil fields, grain and industry
Hitler thought it would be an easy win but did not prepare for…
Harsh winter to come
Wearing summer uniforms
expecting quick victory, Germans brought insufficient food and supplies
No plans were made for Shelter from cold weather
Battle of Stalingrad
September 1942- February 1943
a turning point in the war and most brutal confrontations
women dug trenches for men
lots of loss for the German Army
Soviet’s Biggest Ally
General Winter was really cold and no one was prepared for it on Germany’s side
Hitler’s Mistakes in Operation Barbarossa
Thought it would be a quick victory
not prepared for the harsh winter
supply lines too far away
Hitler Underestimated Soviet Union Strength
Hitler Refused to retreat when in the sure face of Defeat
Stalingrad was so important because
It turned the tide of the war in Europe and marked the beginning of Germany’s Collapse
Paved the way for soviet forces to push German forces back toward Germany and invade the Capital city of Berlin
Scorched Earth Policy
Stalin’s Policy that required that when forced to withdraw the Red Army should destroy anything that could be use to the enemy (crops, farms, food, bridges)
North African Campaign
June 1940-May 1943
British were fighting the Italians for control of North Africa
Why is Africa such an important territory for the Allies?
By controlling North Africa, the British could protect shipping on the Mediterranean Sea against Italian Attacks
The British needed to control the region so they could bring oil from Middle East through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean and back to Great Britain
Suez Canal
Connects the Med with the Red
Erwin Rommel
German General who led forces into North Africa
Afrika Korps name of the group that he led
Nicknamed the Desert Fox
Convicted of joining the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and Hitler gave him a Cyanide Pill and he took his own life
Operation Torch
November of 1942
America’s first WW2 offensive invasion
Went to North Africa to help the British
German and Italy surrendered
Two American Commanders of Operation Torch
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
General George S. Patton
Who commanded the British troops in North Africa
Bernard Montgomery (Monty)
The plan called for the invasion of what North African Countries
Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia
The Big Three
met in Tehran, Iran
First meeting of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin
Came up with a final strategy against Nazi Germany and to discuss the invasion of Italy
Italian Campaign
Where the Allies headed next to knock them out of the war
Soft Underbelly
the weakest portion of the Axis defense
The Battle of Sicily
June 1943
The allies first captured the island of Sicily at thee toe of the Italian boot. Allies were headed north of Peninsula
German sent Reinforcements lasted a year
Tuskegee Airmen
First African American soldiers to successfully complete their training and enter Army Air Corps
Fighter and bomber pilots that fought in WW2
On June 5, 1944 the Allies liberated
Rome
What Happened to Benito Mussolini
He and his wife tried to escape to Switzerland but where recognized with Benito wearing a Luftwaffe coat and shot at and hung upside down
D-Day
Operation Overload
The Allied Invasion of France
June 6, 1944
The most celebrated victory in WW2
Largest Seaborne invasion in history
U.S Army Chief of Staff who developed the overall war stagey
General George Marshall
“organizer of victory”
Who was named the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe in December 1493
Dwight Eisenhower
D-Day definition
Day the operation starts
June 6, 1944
H-Hour
How the operation starts 6:30 a.m.
Atlantic Wall
Hitler’s forts that were built up of 1,670 miles of forts from Denmark to Spain
Overall allied commander of Operation Overlord
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Who did Eisenhower choose to lead the American troops at Normandy
Omar Bradley
Who was the top British Commander for operation Overlord
Bernard Montgomery
German Commander in charge of the German forces at Normandy
Erwin Rommel
The code names of the 5 beaches and who landed there
Gold (British)
Juno (Canada)
Sword (British)
Utah (United States)
Omaha (United States)
1st Phase of D-Day
Just after midnight on June 6, 1944-24,000 paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines. Their goal was to establish control of positions such as roads/bridges, landing forces would come from inland
2nd phase of D-Day
11,000 war planes bombed German defenses before the first troops landed on the beaches
3rd phase of D-Day
6:30 a.m. H-Hour
5,300 battleships targeted German defenses on the cliffs above the beaches
about 4,000 landing crafts ferried the troops to the beaches
Why was the Landing on the 6 mile stretch of sand called Omaha beach was the most difficult
The broadest beach 6 miles and deepest beach 3 fb fields deep
The beaches had dunes, barbed wire obstacles and hedgehogs planted to prevent tanks from being brought ashore
Germans also planted many explosive mines on the beach and in the water-”Bouncing Betties”
Steep 100-foot bluffs/cliffs above the beach were fornications of 2,000 veteran German troops, 85 machine-gun nests, 38 rocket placements, 35 pill boxes, 18 antitank gun positions, 8 fortified gun batteries, 6 mortar pits
troops had been told that creators would be left by the air craft and naval artillery would serve as ready-made foxholes for air raids: did not happen; blinded by cloud cover
The cross channel trip was rough causing sea sickness
many drowned before ever arriving to the beach
1/3 f those landing on Omaha died within the first hour it would 12 hours to gain control at Omaha
Special landing Craft boats that were used for the D-Day invasion
Higgins Landing Crafts
A German commander reported…
“The whole western front has been ripped wide open”
When all was said and done the success of D-Day came down to the
courage of individual soldiers
Dwight D. Eisenhower became America’s favorite military hero which led to him later becoming
the 34th president of the United States in 1952
The Battle of the Bulge
December 16, 1944-January 28, 1945
Hitler’s last offensive
Hitler was hoping to turn the tide in his favor
After about only a day of fighting the German’s broke through the Allied battle lines creating the famous bulge
Fierce resistance delayed the Germans long enough until George S. Patton “old blood’ n guts” and ended siege
Yalta Conference
February 1945 Last meeting of the Big Three
Agreed to divide Germany into 4 sectors
U.S Britain , Soviet Union, France would occupy a Sector
Capital City Berlin was divided into 4 sectors
Stalin agreed to help the U.S in Japan
Stalin agree to hold free elections in its countries
FDR argued for a United Nations
Crossing the Rhine River
April 1945
Germany was the next Allied target
British would march from the West and Soviets would come from the East
Any German commander caught retreating or surrendering would be immediately shot
Hitler ordered all bridges to be blown up to prevent Allies from crossing into Germany
The Death of FDR
April 12, 1945 FDR died of a brain hemorrhage while posing for a portrait at his vacation home in Warm Springs, GA. A big blow to the troops
The Suicide of Hitler
Knowing a defeat was imminent; On April 30, 1945 Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun then committed suicide
V-E Day (Victory in Europe)
May 8, 1945
The unconditional surrender was signed on May 7 in Rheims, France and would take effect the following day
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