HOLOCAUST

Holocaust

The systematic murder of 6 million Jews and 5 million others by Nazi Germany from 1941–1945.

Anti-Semitism

Prejudice and hatred toward Jewish people that fueled Nazi policies.

Nazism

The ideology led by Adolf Hitler promoting dictatorship, racism, and Aryan superiority.

Aryans

People considered racially superior by Nazis (Germanic/Nordic descent).

Nazi racial ideology

Belief that some races were superior and others inferior.

Scapegoating

Blaming a group (Jews) for Germany’s problems after WWI.

Hitler becomes Chancellor (1933)

Adolf Hitler gains power and begins Nazi rule.

Propaganda

Use of media to spread anti-Jewish ideas and Nazi beliefs.

Hitler Youth

Nazi youth organization promoting loyalty and obedience.

Boycott of Jewish businesses

Organized effort to economically isolate Jews.

Civil service restrictions

Jews banned from jobs like law, medicine, and banking.

First concentration camps (1933)

Camps opened to imprison opponents and Jews.

Dachau concentration camp

First major Nazi concentration camp.

Sachsenhausen

Early concentration camp for political prisoners.

Buchenwald

Large early concentration camp.

Ravensbrück

Concentration camp for women.

Nuremberg Laws

Laws stripping Jews of citizenship and rights.

Nuremberg

Spiritual center of Nazism.

“Final Solution” (early idea)

Plan to eliminate Jews hinted at in Nazi policy.

Kristallnacht

Violent anti-Jewish riot in 1938 destroying property and lives.

Synagogues destroyed

Over 1,500 Jewish places of worship attacked.

Jewish businesses destroyed

Thousands looted and vandalized.

Jewish refugees (1933–1937)

129,000 Jews fled Nazi-controlled areas.

Albert Einstein

Famous refugee fleeing Nazi Germany.

Refugee restrictions

Countries refused Jewish immigrants during Great Depression.

St. Louis (1939)

Ship of Jewish refugees denied entry to the U.S.

St. Louis outcome

Many passengers later died in camps.

Targeted groups

Jews, Roma, disabled, political opponents, homosexuals.

Roma (Gypsies)

Ethnic group targeted by Nazis.

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Persecuted for refusing loyalty to Nazis.

Homosexuals

Targeted and imprisoned by Nazis.

Disabled individuals

Killed in euthanasia programs.

Political prisoners

People opposing Nazi rule.

Camp badges

Symbols used to identify prisoners.

Red triangle

Political prisoners.

Yellow star

Jews.

Pink triangle

Homosexuals.

Purple triangle

Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Ghettos

Walled areas where Jews were forced to live.

Warsaw Ghetto

Largest Jewish ghetto in Poland.

Lodz Ghetto

Major ghetto with harsh conditions.

Ghetto conditions

Overcrowding, starvation, disease.

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943)

Jewish resistance against Nazis.

Wannsee Conference

Meeting to coordinate the Final Solution.

Final Solution

Plan to systematically exterminate all Jews.

Reinhard Heydrich

Organized extermination plan.

Death camps

Camps built specifically for mass killing.

Auschwitz concentration camp

Largest Nazi death camp.

Treblinka

Death camp used for mass murder.

Sobibor

Extermination camp.

Majdanek

Combination labor and death camp.

Chelmno

Early extermination camp using gas vans.

Gas chambers

Rooms used to kill prisoners with poison gas.

Zyklon B

Poison gas used in extermination camps.

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Used to kill victims in gas vans.

Mass shootings

Einsatzgruppen killed Jews in Eastern Europe.

Einsatzgruppen

Nazi mobile killing units.

Mass graves

Victims buried in large pits.

Medical experiments

Inhumane testing on prisoners.

Dachau experiments

Tested hypothermia, oxygen deprivation.

Forced labor

Prisoners worked under brutal conditions.

Starvation

Common cause of death in camps.

Dehumanization

Treating prisoners as less than human.

Concentration camps

Camps for imprisonment and forced labor.

Death camps

Camps designed for immediate killing.

Difference (concentration vs death camps)

Labor vs extermination purpose.

Barbed wire fences

Prevented escape.

Guard towers

Monitored prisoners.

German Shepherd dogs

Used to intimidate prisoners.

Roll calls

Prisoners counted multiple times daily.

Minimal food

Bread and watery soup.

Punishments

Beatings or execution.

Selection process

Deciding who would live or die.

Separation

Families split upon arrival.

Confiscation

Prisoners’ belongings taken.

Forced labor quotas

Required work levels to survive.

David Bergman

Holocaust survivor and narrator.

Birthplace

Buczko, Czechoslovakia.

1944 deportation

Taken by Nazis at age 12.

Hungarian Gestapo

Controlled early processing camp.

Matisalka camp

First processing camp in Hungary.

Punishment for escape

Torture used as warning.

Cattle cars

Transport trains for prisoners.

Train conditions

No food, water, or space.

Arrival at Auschwitz

Prisoners shocked by camp.

Family separation

Men, women, and children divided.

Age deception

Lied about age to survive.

Gas chambers

Used to kill children and elderly.

Stripping prisoners

Loss of identity and belongings.

Emotional trauma

Fear, confusion, loss.

Transfer to Plaszow

Forced labor camp.

Bricklaying work

Required for survival.

Work or death

Productivity determined survival.

Transfer to Gross-Rosen

Processing camp.

Camp doctor selection

Determined fate.

Transfer to Reichenbach

Work camp.

Daily marches

Long distances to work.

Air raid exposure

Prisoners not allowed shelter.

Helping others

Supporting weak prisoners.

Starvation conditions

Severe hunger.