HRMW: The Holocaust

Why did the Jews face persecution during biblical times?

* Jews faced persecution due to their monotheistic beliefs in a polytheistic world
* They were seen as a threat to the political and social order of the time
* Jews were often blamed for natural disasters and economic hardships
* Anti-Semitic attitudes were perpetuated by influential figures and religious leaders

Why did a new anti-Judaism evolve after the conversion of the Roman emperors to Christianity?

* Christian leaders blamed Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus
* The Church wanted to differentiate itself from Judaism
* Anti-Judaism helped to unify the Christian community
* The Roman Empire's adoption of Christianity led to the marginalization of Jews
* Christian leaders used anti-Jewish rhetoric to gain political power and control over their followers.

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What did the allegation of “blood libel” mean, and why was it devised by Thomas of Monmouth?

* "Blood libel" was a false accusation that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals.


* Thomas of Monmouth, a monk, devised the allegation in the 12th century to promote the cult of William of Norwich, a boy who was allegedly murdered by Jews.
* The "blood libel" accusation led to violent attacks against Jewish communities throughout history.
* The accusation was debunked by modern historians and is now recognized as a form of anti-Semitic propaganda.

How did the Crusades have direct consequences for Jews in terms of the pogrom?

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* Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages.
* Jews were often caught in the middle of these conflicts and were blamed for the death of Jesus.
* Crusaders attacked Jewish communities in Europe and the Holy Land, leading to the massacre of thousands of Jews.
* Pogroms were violent riots against Jews that were often incited by Crusaders.
* Pogroms led to the destruction of Jewish communities and the loss of many lives.
* The Crusades had a lasting impact on Jewish communities, leading to increased persecution and discrimination for centuries to come.

How were stereotypes inflamed against the Jews during the Bubonic Plague?

even though Jews were also dying from the plague, they were accused of poisoning wells and spreading the disease. because of this, 100,000 Jews were burned alive.

How did Martin Luther’s *The Jews and Their Lies* mark the transition from anti-Judaism to anti-Semitism?

* Martin Luther's "The Jews and Their Lies" was a 65,000-word treatise published in 1543.
* Luther's treatise marked a shift from anti-Judaism, which was based on religious differences, to anti-Semitism, which was based on racial differences.
* Luther's treatise called for the burning of synagogues, the destruction of Jewish homes, and the forced expulsion of Jews from German lands.
* Luther's treatise was widely circulated and influenced later anti-Semitic movements, including Nazi Germany.
* Luther's treatise remains controversial and has been condemned by many religious leaders and scholars.

Why did a new set of stereotypes evolve around Jews as money-hungry and greedy?  How does "The Poisonous Mushroom” reflect these stereotypes?

* Jews were historically excluded from many professions and forced into money-lending
* Anti-Semitic beliefs and propaganda portrayed Jews as greedy and manipulative
* Economic success of some Jews reinforced these stereotypes
* "The Poisonous Mushroom" is a Nazi children's book that portrays Jews as money-hungry and evil, perpetuating these stereotypes.
* Jews historically forced into money-lending
* Anti-Semitic propaganda portrayed Jews as greedy
* Economic success of some Jews reinforced stereotypes

Who coined the term “anti-Semitism” and what was his thesis?

* The term "anti-Semitism" was coined by German journalist Wilhelm Marr in 1879.


* Marr's thesis was that Jews were a separate and inferior race, and that they posed a threat to German culture and society.
* Marr's ideas were influential in the development of Nazi ideology and the Holocaust.


* Marr's views were based on pseudoscientific theories of race and were widely discredited by scholars.
* The term "anti-Semitism" is often used interchangeably with "anti-Judaism" and "anti-Zionism," but they have different meanings and historical contexts.

Why was the “Dreyfus Affair” a significant event?

* Alfred Dreyfus was a French Jewish army officer wrongly accused of espionage in 1894
* When realized that he was falsely accused, it was quickly covered up by French Officers of the General staff who wanted to blame the crime on a Jew

How were the Jews in Russia treated both before and after the Revolution?

Even though most Jews were extremely poor, they were blamed for much of the Russian peasantry’s problems. After the Russo-Japanese war, a bloody pogrom was incited in Kishinev. Between 1917-1921, more than 500 Jewish communities were wiped, and more than 60,000 men, women, and children were killed

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What important statements were made by the Roman Catholic Church after the Holocaust?

They removed the historic and dangerous charge against the Jewish people of being responsible for the death of Jesus

What was unique about Hitler’s Final Solution?

the Nazi’s determination to murder without exception every single Jew who came within grasp, and the fanaticism, ingenuity, and cruelty with which they pursued their goal.

Why were the Gestapo, SS, SA, Wehrmacht, Hitler Youth, and Einsatzgruppen important to the Nazi military state?

* Gestapo: Secret police force responsible for suppressing opposition to Nazi regime
* SS: Elite paramilitary organization responsible for carrying out racial policies and running concentration camps
* Wehrmacht: German armed forces, played a key role in Nazi military conquests
* SA: Early paramilitary organization, played a significant role in Hitler's rise to power
* Hitler Youth: Youth organization indoctrinated in Nazi ideology and prepared for military service
* Einsatzgruppen: Mobile killing units responsible for mass murder of Jews and other groups in occupied territories.

Who was usually arrested by the Gestapo?

* anyone considered a threat
* people who joked about Nazi party
* people who made fun of Hitler
* Bibleforsher’s
* Homosexuals

What were Soviet POWs forced to do at Babi Yar?  Where is its present-day location?

* Soviet POWs were forced to dig anti-tank ditches at Babi Yar during WWII.
* Over 33,000 Jews were massacred at Babi Yar in September 1941.
* Babi Yar is located in Kiev, Ukraine.

How did the Nazis begin the classification of Jews in April of 1933?

April 1, 1933 - Nazis stage boycott of Jewish shops and businesses.

April 11, 1933 - Nazis issue a decree defining a non-Aryan as "anyone descended from non-Aryan, especially Jewish, parents or grandparents. One parent or grandparent classifies the descendant as non-Aryan...especially if one parent or grandparent was of the Jewish faith."

What laws did the Nazi regime pass to delegitimize and dehumanize the Jews prior to implementing the Final Solution?

July 14, 1933 - Nazi Party is declared the only legal party in Germany; Also, Nazis pass Law to strip Jewish immigrants from Poland of their German citizenship. 

July 1933- Nazis pass law allowing for forced sterilization of those found by a Hereditary Health Court to have genetic defects. 

Nov 24, 1933 - Nazis pass a Law against Habitual and Dangerous Criminals, which allows beggars, the homeless, alcoholics and the unemployed to be sent to concentration camps. 

Sept 15, 1935 - Nuremberg Race Laws against Jews decreed.

What were the consequences of the Nuremberg Race laws?

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The Nuremberg Laws had the unexpected result of causing confusion and heated debate over who was a "full Jew." 

* The Nazis settled on defining a "full Jew" as a person with three Jewish grandparents. Those with less were designated as Mischlinge.
* After the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, a dozen supplemental Nazi decrees were issued that eventually outlawed the Jews completely, depriving them of their rights as human beings. 

what is the significance of this picture?

non-aryan man. countries do not want to accept immigrants during the war -- no matter which direction they go they will not be accepted (all countries offered excuses for not letting in more refugees. only the Dominican Republic agreed to accept additional refugees)

Which event initiated *Kristallnacht*?

Herschel Grynszpan killing a German diplomat -- Nazis then stormed Jewish homes, businesses, synagogues, and people in retaliation to the event

What were the ghettos like, especially the largest one in Warsaw? 

Living conditions were miserable. Ghettos were often enclosed districts that isolated Jews by separating Jewish communities from the non-Jewish population and from other Jewish communities. The largest ghetto was in Warsaw.

What events preceded Himmler’s order to bring Jews to concentration camps?  What role did the *sonderkommando* play in the operation of the camps?

**Events Preceding Himmler's Order to Bring Jews to Concentration Camps:**

* Nuremberg Laws of 1935
* Kristallnacht in 1938
* Wannsee Conference in 1942

**Role of Sonderkommando in Operation of Camps:**

* Forced to assist in the extermination process
* Responsible for disposing of bodies
* Subject to frequent execution to prevent rebellion

Wannsee Conference

The Nazi officials gathered to solve “The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” -- they decided to systematically exterminate the jewish population

What roles did Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Adolf Eichmann, Dr. Josef Mengele and Joseph Goebbels play in implementing the Final Solution?

Reinhard Heydrich: chief of the Reich Security Main office -- the SS & police agency most directly responsible for the Final Solution

Adolf Eichmann: Organized the transports from the ghettos to the gas chambers

Josef Mengele: conducted inhumane experiments on prisoners in the camps

Joseph Goebbels: chief propaganda minister

What was the significance of the Warsaw ghetto uprising? the work of Janusz Korczak?  Sophie Scholl? Raoul Wallenberg? Oskar Schindler?  Why was the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto a critical moment for Schindler?

**Warsaw Ghetto Uprising**

* Symbol of Jewish resistance against Nazis
* Inspired other uprisings in ghettos and concentration camps
* Showed that Jews were not passive victims

**Janusz Korczak**

* Polish-Jewish educator and children's author
* Ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto
* Refused to abandon his children and died with them in Treblinka

**Sophie Scholl**

* German anti-Nazi activist
* Member of the White Rose resistance group
* Executed at age 21 for distributing anti-war leaflets

**Raoul Wallenberg**

* Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust
* Issued protective passports and established safe houses
* Disappeared after being arrested by Soviet authorities

**Oskar Schindler**

* German industrialist who saved over 1,000 Jewish workers from death camps
* Employed them in his factories and protected them from deportation
* Depicted in the film "Schindler's List"

**Liquidation of Krakow Ghetto**

* Schindler's factory was located in the Krakow Ghetto
* Schindler convinced the Nazis to let him move his workers to a new factory outside the ghetto
* This saved them from being sent to death camps during the liquidation of the ghetto

What does the Riegner Telegram reveal about the allied response to the Final Solution?  How is this related to Spielberg’s decision to show the girl in the red dress - the only part of *Schindler’s List f*ilmed in color?

* Riegner Telegram revealed that the Nazis planned to exterminate all European Jews.
* Allies received the telegram but did not take immediate action.
* Spielberg used the girl in the red dress to symbolize the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust.
* The color contrast highlights the brutality and inhumanity of the genocide.
* The decision to show the girl in color was a deliberate artistic choice to emphasize the tragedy of the Holocaust.

Why is there shoes at the edge of the Danube?

In some cases the Arrow Cross men tied together the hands of two or three Jews – adults or children. Then they would shoot only one of the people who were tied together. When they did their work properly and positioned their victims at the edge of the water, all three would fall into the Danube, the dead body pulling the still-living victims with it.1 All the bodies, tied together by shoelaces or rope or fate, would either sink or float away down the river. If the militiamen noticed that Jews were still alive, they used them for target practice. However, most of the Jews – especially the children – died immediately because the water was freezing cold

What was unique about the Terezin concentration camp?

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* Theresienstadt served as a transit camp for Czech Jews whom the Germans deported to killing centers, concentration camps, and forced-labor camps in German-occupied Poland, Belorussia, and the Baltic States.
* It was a ghetto-labor camp. The SS deported and then incarcerated there certain categories of German, Austrian, and Czech Jews, based on their age, disability as a result of past military service, or domestic celebrity in the arts and other cultural life.
* Theresienstadt served as a holding pen for Jews in the above-mentioned groups. It was expected that the poor conditions there would hasten the deaths of many deportees, until the SS and police could deport the survivors to killing centers in the East.

When did the allies liberate the camps?

April 29th, 1945 -- US 7th Army liberates Dachau