The impact of war on Nazi policy towards the jews- Holocaust key knowledge

What were the main reactionary actions of the Nazis to war

1) The invasion of Poland- major catalyst for radicalisation of violence —> led to ghettoisation (failure of Nisko and Madagascar plans also led to ghettoisation)

2) Operation Barbarossa; first major killing spree on jews, reactionary to the movement into the East

3) Failure of Blitzkrieg on Eastern front; failed to conquer major territory in East led to need for Wannsee Conference

4) Wannsee conference; were genocide was bureaucratically formed, to coordinate the killing of the jews, convened by Reinhard Heydrich

5) Operation Reinhard; coordinated the official opening of the killing centres. Industrialisation of mass killing

impact of the einsatzgruppen in the holocaust

• referred to as the holocaust by bullets

• killed around 1.5 million jews

• brutal killings proving the lack of humanitarian regard for the jews

details for the intentionalist school for persecutionary reactions to the war

• the radicalisation in Poland was seen as part of long-standing plan

• poland was merely a way for them to put it into action

core details for the functionalist school for persecutionary reactions to the war

• radicalisation observed was ‘ad hoc’ and was clearly reactionary to the failures of plans and the development of systems such as the ghettos

core detail for synthesis viewpoint of reactionary persecution during the war

• reality of Poland providing the environment for realisation of racial ideology

• however, recognises the roles of people such as Greiser and Forster in cumulating the events of the ‘final solution’ through competition