Date:



Date: ___________________

Topic: What was life like for people who were sent to concentration &

death camps?

Aim: What was life like for people who were sent to concentration &

death camps?

Do Now: _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Heinrich Himmler

[pic]

| | |

| |He was the head of the S.S. (Shield Squadron) |

|Position | |

| |He was the second most powerful man in Germany next to Hitler. |

| | |

| |Helped to organize the Final Solution which was the extermination of all Jews in Europe. |

| | |

| |Was in charge of Germany’s |

|What did he do? |Death Camps |

| | |

| |Concentration Camps |

Concentration Camps

Prior to being sent to concentration camps most prisoners were put into ghettos. A ghetto is a tiny fenced in area with in a city. While staying there the prisoners had to do back breaking work. Prisoners at concentration camps were kept alive if they could work because they were needed to make supplies for Germany and their army. People were not taken directly to the camps. They were first put in holding areas like jails, stables, or forts for days or weeks with little food or water. They were then transported by buses or trucks with no windows to a train station and then put on overcrowded box cars where they had to stand. The cars had no windows, bathrooms or circulation.

From the outside concentration camps looked grim: barbed wire, guard towers, & unpainted buildings. When prisoners arrived at the camp families were split up, men were separated from women and children. They were then inspected by a doctor and the weak were sent to the right to the gas chambers and the strong were sent to the left to be dehumanized by having a number tattooed on their forearm and their hair cut off. Each prisoner had to wear a colored symbol on their shirt and pants. For example if you were Jewish you had to wear yellow triangles forming a Star of David. They lived in dark, dirty, smelly, overcrowded barracks. They slept on wooden shelves which gave each person the space of a coffin. They were fed brown bread, with margarine and sawdust, turnip soup, old sausage, stew, and unpurified or dirty water.

Death Camps

At first, Nazi death squads went to cities and towns to kill as many Jews as possible. They would line up Jews (this included men, women, old people and children) and execute them. This method proved to slow for the Nazis so they opened death camps equipped with gas chambers which made it possible to kills 2,000 people at a time. Incinerators were built to burn bodies. Although some of the camps had small work camps, the main purpose of the death camps was to kill as many people as they could as quickly as possible. Many prisoners moved right from the train to the showers where they were gassed with carbon monoxide or Zyklon B (a pesticide). If they refused the guards would force them into the shower by whipping them. After they were gassed the guards went through their belongings and took anything of value. A dentist would take any gold or silver fillings out of their mouths.

Random acts of violence were also committed by the guards. Prisoners were picked at random and burned alive in the crematorium. Prisoners were loaded into vans and then gassed with carbon monoxide. Inmates were forced to dig their own graves and then they were shot. Sometimes they were not shot right away and had lie in the grave and wait. The guards enjoyed making the prisoners suffer so they forced mothers to watch while their young children were killed. During roll call prisoners were randomly called out and hanged. The corpses of the dead were neatly piled up around camp.

Auschwitz

Auschwitz was one of the largest camps built by the Nazis. It served as a concentration and death camp. After Hitler took over Poland the Nazis set the camp up near Warsaw (a city in Poland). The camp’s crematorium could burn 4,756 bodies a day. Block 10 is where the medical experiments were carried out. Dr. Josef Mengele (the Angel of Death) was responsible for the medical experiments conducted on prisoners. He injected prisoners with deadly diseases, dropped them into ice cold water, removed organs & tried to change a person’s eye color to blue with various chemicals.

Josef Mengele left Auschwitz disguised as a member of the regular German infantry. He was then seen at Mauthausen and shortly after he was captured as a POW and held near Munich. He was released by the allies, who had no idea that he was in their midst. Today it seems that Nazi war criminals escaped to South America using false identities supplied by the Red Cross, but moved from country to country afraid of being caught. He was never apprehended and lived for 35 years hiding under various aliases. One afternoon, living in Brazil, he went for a swim. While in the ocean he suffered a massive stroke and began to drown. By the time he was dragged to shore, he was dead.

Mauthausen

This concentration camp was located in Austria and was one of the worst camps; some prisoners gave up hope and jumped off the ledge. Franz Ziereis was the commander in charge of the camp. Jews that were sent there worked in a stone quarry pushing or carrying heavy rocks up a steep slope. Many were crushed to death because they slipped and the rock rolled back on them. Pushing prisoners off the ledge, shootings, hangings, gassings, lethal injections and torture by blasts of freezing cold water were common. No prisoner was treated like a human; surviving the camp required both luck and learning the methods to stay alive. About 36,000 executions were reported at the camp.

Rescuing the Jews

There were many people who helped the Jews hide or escape during the war. They certainly did not do it because they wanted an award after the war. The risk they were taking was great. They hid them in attics, barns, cellars, and sheds. They also forged identity papers or baptismal certificates and took in Jewish children and raised them as their own. Everyone knew what the Nazis would do to people who helped the Jews escape or hide. The Nazis would not only punish the hider but also their family and everyone who lived on their block. Still, individuals groups and even nations helped. Their courage and resourcefulness helped save thousands of lives.

The End of the Camps

From Himmler to the lowest SS guard at a concentration camp, the possibility that their actions were soon going to be visible to the Allies was a scary thought. As the Allies closed in, the Nazis either killed their prisoners or moved them into Germany. The Allies found boxcars full of people who had been left there to suffocate or starve to death. They also found the remains of buildings that had been burnt down with prisoners still inside.

The prisoners were either loaded into trains or forced to walk. They were given almost no food or water so many of them died of hunger, exhaustion, or froze to death. If a prisoner could not keep up they were shot. When the Nazis left a camp they burned records or any other paperwork which documented what went on at the camp. When rescued, the inmates were starving so the Allies gave them food not realizing that their stomachs were so shriveled up that the food could kill them. In the end the Nazis killed approximately 6 million Jews and 5 million other “undesirables”. Before the war 11 million Jews lived in Europe, by the end only 5 million were still alive.

Nuremberg Trials

In August 1945, a series of thirteen trials, known as the Nuremberg Trials, were held. The presiding judges came from the U.S., Britain, France and the Soviet Union. During these trials, Nazi leaders like Rudolph Hoss, commander of the Auschwitz death camp, were put on trial for their actions during the war. Rudolph Hoss was executed, however Hitler, Goebbels, and Himmler all committed suicide before they could be put on trial. They were charged with crimes against a nation, crimes against peace, war crimes (cruel treatment of civilians), and crimes against humanity (operating slave labor camps and death camps).

On October 16, 1946 ten men were hung. They did not show any remorse and said they were only following orders. Seven men were sentenced to imprisonment & three were acquitted. The world was in shock from learning about Nazi policies and cruelties. The Holocaust and death camps were examples of how cruel humans could be towards other human beings. The Nuremberg Trials established legal limits for nations and leaders of nations at war. It also established that nations are accountable to an international set of laws. This became the foundation of the World Court set up by the United Nations. As a result of the Holocaust, the United Nations approved a plan to create a Jewish homeland, in 1948 Israel was born.

World War II – Concentration Camps & Death Camps

| | |

| |Prior to being sent to a concentration camp most prisoners were sent to ghettos. |

| |Concentration Camps focused on making supplies for Germany and their army. If you could work you were kept alive. |

| | |

|Concentration Camps |From the outside they looked grim: barbed wire, guard towers, & unpainted buildings. |

| | |

| |People were not taken directly to the camps. They were first put in holding areas like jails, stables, or forts for days |

|[pic] |or weeks with little food or water. |

| | |

|[pic] |They were then transported by buses or trucks with no windows to a train station and then put on overcrowded box cars |

| |where they had to stand. The cars had no windows, bathrooms, or circulation. |

| | |

| |When they arrived at the camp they were inspected by a doctor and the weak were sent to the gas chambers and the strong |

|[pic] |were dehumanized by having a number tattooed on their forearm and their hair cut off. |

| | |

|[pic] |Each prisoner had to wear a colored symbol on their shirt and pants. For example if you were Jewish you had to wear yellow|

| |triangles forming a Star of David. |

| | |

| |They lived in dark, dirty, smelly, overcrowded barracks. |

| | |

| |They slept on wooden shelves which gave each person the space of a coffin. |

| | |

| |A prisoner’s diet consisted of brown bread with margarine and sawdust, turnip soup, old sausage, a small amount of stew |

| |and unpurified water. |

| | |

| |It was located near Warsaw Poland. |

|Auschwitz | |

| |It was one of the largest camps built. It served as a concentration and death camp. |

|[pic] | |

| | |

| |The camp’s crematorium could burn 4,756 bodies a day. |

|[pic] | |

| |Block 10 is where the medical experiments were carried out. |

| | |

| |Dr. Joseph Mengele (the Angel of Death) was responsible for the medical experiments conducted on prisoners. He later |

| |escaped to South America. |

| | |

| |He injected prisoners with deadly diseases, dropped them into ice cold water, removed organs & tried to change a |

| |person’s eye color to blue with various chemicals. |

| | |

|Mauthausen |This camp was located in Austria and was one of the worst camps. |

| | |

|[pic] |Jews that were sent there worked in a rock quarry pushing or carrying heavy rocks up a steep slope. |

| | |

| |Many were crushed to death because they slipped and the rock rolled back on them. |

|[pic] | |

| |Pushing prisoners off the ledge, shootings, hangings, gassings, lethal injections and torture by blasts of freezing |

| |cold water were common. |

| | |

| | |

| |Nazi Death Squads would line Jews up and execute them. This method was too slow for the Nazis so they built death |

|Death Camps |camps that had gas chambers which could kill 2,000 people at a time. |

| | |

|[pic] |Although some of the camps had small work camps, the main purpose of the death camps was to kill as many people as |

| |they could as quickly as possible. |

|[pic] | |

| |Many prisoners moved right from the train to the showers where they were gassed with carbon monoxide or Zyklon B (a |

| |pesticide). If they refused the guards would force them into the shower by whipping them. |

| | |

|[pic] |After they were gassed the guards went through their belongings and took anything of value. A dentist would take any |

| |gold or silver fillings out of their mouths. |

|[pic] | |

| |Prisoners were picked at random and burned alive in the crematorium. |

| | |

|[pic] |Prisoners were loaded into vans and then gassed with carbon monoxide. |

| | |

| |Inmates were forced to dig their own graves and then they were shot. Sometimes they were not shot right away and had |

| |lie in the grave and wait. |

| | |

| |The guards enjoyed making the prisoners suffer so they forced mothers to watch while their young children were |

| |killed. |

| | |

|Death Camps |During roll call prisoners were randomly called out and hung. |

|[pic] | |

| |The bodies or corpses of the dead were neatly piled up around camp. |

| | |

|Rescuing the Jews | |

| |There were many people who helped the Jews hide or escape during the war. They hid them in attics, barns, cellars, |

| |and sheds. |

|[pic] | |

| |They also forged identity papers or baptismal certificates and took in Jewish children and raised them as their own. |

| | |

| |The Nazis would not only punish the hider but also their family and everyone who lived on their block. |

|[pic] | |

| | |

[pic] [pic]

[pic]

|The End of the Camps | |

| |As the Allies closed in, the Nazis either killed their prisoners or moved them into Germany. |

|[pic] | |

| |The Allies found boxcars full of people who had been left there to suffocate or starve to death. They also |

| |found the remains of buildings that had been burnt down with prisoners still inside. |

|[pic] | |

| |The prisoners were either loaded into trains or forced to walk. |

| | |

|[pic] |They were given almost no food or water so many of them died of hunger, exhaustion, or froze to death. |

| | |

| |If a prisoner could not keep up they were shot. |

|[pic] | |

| |When the Nazis left a camp they burned records or any other paperwork which documented what went on at the |

| |camp. |

| | |

| |When rescued, the inmates were starving so the Allies gave them food not realizing that their stomachs were so|

| |shriveled up that the food could kill them. In total 6 million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis. As well as|

| |5 million other “undesirables”. In total the Nazis killed 11 million people. At the start of the war 11 |

| |million Jews lived in Europe, by the end of the number of Jews living in Europe was 5 million. |

| | |

|The Nuremberg Trials |In August 1945, Nazi leaders, like Rudolph Hoss were put on trial for their actions during the war. |

| | |

|[pic] | |

|[pic] |Judges from the U.S., France, Britain, and the Soviet Union presided over the trials. |

| | |

|[pic] |Hitler, Himmler, and Goebbels all committed suicide and were never put on trial. However Hoss was executed because he was |

| |in charge of the Auschwitz death camp. |

| | |

|[pic] |Ten men were hung. They did not show any remorse. |

| | |

| |Seven men were sentenced to imprisonment & three were acquitted or found not guilty. |

| | |

| | |

| |The Nuremberg Trials established legal limits for nations and leaders of nations at war. It also established that nations |

| |are accountable to an international set of laws. |

| | |

| |This became the foundation of the world court set up by the League of Nations. |

| | |

| |As a result of the Holocaust the country of Israel was created in 1948. |

Summary Question: What stood out or shocked you from today’s lesson? Explain.

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