“Total” War The Nazi Holocaust



“Total” War: The Nazi Holocaust

Genocide in World War II: 1939-1945

Genocide: a planned extermination of an entire race or group of people by another group.

Holocaust: Systematic persecution and killing of European Jews by Hitler’s Nazi party in Germany (1933-1945); Jews were primary victims—6 million were murdered; 5 million more were also murdered (Gypsies, Poles, Disabled, Communists, Homosexuals, and others).

Discussion Questions

1. How and why did the Holocaust happen?

- Holocaust was a systematic persecution and killing of European Jews by Hitler’s Nazi party in Germany

(1933-1945)

- Germans needed to blame someone for losing WWI and the Great Depression; they also had a hatred for

Jews (felt they were inferior and should be eliminated)

2. How did the Nazis “dehumanize” their Jewish prisoners?

- Nazis treated Jewish prisoners like abused animals in work camps – little food, clothing, water, or sleep and

constantly were threatened with death

3. What were the Nuremburg Trials? Was everyone held accountable?

- Nazi leaders in Germany were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for “crimes against humanity”

- No – only the Nazi leaders were held accountable

4. One survivor says, “It’s hard to remember, but too difficult to forget.” Why is it important to remember the Holocaust?

- To ensure this type of travesty never happens again

5. What groups of people are targeted today? What can be done to work against such prejudice and intolerance?

- Minorities – African Americans, women, Native Americans, Latinos, etc.,.

1) How many people died in the Holocaust?

- More than 6 million Jews and almost 6 million non-Jewish Europeans

2) What were the Nuremburg trials?

Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany,

in which Nazi leaders were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for “crimes against humanity”

3) Who were sentenced at the Nuremburg trials?

- 22 of the principal Nazi leaders were tried, 12 of whom were convicted and sentenced to death and 7 of whom were sentenced to life imprisonment. The other 3 were acquit

4) What was the final

goal of the Nuremburg

trials?

- Help preserve peace

and lead to new

international laws

5) Has genocide been prevented since the Nuremburg trials? How can it be prevented?

- Yes – In 1948, the UN adopted a convention against further genocide.

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Ideas/Beliefs of Hitler’s Nazi Party

← Germans need to blame someone for losing WWI and the Great Depression

← Stereotypes, Racism, Anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews)

← “Final Solution:” Jews and others were inferior and should be eliminated

Take Away Freedoms & Acts of Violence

← Discrimination: take away citizenship, jobs, and homes, must wear a “yellow star”

← Restrictions: forced to live in crowded “ghettos” in terrible conditions

← Violence: destruction of Jewish businesses and temples; attacks against people

Slave Labor “Concentration” and Death Camps (such as Auschwitz and Birkenau)

← Camps: Jews and others forced to work for Germany; little food, clothing water, or sleep; constantly threatened with death

← Dehumanization: treated people like abused animals in work camps

← Extermination: shootings, gas “showers,” ovens, starvation

← About 11 million people murdered by the end of the war

Aftermath: Did it have to happen?

← “Bystanders:” U.S. and others didn’t respond soon enough; also had racist immigration restrictions

← Nuremburg Trials in Germany tried and convicted Nazi leaders for “crimes against humanity” - sentenced to death

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