The Holocaust
Human rights begin after one of the
greatest genocides the world has
ever seen.
The Persecution Begins
• The Holocaust was the systematic murder of roughly
11 million people across Europe, more of half were
Jews.
• Anti-Semitism, or hatred of Jews spread with Hitler’s
belief that Jews were responsible for much of
Germany’s economic problems.
Kristallnacht
• November 1938 became known as Kristallnacht or “Night of
Broken Class”.
• Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish home, businesses, and
synagogues across Germany.
• Some 30,000 Jews were arrested and hundreds of synagogues
were burned.
• Afterwards the Nazis blamed the Jews for causing such
destruction.
Jewish Refugees
• Jews fleeing Germany had problems finding nations
that would accept them.
• France & Great Britain feared Anti-Semitism.
• About 100,000 Jews made it to America but many
faced Anti-Semitism in the U.S. as well.
Plight of the St. Louis
• The German ocean liner passed Miami in 1939.
• 740 of the 943 passengers were Jewish and had U.S.
immigration papers.
• The Coast Guard followed the ship and sent it back to Europe.
• Half of the Jewish passengers would later be killed during the
Holocaust.
Hitler’s “Final Solution”
• Hitler’s desire to rid the world of Jews led to
the Final Solution.
• A policy of genocide, the deliberate and
systematic killing of an entire population.
The Condemned
• Hitler’s Final Solution was based on the belief of the
Aryan race or “master race”.
• That it was superior to all others.
• Not only Jews but Gypsies, Jehovah Witnesses, and
the handicapped were also targeted.
Forced Relocation
• Most Jews were forced into ghettos, segregated
Jewish areas in certain Polish cities.
• Nazis sealed them off with barbed wire and stone
walls.
• Life in the ghettos was horrible but Jews did all they
could to keep life normal.
Concentration Camps
• Also called labor camps because of the hard labor Jews did for
Nazis it was also where millions would be put to death by the
gas chamber.
• Auschwitz, the largest and most famous could execute up to
12,000 people a day.
• The SS would often separate those that were strong enough
to work from those that should be killed immediately.
Survivors
• 6-10 million Jews were executed in the camps.
• The Jewish population in Europe has never
recovered and many moved to Israel after
WWII.