The Holocaust
Chapter 32, Section 3
Introduction
 As part of their vision for Europe, the Nazis proposed a
new racial order.
 They proclaimed that the Germanic peoples, or Aryans, were
a “master race.” (a misuse of the term Aryan, which actually
refers to the Indo-European peoples who began to migrate into
the Indian subcontinent around 1500 B.C.)
 The Nazis claimed that all non-Aryan peoples, particularly
Jewish people, were inferior.
 This racist message would eventually lead to the
Holocaust, the systematic mass slaughter of Jews and
other groups judged inferior by the Nazis.
The Holocaust Begins
 Hitler knowingly tapped into a hatred for Jews
that had deep roots in European history.
 Jews as scapegoats for
 personal failures.
 Germany’s defeat in World War I
 Targeting Jews government policy
 1935 Nuremberg Laws made it illegal to marry a
Jew. Other laws limited the work of Jews.
“Night of Broken Glass”
 On November 7, 1938, Herschel
Grynszpan (pictured) a Jewish
youth from Germany, shot a
German diplomat living in Paris to
avenge his father’s deportation to
Poland.
 November 9, 1938: In retaliation
Nazi leaders in Germany launched
a violent attack on the Jewish
community on November 9, 1938.
This attack was carried out by the
SA (storm troopers) and SS, who
attacked Jewish homes,
businesses, and synagogues. This
night was called Kristallnacht.
Burning Synagogue on
Kristallnacht
Did you know? 
This picture is typical of
the smashed windows of
Jewish businesses on
Kristallnacht.
Kristallnacht was not
just staged without
planning, but served a
specific purpose in
Nazi policy toward the
Jews. The SA was
under strict orders to
confiscate any
firearms owned by
Jews when ransacking
Jewish homes and
businesses. This would
prevent any significant
armed resistance to
Nazi policies in the
future.
A Flood of Refugees
 By the end of 1939, a number of German Jews
had fled to other countries.
 At first, Hitler favored emigration as a solution
to what he called “the Jewish problem.”
 After admitting tens of thousands of Jewish
refugees, France, Britain, and the United
States abruptly closed their doors to further
immigration.
Isolating the Jews
 Hitler then ordered Jews
in all countries under his
control to be moved to
designated cities called
ghettos.
 After 1941, all Jews in
German controlled areas
had to wear a yellow
Star of David patch
(pictured).
The “Final Solution”
 Hitler’s plan called the “Final Solution” was a
genocide plan to systematically kill an entire
people.
 Hitler wanted to purify the “Aryan” race.
 He tried to eliminate other groups he viewed as
“subhuman.”
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Roma (gypsies), Poles, Russians
the insane
the disabled
the incurably ill
The Killings Begin
 As the Nazis moved across Europe the SS
killing squads rounded up men, women,
children, and even babies and shot them in pits
where they were buried.
 Other Jews were rounded up and herded into
concentration camps where they were slave
labor.
 Inmates would work seven days a week for the
SS or for German businesses. Food consisted
of thin soup, scraps of bread, and potato
peelings. Most inmates lost 50 lbs quickly.
The Final Stage
 In 1942 the Germans built huge exterminations
camps equipped with gas chambers that could
kill as many as 6,000 people in a day.
 Committees of Nazi doctors separated the
strong (mostly men) from the weak (women,
children, and elderly). The weak went to their
deaths in the gas chambers usually that day.
 The victims were told to undress and head into
the gas chambers under the guise they were
taking showers. Cyanide gas from Zyklon B
granules came through the fake showerheads.
Empty Zyklon B canisters found by the
Zyklon B granules on display at Allies at Auschwitz at the end of World
Auschwitz
War II
Auschwitz Death Camp, Poland
 Except for the picture on this slide, all other Auschwitz
pictures are by Elisabeth Yankey taken in 2001.
This wheeled table helped transport the bodies of the
gassed victims to the ovens for cremation.
This mechanism rotated the table upon which the
bodies of the gassed victims were transferred to
the ovens for cremation.
There was once a building standing here, but this is the
area where the Nazis themselves burned this building down
to attempt to destroy evidence of the death camps.
inmate barracks
These are burned down barracks where the
Nazis again tried to destroy evidence of
atrocities in the Auschwitz camp.
Jews Killed Under Nazi Rule*
Original Jewish
Population
Poland
Jews Killed
Percent
Surviving
3,300,000 2,800,000
15%
Soviet Union (area 2,100,000 1,500,000
29%
occupied by Germans)
Hungary
404,000
200,000
49%
Romania
850,000
425,000
50%
Germany/Austria
270,000
210,000
22%
*Estimates
Source: Hannah Vogt, The Burden of Guilt
The Survivors
 About six million European Jews were killed
during the Holocaust.
 Less than four million European Jews survived.
 Some Jews were helped by non-Jews who
risked there lives, hid Jews in their homes, and
helped them escape to neutral countries. One
such family was the Ten Boom family of
Harlem in the Netherlands. The book and film
The Hiding Place tells this story.
 Apokaluptetai gar orgh