5. occupation

Question 1

background to the occupation of poland:

Answer 1

-poland was created at the end of WW1
-before this it had been part of germany
-the nazis saw it as their right to take their land back
-after invading in oct 1939 the nazis divided the country & began to remove all polish control and culture
-they considered the poles to be racially inferior

Question 2

eastern general plan (occupation of poland)

Answer 2

-many native poles were moved into the general government region
-it was governed by a nazi who introduced a rule of terror and set about destroying culture, education and leadership

-30,000 of the most talented people in poland were arrested, many were tortured and murdered
-1.5 million poles were deported to work in labour camps
-poles were forced to wear a P on their arm
-from 1940, many polish citizens were expelled
-500,000 ethnic germans settled in their houses & land

Question 3

warsaw ghetto

Answer 3

-ghettos were enclosed areas that isolated jews
-hundreds were set up in oland, the largest being the warsaw ghetto (completed nov 1940)
-by early 1941 the ghettos had 445,000 jewish inhabitants (a third of warsaw’s population, they lived in 2.4 per cent of the space
-the poor conditions led to disease and death
-over 140,000 died in the ghetto’s three year existence

Question 4

liquidation of the ghetto (poland)

Answer 4

july 21st 1942
-the nazis began the mass deportation of inhabitants to the treblinka death camp
-300,000 had perished in the gas chambers

-in april 1943, the surviving inhabitants started a final battle against the nazis
-it was unsuccessful and by mid-may the ghetto was destroyed

Question 5

where is poland?

Answer 5

east

Question 6

where is the netherlands?

Answer 6

west

Question 7

the occupation of netherlands (invasion)

Answer 7

may 1940
-the nazis invaded the netherlands
-after 4 days of ground fighting the luftwaffe began a bombing campaign
-fearing continued destruction, the dutch government surrendered

Question 8

the beginning of occupation (netherlands)

Answer 8

1940
-the nazis saw the dutch as sharing the same racial background as germans and therefore were treated very differently to the poles
-education system was kept the same -civil servants could keep their jobs if they wanted to
-there was general compliance with the regime

Question 9

turning point of the occupation of the netherlands

Answer 9

-1942-41
-in feb, the first 425 jewish men were rounded up for deportation
-dutch communists decided to retaliate with a strike
-the nazis responded violently: nine were killed and hundreds were arrested
-after the first death sentences were issued against the dutch people

Question 10

intimidation & violence in the netherlands

Answer 10

-in 1943, the nazis began to deport jews
-76% of dutch jews were deported

-with severe shortages of workers in germany, the nazis announced they would take dutch ex-soldiers to work as forced labourers
-strikes erupted across the country and the nazis responded brutally -dutch resistance developed

-20,000 resistance members were arrested
-most were sent to cc camps
-2000 were executed

Question 11

late 1944 to 1945 in netherlands

Answer 11

-the exiled dutch govt called for railway strikes-
-30,000 rail workers went into hiding, causing transport shortages
-food shortages meant 20,000 dutch people died of starvation
-on may 5th the netherlands was liberated by the canadians

Question 12

occupation of france in north

Answer 12

-swastika flags draped over buildings
-germans plundered food & other supplies causing severe shortages
-strict censorship
-night curfew
-100s of workers taken to germany for forced labour
-those who refused went into hiding
-over 70,000 jews wee deported today
death camps

Question 13

occupation of france in free zone

Answer 13

-french allowed to govern & collaborated with germans
-everyday life was same as north
-less german control

Question 14

occupation in the east v west

Answer 14

west:
-relatively humane
-whilst daily life wasn’t pleasant & all jews were persecuted, the nazis did not attempt to exterminate entire western populations
-however, they did react brutally towards resistors
-citizens of occupied countries were forced to work for the nazis

east:
-brutal and cruel
-the nazis viewed the east as living space for germany
-to do this the nazis believed the east needed to be ‘cleansed’ of non-aryan populations
-jews and slavic populations were especially targeted
-when germany invaded the soviet union in 1941, einsatzgruppen followed the German army with the orders to kill every Jew they found
-labourers from the east were essentially slaves, and endured terrible conditions
-about 2 million poles were forced into slave labour

Question 15

accommodation

Answer 15

working with the nazis to help them rule

Question 16

collaboration

Answer 16

obeying nazi rule

Question 17

resistance

Answer 17

opposing the nazis

Question 18

perpetrator

Answer 18

someone who actively takes part in committing a crime

Question 19

the utasa

Answer 19

-extreme right wing political party
-inspired & encouraged by the nazis to build their own cc camps
-they killed 25,000 jews

Question 20

the devlag movement

Answer 20

-wanted stronger ties with nazi germany
-helped the nazis recruit members to the waffen-SS & had 50,000 members by 1943

Question 21

denmark

Answer 21

-the danes were allowed to keep their government in return for establishing favourable relations
-production & trade was redirected towards germany
-in return laws against the jews were rejected

Question 22

france

Answer 22

-the ‘french Resistance took action against nazi occupation
-published underground newspapers & provided intelligence to the allies
-in june 1944, the french interior force was formed to help the allies push out the nazis

Question 23

latvian auxillary

Answer 23

-in latvia, the SS created the latvian auxiliary security police
-the group took up the job of purging all internal enemies by killing jews and communists
-the group alone murdered 26,000 jews (half the Jewish population of latvia)

Question 24

bielski partisans

Answer 24

-4 brothers who escaped a polish ghetto
-100s of men, women & kids joined
-at peak there were 1236 members
-lasted 2 years in forests
-completed sabotages on nazis

Question 25

chetnicks

Answer 25

-serbian nationalists
-agreed to work w the nazi forces that invade yugoslavia

Question 26

delegatura

Answer 26

-polish gov escaped to london in 1939
-made delegatura, secret polish state
-in august 1944, the poles staged an uprising in warsaw that lasted 2 months
-uprising was crushed by nazis

Question 27

how did jews get to camps?

Answer 27

-jews were told they were being ‘evacuated’ to the east
-the aim was hide their intention to avoid mass panic

Question 28

what happened to jews on arrival at camps?

Answer 28

-all possessions would be confiscated for use by the nazis
-arrivals were then sorted
-the majority were sent straight to the gas chambers disguised as shower blocks
-some jews were selected as workers

Question 29

what happened to jews who were selected as workers?

Answer 29

-their head is shaved
-a identification number is tattooed on to their arm and were issued with a striped uniform
-the workers were used to complete tasks to keep the camps running, for example transporting bodies to the crematoria and checking bodies for valuable items like gold teeth
-few of those selected for work survived more than a few months
-when they were to sick or weak go work, they were killed

-others were selected to be subjects for medical experiments

Question 30

the first solution (jews)

Answer 30

-jews forced to leave the country
-jews beaten & humiliated by being forced to scrub the pavements & get rid of pro-austrian graffiti
-mass looting & aryanisation of property first done by individuals, then SS
-persecution led jews to consider emigration, which the nazis encouraged

Question 31

the second solution (jews)

Answer 31

-ghettos = enclosed districts that isolated
jews, separated jews from non-jews
-largest ghetto = warsaw (3m high walls with barbed wire )
-by march 1941, the warsaw ghetto held 445,500 jews
-1/3 of the city’s population was in 2.4% of the area
-on average, 15 ppl shared a small apt,
conditions lead to death & disease
-in autumn 1941, 900 cases of typhus
-in 3 years of ws ghetto, over 140,00 died

Question 32

the final solution (phase 1)

Answer 32

-men who carried out the mass murders in the east belonged to einsatzgruppen: mobile killing units consisting of ss men, police & auxiliary units
-the einsatzgruppen rounded up jews & communists
-men, women & children were taken to secluded areas (often woods) forced to dig large pit, they were lined up at the edge of the pit & shot

Question 33

the final solution (phase 2)

Answer 33

1. chelmo
   -jews were being murdered by exhaust fumes in vans because more jews could be killed without the risk of traumatising the ss
2. autumn 1941
   -operation reinhard, extermination of all jews in general gov was agreed to and more death camps were created
3. jews are deported from ghettos
   -they arrive at ‘train stations’
   -they are stripped of clothes & possessions
   -gassed in chambers that looked like showers
   -slave labourers removed bodies & burnt/ buried them

4.to stop mass panic
-jews were tricked into thinking they were being resettled in the east

Question 34

how were people murdered in auschwitz?

Answer 34

-mass murder using zykon b gas

Question 35

why was auschwitz II made?

Answer 35

auschwitz was overrun

Question 36

how were jews transported to auschwitz?

Answer 36

in cattle trucks/trains with no water & no toilets