Germany - 3.2.5 Persecution of the Jews

Question 1

Beliefs about the Jews (5)

Answer 1

• Jews in Germany were often associated with communism
• Many Jews were very wealthy and people were jealous of them
• They were seen as alien because of their different religious practices, clothing and beliefs
• They were blamed for Germany’s defeat in the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles (some of the Weimar politicians were Jewish)
• They were believed to be the lowest level of untermenschen (sub-humans).

Question 2

Why did many of the German population not question the persecution of Jews?

Answer 2

Anti-Semitism was popular in Germany amongst some people before the Nazis came into power

Question 3

How did persecution against Jewish begin?

Answer 3

With an attack on Jewish businesses and the removal of Jewish people from their jobs

Question 4

What happened in 1933 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 4

The SA organised a one-day boycott of Jewish shops. They painted a yellow star on doors and discouraged people from going inside. Jewish actors and musicians were banned from performing. Jewish civil servants and teachers were sacked. Jews who worked for the government were fired. Jews were no longer allowed to join the army or to inherit land. The SA also organised a one-day boycott of Jewish lawyers and doctors.

Question 5

What happened in 1934 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 5

Some Jews were banned from public places like parks and swimming pools; other councils painted park benches yellow specifically for use by Jewish people

Question 6

What happened in 1935 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 6

The Nuremberg Laws, which placed further restrictions on Jewish life, were declared

Question 7

What did the Nuremberg Laws do to Jews? (2)

Answer 7

• The Reich Law on Citizenship: Jews became subjects not citizens, Jews cannot vote, have a German passport or work for the government, people were defined as ‘Jewish’ if they had three or more Jewish grandparents
• The Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour: Jews could not marry German citizens

Question 8

What happened in 1936 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 8

Jews were banned or restricted from working as vets, accountants, teachers, dentists and nurses

Question 9

What happened in 1937 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 9

Jewish businesses were taken over by ‘Aryans’. Jewish passports had to be stamped with a ‘J’ and ‘Israel’ (for men) or ‘Sarah’ (for women) added to their names

Question 10

What happened in 1938 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 10

Jews had to register their property. Jewish shops were set on fire or vandalised (Kristallnacht)

Question 11

What happened to Jews who worked for the government from 1933?

Answer 11

They were fired

Question 12

In 1937, what names did Jewish people have to add to their names? (2)

Answer 12

• Israel (for men)
• Sarah (for women)

Question 13

Describe the events of Kristallnacht from 7 - 10 November (4)

Answer 13

• 7 November: A 17-year-old Polish Jew entered the German embassy in Paris and shot a German
• 8 November: Goebbels used the event to stir up resentment against Jews by attacking homes and synagogues in Hanover
• 9 November: Goebbels and Hitler decided to increase the violence to a nationwide attack - the Nazis staged Kristallnacht in response to a Jew assassinating a German ambassador in Paris
• 9-10 November: Groups of uniformed and non-uniformed gangs ran amok amongst Jewish communities, destroying and burning homes, shops, businesses and synagogues. 100 Jews were killed. In addition, 814 shops, 171 homes and 191 synagogues were destroyed

Question 14

Consequences of Kristallnacht

Answer 14

Goebbels blamed the Jews for starting the trouble on Kristallnacht and ordered them to pay damages. Jews were fined 1 billion marks.

Question 15

What happened on 7 November (Kristallnacht)

Answer 15

A 17-year-old Polish Jew entered the German embassy in Paris and shot a German

Question 16

What happened on 8 November (Kristallnacht)

Answer 16

Goebbels used the event to stir up resentment against Jews by attacking homes and synagogues in Hanover

Question 17

What happened on 9 November (Kristallnacht)

Answer 17

Goebbels and Hitler decided to increase the violence to a nationwide attack - the Nazis staged Kristallnacht in response to a Jew assassinating a German ambassador in Paris

Question 18

What happened between 9-10 November (Kristallnacht)

Answer 18

Groups of uniformed and non-uniformed gangs ran amok amongst Jewish communities, destroying and burning homes, shops, businesses and synagogues. 100 Jews were killed. In addition, 814 shops, 171 homes and 191 synagogues were destroyed

Question 19

During WW2, persecution of Jews reached levels not seen before. At some point during the summer of 1941, Nazi leaders decided on the ‘____ _________ __ ___ _______ __________’ - to exterminate Jewish across all German territory in Europe

Answer 19

Final Solution of the Jewish Question

Question 20

How was Kristallnacht a turning point for the Jews?

Answer 20

This was the first time they had been physically harmed by the Nazis. Afterwards, it was clear that Jews needed to flee Germany

Question 21

What happened in January 1939 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 21

The Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration was set up to organise the deportation of Jews from Germany and Austria

Question 22

What happened as the German forces quickly conquered vast areas of Europe ?

Answer 22

As the German forces quickly conquered vast areas of Europe both in the west and east it brought many more Jews under Nazi control

Question 23

What happened in October 1939 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 23

The first ghettos were built in Poland to separate Jews from the rest of the population. Over 1000 ghettos were eventually built, mostly in Poland and the Soviet Union

Question 24

What were ghettos?

Answer 24

Ghettos were areas of a city enclosed by high walls with barbed wire on top. Guards short anyone who tried to escape. Ghettos were very overcrowded and all goods entering them were severely restricted. Thousands died, mostly from starvation and disease.

Question 25

What happened in June 1941 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 25

Germany invaded the Soviet Union. SS killing squads known as Einsatzgruppen followed the German army and rounded up and killed all the Jews they could find. Over 1 million Jews were killed. Victims were usually shot and buried in mass graves

Question 26

What happened in December 1941 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 26

Chelmno death camp opened (for the first time Jews are killed by gas, in trucks)

Question 27

What happened in January 1942 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 27

Leading Nazis met at the Wannsee Conference to decide the details of the ‘Final Solution’

Question 28

Who took the decision to exterminate the Jews?

Answer 28

It is not clear who took the decision to exterminate Jews some time in the summer of 1941, but many believe it was mainly Himmler’s idea

Question 29

Why was gas chosen as the method of extermination?

Answer 29

Gas was chosen as the method because it had been successfully used in the T4 Programme

Question 30

What happened in March 1942 to do with the persecution of Jews?

Answer 30

The first gas chambers were used to kill Jews at Belzec death camp

Question 31

How many death camps were built in Poland after the Wannsee Conference in January 1942?

Answer 31

6 death camps with gas chambers were built in Poland

Question 32

Out of all the Jews, what percentage were killed after 1942, after the Wannsee Conference?

Answer 32

60%

Question 33

The ‘Final Solution’ (5)

Answer 33

• All 6 death camps were in Poland. Hundreds of concentration camps were set up all over Germany from 1933 and in Nazi-occupied Europe after 1939
• Hundreds of thousands of Jews and other victims of the Nazis including Roma, homosexuals and political prisoners died in concentration camps 1933-45, from starvation, disease, overwork, shootings and beatings
• At Auschwitz, Jewish arrivals underwent a selection process where those found fit enough to work were sent to the concentration camp instead of the gas chambers
• Most victims arrived at death camps by train from all over Nazi-occupied Europe, usually from concentration camps or ghettos. On arrival they were stripped, hair shaven off and possessions taken away. They were killed in gas chambers and buried in large pits or cremated in large ovens
• At Madjanek and Auschwitz there were prison camps as well as the death camp so more survivors witnessed what was going on. The vast majority of people sent to the other four death camps were killed immediately

Question 34

How was persecution of this scale possible? (4)

Answer 34

• As well as the Nazi perpetrators themselves, many other Germans and people in Nazi-occupied Europe took part in some way (collaborators), such as those who planned the railway timetables.
• Millions of bystanders who knew at least something of what was going on did nothing to stop it, many because they were too afraid.
• There was resistance but it was fairly small-scale. Some helped to hide Jews and some Jews themselves resisted, such as those who took part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Resistors who were discovered were usually killed.
• Many Jews and others did not know what happened at the camps. They took suitcases and bought their own train tickets to get to the death amps

Question 35

In ____, the ____________ laws made anti-Semitism legal

Answer 35

1935, Nuremberg