Nazi policies towards the Jews later 1941- 1945 Flashcards
1
Q
what position was Germany in in june 1941?
A
had launched operation Barbarossa, German army swept across the USSR, occupied vast territories in eastern Poland, the Baltic States, Western Russia and Ukraine
- complete victory seemd certain
- development of anti-Semitic policies as the was east was a war of racil anihilation (fought with savagery west had never experienced)
- bought 3 million soviet Jews under German rule
- before the invasion Hitler issues intrsuctions to ‘eliminate’ the ‘Bolshevik-Jewish intelligentsia’
2
Q
effects of the war with Russia?
A
intensified the pressure on Hitler to deal with the Jewish problem in Germany and occupied territories
3
Q
new social policies towards by late 1941?
A
- radio confiscated
- Nov 1939, banned from buying chocolate
- 1940 Jews excluded from wartime rationing allowance for shoes and clothes
- July 1940 Jews could only enter shops at restricted times
- 1941 (tightened restrictions) Jews had to have a police permit to travel
- December 1941 Jews in Germany had to wear the yellow star of David
4
Q
what was the reason for ghettoisation?
A
- urgently needed clear plan to deal with the huge Jewish population displaced by Germanisation + military conquests ➡️ 3 million Jews came under control after invasion of Poland in Sept 1939
- to segregate and control Jews
- idea that Jews spread illness, needed to be segregated to protect the rest of population
- initially thought of as temp holding spaces
5
Q
when were ghettos established?
A
- 21st of Sept 1939, Heydrich issued order to chiefs of Einsatzgruppen that Jews in Poland were to be concentrated in large towns and cities near railways lines + councils of Jewish leaders were to be set up to administer the newly uprooted Jewish communities
- no detail as to how Jews would live, left up to local authorities
- Dec 1940, first major ghetto set up in Lodz (2nd largest Polish city 320,000 Jews living there)
- following two years hundreds of ghettos were established across Poland
6
Q
what were the types of Ghettos?
A
- open, no fences or walls but still restrictions against who could enter/leave and when/how often
- closed, closed in by fences or walls, leaving/entering prohibited - made conditions very unsanitary (huge shortages in food and water = high death rate)
- destruction, spaces in towns and cities sealed for short periods of time before Jews were deported to extermination camps + murdered
7
Q
who controlled the ghettos?
A
- SS set up + ensured administration ran smoothly
- Jewish Councils (Judenrate) set up to carry out day-to-day running (controlled by SS + had to comply with demands)
- Jewish Council of Elders responsible for food, health, finance and security
- Jewish authorities worked within regulations but tried to get around where possible (eg illegal black food market)
- Jewish leaders organised prayers + religious festivals (strictly prohibited)
- illegal schools + printing presses
- most Jewish elders in positions of authority acted responsibly and die their best to relieve suffering but some accused of collaborating w/ Nazis
8
Q
life in the ghettos?
A
- basic necessities scarce
- Jews sent to ghettos had their homes confiscated + most had to sell their valuables to survive
- in Warsaw average 6/7 people shared a room, 15 lived in average apartment
- lack of clean running water or proper sewage systems = disease and lice infestations
- medical supplies were scarce (restricted how much/if any entered) + diseases spread rapdily ❗️ spotted fever, typhus, typhoid and tb
- food scarce that many died of starvation (some tried to smuggle in, would be killed if found out)
- no regular sources of income, relied on black markets
- could b used for construction work or making clothes ➡️ very long hours in brutal conditions
- for some work offered temp lifeline, receiving extra rations but still minimal + chance to escape the ghetto walls and smuggle food
9
Q
the Warsaw Ghetto?
A
- largest ghetto in Poland
- Nov 1940, fully sealed from rest of Warsaw
- over 400,000 Jews concentrated there
- Jews + Gypsies forced out of the countryside and into the ghetto
- richer Jews housed in the ‘small ghetto’ but most squeezed in the ‘large ghetto’ (overcrowded)
- Jews received 300 calories a day
- more than 100,000 died 1940-41
10
Q
how did the policy of ghettoisation fit within overall Nazi racial policy?
A
- allows ethnic cleansing of Greater Germany
- fulfils destiny of Aryans to rule over inferior races
- separation because Jews posed deadly threat to German Volk
- War with Russia = War of racial annihilation
- illustrates the ‘chaos’ and ever changing nature of racial policy (orders from the top to establish ghettos but not where in cities, how etc)
11
Q
who were the Einsatzgruppen?
A
- set up by Heydrich in 1941 to secure govt buildings and to seize official files at the time of the Anschluss with Austria and when Germany occupied Prague
- temporary unit made up of police and regular troops commanded by the Gestapo, SD and SS to eliminate communist officials, Red army commissars, partisans and the Jewish-Bolshevist intelligentsia
- actions went far beyond their original aim➡️carried out numerous mass killings of soviet Jews in the second half of 1941
12
Q
what did the Einsatzgruppen do?
A
- responsible for mass shootings of Jews and forcing Jews in Ghettos in the cities
- killed 15,000 people in Poland
- 40,000 men involved
- Jewish men being shot with the extra manpower Jewish women and children were also shot
- some groups restricted their killing to only the ‘intelligentsia’ and partisans but other groups set about killing as many Jews as possible
- in the Baltic States special group A shot 250,000 Jews in 1941 when in the same period group B short 45,000
