Nazis Flashcards
What percentage of the German population were Jewish before WWII?
0.76%
What is the Theory of Vital Space?
○ The East was the natural expansion for Germans as they considered the Slavic populations worth to be enslaved or eradicated
Idea the Germans had the right as the Aryan race
What was the General Government?
When Poland was invaded, it was split into the annexed territories and the General Government. Initially, the General Government was a resettlement space for Jews in the Reich.
What did Generalplan Ost entail?
German aims in the East: - Re-ordering of Eastern Europe - Expulsion of Jews and undesirables e.g., Gypsies and Slavs - Germanization of the remaining: ○ 80% of Poles ○ 50% of Czechs ○ 50% of Russians 30% of Ukrainians
What was Operation Tannenberg?
The SS given orders to eliminate the clerical, political, aristocratic and military leadership of Poland
What does Shelley Baranowski say about the invasion of Poland?
“the German attack was an ideologically motivated total war aimed at the destruction of the polish nation”
What is Operation Barbarossa?
The invasion of the USSR on the 22nd June 1941. Also the largest war operation ever.
What did Hitler deem the war in the East?
A war of annihilation
What is Kommissabefeh?
German soldiers ordered to kill political commissars, Jews, the soviet secret police - reminiscent of Operation Tannenberg
What is Reichenau?
German soldiers not persecuted for crimes against civilians
Why was the USSR an enemy of Nazism?
Because the basis of Bolshevism was seen to be Jewry and this was to be eliminated
What role did the Einsatzgruppen play in Operation Barbarossa?
4 groups of between 600-1000 men were deployed as systematic death squads to kill male Jews. This extended to all Jews, including women and children, as the war progressed. A similar technique was deployed in Poland
By the end of 1941, how many police were deployed in battalions within the USSR?
33,000
What does Ian Kershaw deem the two crucial decisions taken by the Nazis?
- To kill the Jews of the USSR
2. To extend this killing to the whole of Europe
What did Hitler believe the end of the Jews would bring?
Salvation for Germany. This is because he believed Jewry was the root cause of both WWI and WWII.
What was unique about Poland’s population for the Nazis?
Ethnic Germans were a minority.
What was the initial plan for the final solution?
TO round up all Jews and dump them in far-east Poland - genocidal implications as they had no intentions of sustaining the Jewish population once they reached their destination
Can we be sure when the decision to enact the final solution took place?
No, due to the high levels of secrecy among party leaders. Camouflage language and hushed tones meant very few people knew of the actual plans. Instead, historians base their findings of circumstantial evidence.
Ian Kershaw argues it was a series of authorizations that culminated in a decision.
When the Germans invaded Poland how many Jews did they now “contend” with?
3.25 million
After the initial final solution was disproved, what was the second idea?
To relocate them to Madagascar but this failed after the counter-offensive in the West increased. An increasing number of Jews also meant it was logistically impossible/extremely hard
After the invasion of the USSR, how many more Jews succumbed to Nazi rule?
1 million more
Why did the Nazis hope for a rapid victory over the USSR?
So as to quickly “resettle” the ever-increasing number of Jews in Siberia and enact “racial cleansing” on an unprecedented scale
How many people did the Nazis plan to “resettle” in Siberia?
31 million over the next 25 years but they did not account for the 5-6 million Jews who seemingly disappeared in the first few years
In the summer of 1941, what did the term “final solution” mean?
It meant territorial resettlement with genocidal implications. Now in the East instead of Madagascar.
Why was there a move away from the General Government?
To make way for Polish Workers
In what ways was the USSR a salvation mission for the Nazis?
As they were controlled by Bolsheviks they wanted to “restore peace to a country that suffered from the oppression of a criminal Jewish group”
In September 1941, what did Hitler order that radicalized the treatment of Jews further?
The deportation of all Reich Jews. Jews in ghettos incapable of work - i.e., the elderly, children or the infirm- now killed
In September 1941, what instructions were given as how to treat Jews?
Those being sent Jews were told to act as “they saw fit”. Many began to act as they imagined they should and mass shooting now spread beyond the USSR
Why was the use of gas introduced?
In Himmler’s eyes, it was more humane for the killers. Gas-vans were employed and according to Kershaw, the fundamental decision to kill Europe’s Jews had been taken.
Why was deportation to Siberia abandoned?
Because in September the Soviets launched a strong counter-offensive
Why was Pearl Harbour so significant for the holocaust?
Because it signified American entry to the war and in 1939, Hitler “prophesied” that if there was t o be another world war, the Jews would be decimated. America’s entry meant warfare was now global and the Jews had to be destroyed as a “necessary consequence”
What does Ian Kershaw say would have happened if the Soviets conceded defeat?
“If the invasion of the Soviet Union proceeded as the German leadership hoped it would, the “final solution” known to history would not have taken that particular form.” - “only the method and timing would have differed” - BUT they would have suffered the same fate
According to Baranowski, what was the first use of Einsatzgruppen? What did this signify?
To combat “anti-german elements” in Poland. Signified the first aggression against non-German Jews - directed/targeted sentiments that were to worsen
In what ways did the German invasion of Poland reflect European colonialism?
Baranowski:
Economic exploitation, exploitation of labour, expulsion of indigenous peoples, the suspension of European “warfare” rules in the fight against subordinate savages. For Baranowski, Poland was the first trial of “Nazi colonialism”
For Baranowski, the East offered the Germans the opportunity to do what?
“undo the shame of Versailles”
