Racial policies and the Holocaust Flashcards
what is the term given to the Nazi’s approach to anti-Semitism?
gradualist
progressed very slowly
when was the national boycott of Jewish businesses?
1 April 1933
how did the German people react to the boycott?
it was not universally accepted and caused bad publicity abroad
when were the Nuremberg Laws passed?
September 1935
what were the Nuremberg Laws?
- Reich Citizenship Act
- Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour
what was the Reich Citizenship Act?
only those with German or kindred blood could hold German citizenship
this in turn meant that Jews lost their citizenship
what was the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour?
marriages between Jews and German citizens became illegal
what anti-Semitic laws were passed in 1938?
- decree prohibiting Jews practicing medicine
- decree to expel 17,000 Jews in Poland
- decree to exclude Jews from school and university
in what ways did propaganda spread anti-Semitism?
- posters and sigs which discriminated Jews
- newspapers which were overtly anti-Semitic
- cinema (The Eternal Jew)
- Hitler Youth
why did anti-Semitic violence decrease after 1934?
- the Berlin Olympics put the spotlight on Germany
- conservative forces in power (like Schacht) had shown their disapproval for the anti-Semitic legislation
how did Anschluss have an effect on the Jews?
there were attacks on the 200,000 Jewish population in Vienna
when was Kristallnacht?
9 November 1938
what happened on Kristallnacht?
- 100 dead
- burning of 200 synagogues
- 20,000 Jews sent to camps
what was the supposed reason for Kristallnacht?
the assassination of Ernst von Rath by a Jew
who spearheaded Kristallnacht?
Goebbels called for mass violence against the Jews
why did Goebbels incite anti-Semitic violence on Kristallnacht?
he wanted to appeal to Hitler after making the mistake of having an affair with a Czech actress
when was the Central Office for Jewish Emigration set up?
in 1938
who oversaw the Central Office for Jewish Emigration?
Adolf Eichmann
what did Goring and Heydrich set up in January 1939?
Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration
how many Jews left Germany before the war?
half the population
what did Hitler make clear in a speech in 1939?
he wanted the Jewish population to be annihilated
how did anti-Semitism change once war broke out?
it took a massive turn for the worse with the start of the war marking the beginning of the Holocaust and the extermination of the Jewish people
how many Jews did the Nazis inherit after invading Poland?
3 million
what was a Jewish Ghetto?
areas used to house Jews in a city (Warsaw, Krakow)
what division was responsible for wiping out the Jews through military action?
SS Einsatzgruppen
4 divisions
how many Jews had Einsatzgruppen killed between between 1941-42
700,000
what methods did Einsatzgruppen use?
Mass shootings into ditches
Who wrote a report on the psychology behind Einsatzgruppen?
Browning
what conference determined the ‘final solution’ to the Jewish problem?
the Wannsee conference (20 January 1942) which was chaired by Reinhard Heydrich and organised by Adolf Eichmann
what had the Wannsee conference proposed?
the plan to kill all of Europe’s 11 million Jews by gas
examples of concentration camps
Treblinka
Auschwitz
Sobibor
who ran the concentration camps?
the Death’s Head unit of the Waffen SS
how many Polish Jews survived after the war?
4000 of the original 3 million
how many European Jews were murdered by the end of the war?
6 million
examples of atrocities
- Lidice massacre for Heydrich death
- Auscwhitz conditions
- Amon Goth at Krakow
