Section 6: Impact Of War 1939-45

Question 1

Outline the origins of the ‘Final Solution’

Answer 1

Complex and deep rooted, ideological goals fixed before 1933
Reichkristallnacht in November 1938 opened the way for increasingly violent persecution
WW2 essential precondition, late 1940 the war eastwards against SU war of racial annihilation
Late 1941 - radical new policies because Jews already deported to the General government, no victory achieved by end of 1941, final victory have to wait until the summer of 1942

Question 2

Explain the Wannsee Conference

Answer 2

Frequently misinterpreted as the occasions when the final decision to exterminate European Jews
Reality - inform senior bureaucrats of roles already been taken, decision came after invasion of SU 22 June
Hitler and Himmler were not in attendance, Heydrich received orders from Goering empowering him to organise the prep. for the ‘Final Solution’ to the ‘Jewish question’.
More than half of Jews exterminated between Feb 1942 and Feb 1943, open to co ordinate and accelerate mass killings

Question 3

Explain the Final Solution and its acceleration

Answer 3

War turned against Germany 1942-43, mass killings accelerated and given higher priority than military needs - E.g Feb 1944: remaining Jews of Amsterdam were deported to Aushwitz
Intensification of war against Jews: Spring 1943, Germany surrender Stalingrad,Goebbels delivered Total War speech, massive propaganda drive , Autumn 1943: G suffered mass bombing raids and getting pushed back by Red Army - similar surge of anti Jewish propaganda occurred, summer 1944: another surge
Emphasised that the war would result in the destruction of the Jews, did not actually specify ‘Final Solution’

Question 4

Outline the camp system

Answer 4

Conc camps were brutal places but were not designed as centres of extermination, some of population approved ‘social deviants’
Camp on the east 1941- fulfilled many different functions, death camps built for specific purpose of killing Untermenschen - Jews and ‘racial undesirables’
Chelmno first killing centre to be established in December 1941
Treblinka - September 1943: 1 million murdered

Question 5

Explain Jewish resistance

Answer 5

10,000 Jewish partsians active in Lithuanian in early 1942
Nazi governor, Hans Frank had to commit large security forces to deal with more than 20 partisan Jewish resistance groups
Warsaw uprising Jan 1943, supervised the SS - had 2000 German troops to crush revolt
Network of Jewish organisation smuggled to western embassies