The Final Solution

Question 1

When did a group of leading Nazis meet to discuss the quickest and cheapest way to kill all the Jews left in Europe?

Answer 1

In early January 1942.

Question 2

Where did a group of leading Nazis meet to discuss the quickest and cheapest way to kill all the Jews left in Europe?

Answer 2

In the elegant Berlin neighbourhood of Wannsee.

Question 3

How many Jews were estimated to still be left in Europe by 1942?

Answer 3

11 million.

Question 4

What was the Final Solution?

Answer 4

A plan to exterminate the entire Jewish population using poison gas.

Question 5

What is the term used for the discrimination of Jews?

Answer 5

Anti-semitism

Question 6

Give 2 examples of anti-semitism before Nazi Germany?

Answer 6

-Jews were blamed for the death of Jesus Christ
-Jews were blamed for the outbreak of Black Death in the 1300s

Question 7

What had meant people often became jealous of Jews’ ‘privileged’ lives?

Answer 7

Jews valued education highly and often gained well-paid positions as doctors, lawyers or businessmen.

Question 8

Give another example of anti-semitism by a king:

Answer 8

In 1290, King Edward I expelled all Jews from England, and they were banned from returning for over 350 years.

Question 9

What reason do some argue about Hitler’s own hatred for Jews, relative to his past?

Answer 9

some argue he could have been jealous of the richer Jewish population in Vienna when he was living there as a struggling young artist

Question 10

What 3 things did Hitler believe Jews had caused?

Answer 10

-Germany’s defeat in the war as bankers and business men had not done enough to help
-The revolution in Germany which led to the Kaiser leaving
-The signing of the Treaty of Versailles

Question 11

As soon as Hitler came to power in 1933, what were non-Jewish Germans bombarded with regarding Jewish people?

Answer 11

Speeches, news articles and even films showing how evil, selfish and damaging the Jews were to the German nation.

Question 12

Name one Nazi-owned propaganda in 1934:

Answer 12

Headlined ‘Jewish Murder Plan Against Non-Jewish Mankind Uncovered’, with a subheading that read ‘The Jews Are Our Misfortune’

Question 13

What carers were Jews banned from having?

Answer 13

Government jobs or careers in medicine, teaching or journalism

Question 14

Name the 2 acts in the Nuremberg Laws:

Answer 14

-The Reich Citizen Act
-The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour

Question 15

What happened in November 1938?

Answer 15

Under orders from Goebbels, SS troops carried out a nationwide campaign of terror against the Jews.

Question 16

How many Jewish shops had their windows broken during Kristallnacht?

Answer 16

Around 10,000.

Question 17

How many synagogues were burned down during Kristallnacht?

Answer 17

Nearly 200

Question 18

What was the impact of war on the Jews?

Answer 18

Lots of Jews who had left the country found themselves back under Nazi rule when Germany invaded and occupied those countries during the Second World War.

Question 19

During the Second World War, how many Jews in which countries became trapped under Hitler’s rule throughout Europe?

Answer 19

-3 million Jews in Poland
-2.7 million Jews in Western Russia
-Over 1 million Jews in France, Denmark, Norway and the Balkans

Question 20

In some countries, where were Jews bricked into?

Answer 20

Ghettos.

Question 21

What were execution squads called?

Answer 21

Einsatzgruppen.

Question 22

What did Einsatzgruppen even do?

Answer 22

They even went out into the countryside and shot or gassed as many Jews as they could find.

Question 23

How many major death camps would be built for the purpose of the mass murder of every Jew in German territory?

Answer 23

6

Question 24

Name one event of Jewish resistance (not in ghettos):

Answer 24

When Einsatzgruppen soldiers arrived in some towns and villages, some Jews escaped to the forests and formed resistance groups. They attacked German soldiers and blew up railway lines that the Germans were using. However these groups were rare and hunted down ruthlessly.

Question 25

When was the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising?

Answer 25

1943

Question 26

How long did the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising last?

Answer 26

43 days, before the Germans finally regained control, arrested and executed all those involved, and burned down the ghetto.

Question 27

What is the best known rebellion in a death camp?

Answer 27

Treblinka in 1943.

Question 28

What happened in Treblinka in 1943?

Answer 28

One of the prisoners managed to get into the weapons store where he handed out guns and grenades. After setting the camp on fire, 150 prisoners managed to escape, killing 15 guards in the process.

Question 29

What happened once the Nazis regained control after the Treblinka incident?

Answer 29

All of the escapees were killed. Some 550 other prisoners were then killed by the Germans in revenge.

Question 30

How many Jews were killed by Nazis?

Answer 30

6 million.

Question 31

Name 3 famous death camps:

Answer 31

-Auschwitz
-Belzec
-Treblinka

Question 32

How many Jews were killed just in death camps?

Answer 32

3 million.

Question 33

Name 6 other types of people, other than loyal Nazis, who helped with the Final Solution?

Answer 33

-Ordinary people like railway workers
-Office clerks
-Typists
-Telephone operators
-Policemen
-Soldiers

Question 34

How did railway workers help with the Final Solution?

Answer 34

They loaded Jews onto cattle trucks bound for the camps.

Question 35

How many German companies used Auschwitz prisoners as slaves to build their goods?

Answer 35

Around 150.

Question 36

What did other firms compete for?

Answer 36

To contract to design and build the gas chambers and ovens in which people were murdered and burned.

Question 37

In 1934, a newspaper in one of Germany’s largest cities carried what headline?

Answer 37

‘Jews to be exterminated’.

Question 38

What are the arguments about governments in other countries knowing about what the Nazis were doing?

Answer 38

Many historians argue they knew something terrible was happening, but not the scale of it. They were in a difficult position too, as the camps were deep in the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe and bombing was the only option, but that wasn’t practical or humane.