The Final Solution Flashcards
When did a group of leading Nazis meet to discuss the quickest and cheapest way to kill all the Jews left in Europe?
In early January 1942.
Where did a group of leading Nazis meet to discuss the quickest and cheapest way to kill all the Jews left in Europe?
In the elegant Berlin neighbourhood of Wannsee.
How many Jews were estimated to still be left in Europe by 1942?
11 million.
What was the Final Solution?
A plan to exterminate the entire Jewish population using poison gas.
What is the term used for the discrimination of Jews?
Anti-semitism
Give 2 examples of anti-semitism before Nazi Germany?
-Jews were blamed for the death of Jesus Christ
-Jews were blamed for the outbreak of Black Death in the 1300s
What had meant people often became jealous of Jews’ ‘privileged’ lives?
Jews valued education highly and often gained well-paid positions as doctors, lawyers or businessmen.
Give another example of anti-semitism by a king:
In 1290, King Edward I expelled all Jews from England, and they were banned from returning for over 350 years.
What reason do some argue about Hitler’s own hatred for Jews, relative to his past?
some argue he could have been jealous of the richer Jewish population in Vienna when he was living there as a struggling young artist
What 3 things did Hitler believe Jews had caused?
-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
As soon as Hitler came to power in 1933, what were non-Jewish Germans bombarded with regarding Jewish people?
Speeches, news articles and even films showing how evil, selfish and damaging the Jews were to the German nation.
Name one Nazi-owned propaganda in 1934:
Headlined ‘Jewish Murder Plan Against Non-Jewish Mankind Uncovered’, with a subheading that read ‘The Jews Are Our Misfortune’
What carers were Jews banned from having?
Government jobs or careers in medicine, teaching or journalism
Name the 2 acts in the Nuremberg Laws:
-The Reich Citizen Act
-The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour
What happened in November 1938?
Under orders from Goebbels, SS troops carried out a nationwide campaign of terror against the Jews.
How many Jewish shops had their windows broken during Kristallnacht?
Around 10,000.
How many synagogues were burned down during Kristallnacht?
Nearly 200
What was the impact of war on the Jews?
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.
During the Second World War, how many Jews in which countries became trapped under Hitler’s rule throughout Europe?
-3 million Jews in Poland
-2.7 million Jews in Western Russia
-Over 1 million Jews in France, Denmark, Norway and the Balkans
In some countries, where were Jews bricked into?
Ghettos.
What were execution squads called?
Einsatzgruppen.
What did Einsatzgruppen even do?
They even went out into the countryside and shot or gassed as many Jews as they could find.
How many major death camps would be built for the purpose of the mass murder of every Jew in German territory?
6
Name one event of Jewish resistance (not in ghettos):
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.
