the 'final solution' Flashcards
From what years did the Nazis implement the final solution?
1942 to early 1945.
What was fixed in Hitler’s ideology before 1933?
That if the Nazis ever came to power, it was certain that Jewish people faced harmful consequences.
What opened the Nazis up to increasingly violent persecution of the Jews?
The Reichkristallnacht in November 1938.
What was an important precondition for the Holocaust to take place?
The Second World War, with Hitler explicitly linking the war in Europe with the fate of the Jews.
When did it become clear that the war was of racial annihilation?
When the decision was taken in late 1940 to turn the war eastwards against the Soviet Union.
What had led to radical new policies against the Jews in late 1941? [3]
- Nazi regime had to face fact that complete conquest of Soviet Union had not been completed
- Plans to send Jews to Madagascar or Siberia had to be abandoned
- Vast numbers of Jews in the General Government were too many for authorities to cope with
What was the key moment in the implementation of systematic murder in Germany?
The Wannsee Conference.
When was the Wannsee Conference held?
20th January 1942.
Why had the Wannsee Conference had to be pushed back?
Originally scheduled to take place in December 1941, but military crisis caused by Soviet counter-offensive at Moscow in the first week of December, as well as Pearl Harbour and Japan and US entering the war pushed it back.
What is the importance of the Wannsee Conference frequently misrepresented as? What was it in reality?
As the occasion when the final decision was taken to exterminate Europe’s Jews.
It was actually a meeting to inform senior bureaucrats of their roles in implementing a decision that had already been taken.
When do most historians now agree that the decision of the Wannsee Conference had actually been made?
Fairly soon after their invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22nd.
What about the Wannsee Conference is still up for debate?
Exactly what the decision was that was being relayed to the members.
What are the possible ideas for the decision made for the Wannsee Conference? [3]
- The signal for a new policy of all-out genocide
- Decision to widen the existing programme of deportations to ‘reservations’ in the east
- Sudden emergency deportation forced by the fact the German conquest of Soviet Union had unexpectedly stalled
What did the Wannsee Conference comprise of?
15 high-ranking Nazi officials, but Hitler and Himmler were not in attendance.
Who was the chairman of the Wannsee Conference?
Reinhard Heydrich, the most powerful man in the SS after Himmler.
Who had Heydrich received orders from for the Wannsee Conference and what were these orders?
Hermann Goering, who was empowering Heydrich to organise the preparations for the ‘Final Solution’ to the ‘Jewish question’.
What is the debate between historians of the driving force behind the Wannsee Conference?
Some believe it was unwritten order from Hitler, whilst others speculate Heydrich was action on his own initiative to enhance his power and authority.
What actions followed soon after the Wannsee Conference that proves the purpose of the meeting was to clarify a previously confused situation concerning deportations?
The civilian authorities had been willing to follow the lead of the RSHA and not make objections. Deportations of the Jews was no longer to vague destinations, but now to specific areas where there were organised camp systems, where the way was open to coordinate and accelerate mass killings.
Between what time period were more than half of all Jews to die in the Holocaust murdered?
February 1942 and February 1943.
What was expected to happen when the war turned against Germany in 1942-43? What actually happened instead?
It was expected the Nazi regime would slacken its attempts to exterminate the Jews and focus their efforts on fighting the Allies.
Instead, the mass killings were accelerate and given higher priority than military needs, with Nazi propaganda becoming more hate filled than before.
What is the intensification of the Nazi propaganda war against Jews closely in parallel with?
The periods of crisis in Germany’s war effort.
What are some examples of the failing war effort linking with Nazi propaganda drives against the Jews? [3]
- German surrender at Stalingrad February 1943, linked with Goebbels’ ‘Total War’ speech in Berlin in mid-Feb, followed by massive propaganda drive in Nazi press
- Autumn 1943, mass bombing raids and Red Army pushing back German forces in the east, led to similar surge of anti-Jewish propaganda
- Summer 1944, Allied landings in France led to another surge
What did numerous articles and speeches made by leading Nazis emphasise about the war’s aim?
That it would result in the destruction of the Jews.
What are some states that had their Jewish populations rounded up for deportation? [4]
- France
- Italy
- Greece
- Slovakia
What happened to Jewish ghettos at Minsk and Vilnius?
They were destroyed.
When had all remaining Jews of Amsterdam been deported to Auschwitz?
In February 1944.
What had become clear by summer 1944? What happened to the ‘Final Solution’ as a result?
That Germany faced inevitable defeat in the war, but this realisation did not cause the ‘Final Solution’ to be abandoned. Instead it had a reverse effect.
When did the Nazis start to move and close down the killing machine?
Only once the Soviet armies had advanced deep into Poland in November 1944, trying to conceal what they had been up to.
How did the Nazis try to conceal the evidence of the Holocaust? [2]
- Crematoria at Auschwitz were blown up and hastily covered over
- Surviving prisoners were pressed into forced marches westwards, away from the Red army
What made total destruction of evidence of the Holocaust impossible?
The sheer size of the complex at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
When was Auschwitz liberated?
In January 1945, when Soviet forces advanced westwards through Poland.
What followed in the months after Auschwitz was liberated?
Allied armies drove deeper into the Reich. In the west, American forces liberated Dachau and Mauthausen. In the north, British forces liberated Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald.
When had Hitler died?
May 1945, Germany had surrendered, and the full horror of the camps was finally becoming apparent.
What is it important not to confuse death camps with?
The wider system of concentration camps for political prisoners that had existed from the early Third Reich.
Where were there ‘ordinary’ concentration camps? [4]
Near almost every main population centre in Germany:
- Dachau, near Berlin
- Bergen-Belsen, near Hannover
- Buchenwald, near Weimar
- Mauthausen, near Upper Austria
What differed concentration camps to death camps?
They were not designed as centres of extermination, but were still brutal nonetheless.
What types of prisoners did concentration camps hold?
All sorts, from Catholics to homosexuals, from socialists to petty criminals.
What was German public opinion on concentration camps?
Most knew at least a little about the camps, some even approved of their existence, satisfied with punishment of ‘social deviants’. Most people feared the camps though.
What was at the heart of the system of camps in eastern occupied territories from the end of 1941?
Extermination, these were death camps built for the specific purpose of killing Untermenschen.
Why had the entrance to Auschwitz Birkenau become the ultimate emotive symbol of the process?
It was the place where new arrivals were unloaded from the trains, and those deemed ‘unproductive’ were selected for immediate transfer to the gas chambers.
How many victims of the Holocaust died in Auschwitz?
Around 1/5.
What was the first death camp to be established?
Chelmno, about 40 miles from Lodz (Poland).
How were killings in Chelmno first carried out?
In mobile gas vans using carbon monoxide.
What substance was later used to carry out the killings of Jews in early 1942?
Zyklon B.
How many people died at Chelmno?
About 145,000.
Where was Chelmno situated?
In a part of Poland designated for ‘Germanisation’, but other camps were built further east, outside the German Reich.
What was Majdanek and when was it built?
It was a camp near Lublin, Poland, originally built in late 1940 as an ordinary concentration camp. From late 1941 it became a death camp.
How many people died in Majdanek? What percentage were Jews?
About 200,000, with 60% being Jews, the others were Soviet prisoners of war or Polish political prisoners.
Where was the camp of Belzec?
Near Lvov, Poland.
When did Belzec transform from a labour camp to a death camp? When was it closed down?
From March 1942, until being shut down in the spring of 1943.
How many Jews were killed in Belzec?
More than half a million Jews, with several thousand Gypsies.
Where was the camp of Sobibor? Why was it built?
Near Lublin. It was built as part of the construction programme agreed upon at the Wannsee Conference.
How many victims died at Sobibor?
250,000, mostly Jews and Soviet prisoners of war.
What happened in Sobibor in October 1943? What happened to the camp as a result of it?
A Jewish revolt led to the escape of 800 prisoners. The camp was closed down on Himmler’s orders soon afterwards.
Where was the camp of Treblinka? What was its purpose?
75 miles from Warsaw, and was constructed for the purpose of mass killing.
How long was Treblinka in operation for? How many people died during this period?
From July 1942 to September 1943, almost 1 million people were murdered there. First about 300,000 Jews from Warsaw and later Jews from all over central Europe.
What company was the chief manufacturer of the poisonous gas which allowed for the mass killings to take place?
I.G. Farben, leading to a lot of controversy after the war.
When did Auschwitz become the hub of the vast killing machine?
In 1943 and 1944, the development of the camp took a considerable time.
What were the main killing centres until mid-1943? [3] Why had most of these been closed down?
- Sobibor
- Belzec
- Treblinka
They’d been closed down after the Jewish populations in their vicinity had been killed.
Why was Auschwitz I overshadowed by Auschwitz II?
Auschwitz II, the huge camp at Birkenau, was the arrival centre for transports from the west, and was the place where the main gas chambers and crematoria were.
What was the role of Auschwitz III?
It was a huge industrial complex, producing munitions and other essential goods for the war effort
What did Nazi authorities do in attempts to prevent the extensive Jewish resistance? How successful was this?
By intimidation and by concealing what was actually happening until the last possible moment.
It was only partially successful, and there were many instances of protest.
What should not obscure the fact that Jewish resistance was there?
That it could only ever be small in scale and had no chance of lasting success.
What did many groups of partisan fighters establish across Eastern Europe?
Base camps deep in the forests, carrying out acts of sabotage against the German occupiers.
How many Jewish partisans were active in Lithuania in early 1942?
10,000.
What were the types of partisan groups in Eastern Europe?
Mostly nationalist or communist, but also numerous Jewish groups.
What did Nazi governor of the General Government, Hans Frank, have to do to deal with Jewish partisans?
He had to commit large security forces to try and deal with more than 20 different Jewish partisans groups.
Who led the Jewish resistance group active in Belarus from autumn 1941 onwards?
The Bielski Brothers
How many permanent partisans did the Bielski group have?
It became a permanent community of 1200 partisans.
What did the Bielski group also do in addition to acts of sabotage?
Provided refuge for Jews escaping from the ghettos.
When did a large rising break out in the Warsaw ghetto?
January 1943.
What were the events of the uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943?
It took the SS by surprise since 80% of the Jews in Warsaw had already been sent to Treblinka.
First attempts to crush it failed. Only in May 1943 was the last resistance in the ghetto finally crushed by 2000 German troops, using heavy weapons and supported by air strikes.
Where were there other organised revolts in 1943?
In the Sobibor and Treblinka death camps.
What resistance was there in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944?
Jewish prisoners blew up Crematorium 4.
What did a network of Jewish organisations smuggle to the western Allies?
Detailed evidence to inform them about the Nazi extermination programme.
Why was there little impact of the messages passed to western embassies of the Nazi extermination programmer? [2]
- Western governments found it difficult to take in the full horror
- So difficult to take any practical action to stop it.
Why didn’t military defeat of the Third Reich bring an end to the suffering of the victims of the Holocaust?
AS German forces pulled back from autumn 1944, the Nazi regime carried out a frantic programme of evacuations and forced marches.
Camps were hurriedly closed down and inmates sent on long marches westwards, away from advancing Red Army.
What were the conditions of the death marches? [7]
- Caused terrible suffering and loss of life
- Often in freezing winter weather
- People were already malnourished
- Had inadequate shoes + clothing
- Many died of illness + exhaustion
- Hundreds shot by guards for failing to keep up pace
- If survived first march to the new camp, were forced to do it all over again once allied forces drew nearer
What is the estimated range of victims who died on the death marches?
250,000 to 400,000, many of them being women.
How long did the death marches go on for?
Right up until the end of the war.
What are the 3 simplistic terms thought of for Hitler’s responsibility for the Holocaust?
- Motivated from the start by fanatical anti-Semitism
- Dominated all aspects of power and propaganda in Germany
- All Germans either supported his ideas or were incapable of opposing him due to terror and intimidation
Why is the ‘Final Solution’ much bigger than one man?
Industrialised murder on such a huge scale required actions and decisions by many Nazi leaders and thousands of lesser officials. Millions of ordinary people were involved in acts of persecution, deportations or mass killings.
What types of Nazis were competing for Hitler’s approval? [3] What did this mean in terms of responsibility for the ‘Final Solution’?
- Men like Himmler, Heydrich and Eichmann, at the head of the enormous machinery of the SS
- Other leading Nazis such as Goering, Bormann, Goebbels and Speer
- Middle and lower levels, thousands of lesser officials carried out orders of persecution, deportation and death
All levels shared at least some responsibility.
What does the view that the German people as a whole were responsible for genocide suggest?
That there was some kind of national defect in the Germans that made them vote for Hitler and then become his ‘willing executioners’.
