The Final Solution Flashcards
How many Jews were systematically murdered?
6 million
Who were victims other than the Jews that the Nazis killed?
- Soviet prisoners of war
- Gypsies
- Disabled
- Asocials
These groups are all apart of the Untermenschen
Who were the Untermenschen?
Anyone the Nazis deemed subhuman and threatened the purity of the German Volk
Origins of the Final Solution
Hitlers ideological goals were fixed before 1933 and if the Nazis came to power Jews would face harmful consequences
Reichkristallnacht opened the way for persecution and WWII was an essential precondition to create a war of racial annihilation
Problems facing the Nazi regime late 1941 led to radical new policies
What was the Final Solution?
Final policy implemented towards the Jews - genocide
The ‘Jewish Problem’ got larger and the Nazis had a growing support that facilitated the decision
Wannsee Conference
20th Jan 1942
Held by Reinhard Heydrich (second most powerful man in SS after Himmler) it was decided 11 million Jews fall under the Final Solution Provisions
This was much more widespread and more violent than any previous persecution
Hitler authorised Heydrich to do this and the killings were acclerated
What happened regarding the Final Solution and the war turning against Germany?
More than half of the Jews that died in the Holocaust died between Feb 1942-Feb 43
The worse the Germans were doing in war the more they accelerated the extermination and efforts to cover their tracks (Auschwitz crematoria blown up)
Operation Reinhard
Codename for the German Plan to murder the 2 million Jews in Germany - occupied Poland
1942
Types of Camps
- Concentration
- Death
- Transit camps
Death Camps and examples
Purely killing centres
First to open was Chelmno in December 1941 but most opened in 1942 after operation Reinhard
Sobibor and Treblinka were main camps until mid 1943 when all Jews in the vicinity had been killed
Auschwitz (seperate fc)
Auschwitz
The largest killing centre that was also a labour camp
Prisoners faced selection process in which those judged to be fit for work were selected for labour otherwise they would be kileld
4 chambers in operation where 6,000 Jews were gassed daily
Concentration camps overview
Detention and labour centres
First camp opened in 1935 for political opponents
More were built from 1939 for Jews, homosexuals, gypsy and the disabled
Concentration camps conditions and work
They were filthy, unhygienic and prisoners treated with zero respect
Slow workers were shot and mothers had to ditch their babies in order to keep up
Diet in concentration camps
Prisoners ate a maximum of 400 calories a day and became so light it would take half an hour to die whilst being hung
Transit Camps
Prisoners briefly detained prior to deportation to other Nazi Camps
Conditions on the trains to camps
Cramped with minimal light and fresh air and a bucket in the middle of the carriage
4 Reasons Jews didn’t resist
- Terror state
- Many thought it would pass
- Made up only 1% of the population
- Felt Germany was their home
3 Examples of Jews resisting
- Escaping camps (Treblinka and Sobibor)
- Armed revolts (Warsaw Ghetto)
- Partisan activity (Bielski Partisans)
Resistance at Sobibor and Treblinka 1943
Sobibor - prisoners killed SS officers and 200 escaped
Treblinka - 300 escaped but only 70 survived after the Nazi pursuit
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943
First efforts to crush the revolt failed but a second attempt of 2,000 heavily armed troops crushed the revolt
13,000 Jews died and the remaining residents of the ghetto sent to camps
Why did the Warsaw Uprising surprise the Nazis?
80% of the ghetto residents had been shipped off to death camps
Bielski Partisans
Sabotaged Nazis and provided refuge for Jews
Why were inmates sent on Death Marches?
Camps by late 1944 were being hurriedly shut down and inmates were sent on long marches away from the advancing Red Army as a part of forced evacuations
Conditions and death toll of the Death Marches
People were already malnourished and ill-equipped. Many died of exhaustion, illness or shot for marching too slowly
Many had to march from camp to camp
Between 250k-400k died
