The Holocaust Flashcards
Key Points - History of Antisemitism
- Jews were disliked for centuries
- Blamed for the death of Jesus
Called devils/rats etc. - Used as a scapegoat for the Great Depression in Germany
What did the Nazi’s pledge to do, which attracted many supporters?
Many Germans perceived the parliamentary government coalition as weak and unable to alleviate the economic crisis.The Nazis pledged to restore German cultural values, reverse the provisions of the Treaty of Versailees, turn back the perceives threat of a Communist uprising, put the German people back to work, and restore Germany to its ‘rightful position’ as a world power.
What was the Munich Putsch
8th November, 1923, Hitler attempted to pull of a military coup and overthrow the Weimar Republic. It involved many deaths and violence on Munich streets, and consequently, Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison (he only spent 9 months).
Pogrom
an organised massacre of a particular ethnic group
propaganda
Information of biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.
How did Hitler rise to power?
In January 1933, Hitler did not immediately become dictator. He became chancellor, and transformed Germany by manipulating the democratic and political system. He and the Nazis used existing laws to destroy Gerrman democracy and create a dictatorship.
When did Hindenburg die, and Hitler become dictator?
August 1934
Gleichschaltung
THe process by which the Nazi Party took control of all aspects of Germany, otherwise know as ‘Nazification’. Including leisure, education, trade, economy and culture.
What was the Reich Citizenship Law?
Defined a citizen as a person who is ‘of German or related blood’. This meant that Jews, defined as a separate race, could not be full citizens of Germany; they had no political rights.
The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor
a law against what the Nazis viewed as race-mixing or ‘race defilement’. It banned future intermarriage and sexual relations between Jews and people of ‘German or related blood’.
Kristallnacht
Event described as the ‘night of broken glass’. It was a series of Nazi-organised pogroms that, on the night of 9th November 1938 and throughout the following day, unleashed 24 hours of violence in cities throughout Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland.
Concentration camp
refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy.
Purpose of concentration camps
- incarnate real and perceives ‘enemies of the state’
- eliminate individuals and small targeted groups of individuals by murder, away from public review
- Exploit forced labor of the prisoner population.
The SS
established as Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit. Assumed leading responsibility for security, identification of ethnicity, settlement and population policy and intelligence collection/analysis
The Gestapo
politcal police force, protecting the regime from its supposed racial and political enemies.
