The Holocaust

Question 1

What was the purpose of anti-Jewish propaganda?

Answer 1

To convince Germans that Jews were to blame for the defeat in World War 2 and convince Germans that expelling Jews would allow Germany to flourish again.

Question 2

What was the first stage of persecution against the Jews?

Answer 2

Hitler ordered a boycott of Jewish businesses and shops however not very effective as many Germans saw Jews as simply Germans as well.

Question 3

What was the enabling act and when was it introduced?

Answer 3

It was enacted in 1933 and it gave Hitler almost dictatorship powers. He could now make laws without the Reich consent.

Question 4

What were some examples of Nazi propaganda?

Answer 4

-The Nazi propaganda in the newspapers which spread rumors about Jews being sex offenders
-Popular children’s books e.g The poisonous toadstool spread rumors to the next generation about Jews being dangerous
-Propaganda also linked Jews to communism which Germans hated

Question 5

What was the idea of Racial Hygiene about?

Answer 5

LGBTQ+ community and disabled targeted, very traditional and patriarchal views about women and men e.g marraige encouraged, education for women limited and abortion only allowed for Jews or those with children going to have some kind of interlectual disability.

Question 6

What were the impacts of the Nuremburg laws?

Answer 6

These laws made lives for Jews and non-Jews very different. Because Jewish people no longer classified citizens then can no longer access government rights or services.

Question 7

What were some of the things in the 25 Point Programme?

Answer 7

-Equality for the rights of german people in respect to other nations = abolition of TOV
-Only a member of the race can be a citizen
-Unlimited authority of the central parliament over the whole reich = enabling act
-Land and territory = living space (Lebensraum)
-Racially pure society = Volkgemeinschaft

Question 8

What were some other laws put in place to limit Jews in German society?

Answer 8

• Not allowed to own property
• Jewish children not allowed to attend school
• Restricted access to public transport
• Jewish people not allowed to attend German movie theatres, movie cinemas or concert halls

Question 9

Reasons for Kristalnacht

Answer 9

A Jewish man supposedly murdered a german ambassador for the poor treatment of his sister > Nazi government use this and launch what becomes known as Kristallnacht

Question 10

What was the significance/impacts of Kristallnacht

Answer 10

• Collective fine of 400 million dollars for Jews
• Confiscation of insurance payment to all Jewish shops that had been destroyed
• 7500 shops/businesses destroyed
• 30,000 Jewish men sent to concentration camps
• Approx. 100 Jews killed

Question 11

What were the reasons for establishing ghettos?

Answer 11

• Isolate Jews from non-Jews as they were seen as dangerous and spreaders of disease
• Control and seggregate jews - show thet aryans were better
• Progression of persecution

Question 12

What was life like inside the ghettos?

Answer 12

• Severely cramped (In Warsaw ghetto, 30% of city’s population living in 2.4% of the city)
• Starvation with only 186 calories per day in ration for warsaw ghetto with german soldiers having 2600
• No autonomy/freedom, school wasn’t allowed, isolated and dehumanised, performed forced labour

Question 13

What were the reasons for the Babi Yar massacre?

Answer 13

Eizengruppen (mobile death killing squads) told they weren’t killing enough jews > babi yar where everyone was targeted including women and children in an attempt to cleanse (judenfrei)

Question 14

What happened in the massacre?

Answer 14

28th September: A notice was posted ordering all Jews to meet at an intersection with all belongings.
They expected 5-6,000 but actually got 30,000.
Forced to undress and leave belonging before being lead down a ravine at least 15m deep where they faced their fate and were shot.

Question 15

What was the impact/significance of the Babi Yar Massacre?

Answer 15

Over 30,000 Jews were brutally murdered,

Question 16

What was the three things the Holocasut actually involved?

Answer 16

Persecution/ghettos/imprisionmet, mass executions/massacres, extermination camps/gas chambers (the final solution)

Question 17

What was the final solution and how was it developed?

Answer 17

Final solution = mass murders of jews through the use of gas.
Hitler orders Himmler who then gets Hermann to order Heydritch who develops the idea of mass slaughters with gas to reduce psycological impacts, faster and more efficient

Question 18

What was the date of the Wansee conference and what actually happened?

Answer 18

20th January 1942. Final solution was revealed and agreed upon.

Question 19

Name some extermination camps and what the killing agent was?

Answer 19

Auchwitz, treblinka, chelmno, belzec. Gas = carbon monoxide, zylon b

Question 20

What was the process of carrying out the final solution?

Answer 20

-Transportation by trains = 150 packed into small carraiges, no food/water for average four day trip, bucket for toilet
-Once arrived at extermination camps > selection process where split into women and men and taken to camp doctor to be determined if could work or not
-1.1 million taken to Auchwitz and 200,000 = forced labor

Question 21

What was the general life like for those in death camps?

Answer 21

Strict timetable, roll call every morning in often extreme weather for often hours, random killings, given just enough food to be kept alive

Question 22

What were the Sonderkommando and what was their role?

Answer 22

They were specially chosen for their strength and build tots aid the Nazis in carrying out gas chambers. They would lie to jews, tell them they were going for a shower, shave victims hair, carry out bodies to crematorium, crush bones etc
They lived in seperate barracks to rest of jews, considered bearers of secrets and killed off every 2-3 months

Question 23

How did other nations contribute to the Holocaust?

Answer 23

They transported their own Jewish population as well as carrying out acts of persecution in their own country,
Croatia = Developed own concentration syestem (Jasonvec Complex) = 2/3 of croatia’s jews died here) By the end of the war, 80% of Jewish population in Croatia had been killed
Romania = pogrom carried out called the Iron Guard = 1000 Jews killed
Romania = deported jews to transnistria where left them with no food, water or resources + also carried out single largest massacre where 54,000 killed.In total, between 280,000 and 380,000 jews were killed in transnistria

Question 24

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising why did people resist?

Answer 24

Deportations to Treblinka were beginning again

Question 25

What was the significance of the Warsaw ghetto uprising?

Answer 25

Largest and most important jewish uprising whcih was the first urban uprising against germany in occupied europe, inspired other uprsisings, 300,000 deaths total, 50,000 jews lived in hiding

Question 26

Reasons for the Sobibor Uprising

Answer 26

Deportations to the camp began to slow down and rumours that the camp was going to be dismantled and everyone was going to be killed

Question 27

What happened in the Sobibor uprising?

Answer 27

Lured SS commanders in, killed them and then stole weapons, SS became suspicious and warfare broke out

Question 28

Impacts/significance of Sobibor uprising?

Answer 28

11 SS staff killed, two or more ukranian guards, 300 prisioners fled and borke out, at least 100 were caught in massive man hunt and only 50 actually survived

Question 29

What were the three reasosn for the evacuation of camps and death marches?

Answer 29

• Didn’t want prisioners falling into the hands of Soviet soliders and hearing of horrific stories
• needed prisioners to maintain production of rearmaments
• hoped to use them as hostages to bargain for peace in the west to ensure survival of nazi regime.

Question 30

What were the conditions of the death marches?

Answer 30

Long death marches in freezing weather with little food, shot down if kill, burnings of killing centres and warehouses to eliminate prood

Question 31

What happened at the liberation of Auchwitz?

Answer 31

9000 prisioners liberated, 40km of eye glasses found, no food or water ledft 44,000 shoes left

Question 32

What was the liberation of Bergen - Belsen like?

Answer 32

Disbelief that come to saved them, bodies laying everywhere, starvation and sickness

Question 33

What was the aftermath of the liberation like?

Answer 33

Allied doctors worked furiously but little could be done, 14,000 people from bergen belsen died after 5 days and annother 14,000 in the next few weeks. Some returned home to look for family, others still feared persecution

Question 34

What were the Nuremburg trials?

Answer 34

It was where Nazi war criminals were tried

Question 35

What law was introduced for the first time?

Answer 35

the crimes against humanity

Question 36

What were the results of the Major war criminals trial?

Answer 36

24 individuals tried = 18 found gruilty, 4 acquitted, 2 died and 12 sentenced to death

Question 37

What were some defence used by the germans?

Answer 37

The actions were committed before the laws were made, victors justice = unfair, state should be found guilty X individual

Question 38

What was the fairness of the Nuremburg trials?

Answer 38

Very controversial as only axis powers tried despite war crimes on both sides

Question 39

What was the significance of the Nuremberg trials?

Answer 39

First international war crimes tribunal in history , 71% of germans said they learnt something new, most nazis not actually punnished for crimes`

Answer 41

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