The Holocaust Flashcards
What is the Holocaust?
The Holocaust (1933-1945) was a systematic form of genocide, under Nazi authority, of people considered undesirable such as gypsies, roma, black people, disabled people, homosexuals, Jehovah witnesses and famously Jews.
By the end of the Holocaust, how many Jews had been killed?
6 million Jews had died
Name 3 concentration camps
Dachau, Auschwitz and Ravensbruck
Define Final Solution
The final solution was a Nazi systematic plan to wipe out all Jews across Europe through mass murder.
When did the Holocaust start and finish?
1933-1945
What kind of experiments did the Nazi’s do?
Freezing experiments, experiments for treating injuries and illnesses, and experiments proving that Nazi’s were the superior race.
How many people lived after Mengele experimented on them?
200 people
Why were gas chambers disguised as shower rooms?
So prisoners would go in willingly
What is anti-Semitism?
Hatred of Jews
Who were the SS (Schutzstaffel) and what did they do?
A paramilitary organisation under the Nazi Party. They enforced forced labour, shootings, and punishments in concentration camps.
When was Adolf Hitler born?
April 20, 1889 in Austria
What symbol was mandatory to be worn by Jews?
Star of David
What kind of gas were used at Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau?
Zyklon-B gas
What is Einsatzgruppen?
The special killing groups developed by Hitler, to kill large groups of people thought to be undesirable.
What were the conditions in ghettos?
Overcrowded, lack of water and food and forced labour.
What does the term annihilation mean?
In this context, it refers to the mass extermination of Jews and other undesired groups
What is operation T4?
Operation T4 was the Nazi plan to exterminate those with disabilities, mental disabilities and serious health problems. Initiated in the early 1930s , this operation killed approximately 70 000 individuals through gas chambers, lethal injections and starvation.
Who were the Kappos?
Kapos were prisoners in Nazi concentration camps whom the SS forced to oversee other inmates. They received better clothing, food and housing then the other prisoners.
Who were the Zonderkommandos and what did they do?
The Sonderkommandos were Jewish inmates forced to perform their duties in concentration camps. Some of their duties were shaving hair, searching the prisoner’s bodies for hidden possessions (gold teeth), carry burning bodies in the ovens and dispose ashes (to hide evidence).
Why were synagogues burnt?
Because they were are place of worship for Jews.
What were the conditions in the concentration camps?
Similar to ghettos, extermination camps, overcrowded, lack of food (malnutrition) and water, forced labour, medical experiments, lack of healthcare, lack of hygiene, sicknesses like typhoid, and violence.
What is the meaning of communism?
Social system based on common ownership
What is the meaning fascism?
Government system led by a supreme dictator. Centralised control over all aspects of life
What is the meaning of liberation?
Freeing of concentration camps
