the holocaust Flashcards
what is the meaning of the Holocaust?
from the Greek meaning “whole” “burnt”
how long did the Holocaust last?
January 30, 1933 - May 8, 1945
what were concentration camps?
labour camps for Nazi undesirables
what were “Nazi undesirables”?
Jews, Poles, Romani, communists, homosexuals, Eastern Europeans, political enemies
what were the 6 death/ extermination camps?
Auschwitz, Chelmno, Belzec, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka
why were the death/ extermination camps created?
for mass extermination of the Jews (Final Solution)
what was stage 1 of the Holocaust?
deportation and forced emigration
how long did deportation and forced emigration last for?
1933- 1939
deportation and forced emigration
when and why did 53 000 Jews flee Germany?
when Hitler became chancellor in 1933
deportation and forced emigration
what was November 9/10, 1938?
Kristallnacht- Nazi government led raids against the Jews (homes, people, property, synagogues, etc)
deportation and forced emigration
when was the first concentration camp opened and how many were sent there in the first year?
1933, 30 000 sent
what was stage 2 of the Holocaust?
ghettoization
how long did ghettoization last?
1939-1941
ghettoization
what made stage 1 impossible?
the invasion of Poland expands German territory
ghettoization
what was the pre war Jewish population of Poland?
3.3M
ghettoization
where and why were ghettos built?
in major Polish cities to contain Jews in certain areas of cities
ghettoization
what were the conditions of the ghettos?
massive crowding; lack of food, shelter, sanitation; work, water, disease
what was stage 3 of the Holocaust?
the “Final Solution”
the “Final Solution”
when was the Wannsee Conference held and why?
January 20, 1942- to outline the Final Solution
the “Final Solution”
who planned the Final Solution?
Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Eichmann
Final Solution
the orders were to block all Jews from ___________- from the ghettoes they will be transported by _______ to the camps
leaving Europe / train car
Final Solution
how was transport to the camps?
could take weeks and caused many deaths
Final Solution
what did prisoners face upon arrival?
“selection”- some will be chosen to work in the camps and others will be gassed
about how many were killed during the Holocaust?
5.9M Jews and countless other million “undesirables”
how and when did the Allies find the death camps?
as the Allies began to liberate areas of Poland and Germany in late 1944- in early 1945 they found the camps
what did the Nazis begin to kill remaining prisoners?
“death marches”
what was the point of the trials that took place after the war?
to determine the responsibility of high ranking Nazis for their actions during the Holocaust
what were the trials called?
Nuremberg Trials
what happened to the many Nazis who sought to flee the country at the end of the war?
they were eventually tracked all over the globe, caught, and forced to stand trial
what was Adolf Eichmann’s defence?
“I was only following orders”
