Vocab Quiz 3/24 Flashcards
- Pogrom
A. Definition: A pogrom is an organized, often violent attack against a particular ethnic or religious group.
B. Significance: Pogroms played a significant role in the history of Jewish persecution.
C. Example: The 1903 Kishinev Pogrom in the Russian Empire resulted in the deaths of nearly 50 Jews, hundreds of injuries, and widespread destruction of homes and businesses.
- Nuremberg Laws
A. Definition: The Nuremberg Laws were a series of anti-Semitic laws enacted in Nazi Germany in 1935 that stripped Jews of their citizenship and imposed severe restrictions on their rights. These laws also prohibited marriage and sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews.
B. Significance: The Nuremberg Laws were a crucial step in the Nazi persecution of Jews.
C. Example: Under the Nuremberg Laws, Jewish individuals were barred from holding government jobs, attending public schools, or owning businesses, isolating them from German society.
- Eugenics
A. Definition: Eugenics is a pseudo-scientific belief that certain genetic traits should be encouraged while others should be eliminated to create a “superior” human race.
B. Significance: Eugenics played a critical role in Nazi ideology, leading to forced sterilizations, euthanasia programs, and ultimately the Holocaust.
C. Example: The Nazis implemented the “T4 Program,” which euthanized individuals with disabilities to “purify” the German race.
- Anschluss
A. Definition: Anschluss refers to Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938, uniting it with Germany in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
B. Significance: The Anschluss was a key step in Hitler’s expansionist plans and demonstrated the failure of the international community to stop Nazi aggression.
C. Example: After the Anschluss, Austrian Jews faced immediate persecution, with thousands arrested and sent to concentration camps.
- Evian Conference
A. Definition: The Evian Conference was a meeting held in July 1938 in Evian, France, where representatives from 32 countries discussed the Jewish refugee crisis but largely failed to take action.
B. Significance: The Evian Conference exposed the unwillingness of many nations to accept Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution, reinforcing Hitler’s belief that the world would not intervene.
C. Example: The U.S. and Britain, among other nations, made excuses for not increasing immigration quotas, leaving thousands of Jews with no safe haven.
- Kristallnacht
A. Definition: Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” was a state-sponsored pogrom on November 9-10, 1938, where Nazi forces and civilians attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany and Austria.
B. Significance: Kristallnacht marked a turning point in Nazi persecution, transitioning from discrimination to widespread violence and destruction.
C. Example: Over 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed, nearly 100 Jews were killed, and 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
- Concentration Camp
A. Definition: A concentration camp was a facility used by the Nazis to imprison, exploit, and exterminate Jews, political prisoners, and other groups deemed undesirable.
B. Significance: These camps were central to the Holocaust, with millions suffering forced labor, starvation, and execution.
C. Example: Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest concentration and extermination camp, where over 1 million people were murdered.
- Wagner-Rogers Bill
A. Definition: The Wagner-Rogers Bill was a 1939 U.S. proposal to admit 20,000 Jewish refugee children from Nazi-controlled areas, which ultimately failed in Congress.
B. Significance: The bill’s rejection reflected strong anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic sentiments in the U.S., contributing to the lack of refuge for Jews fleeing the Holocaust.
C. Example: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt supported the bill, but opposition in Congress prevented its passage.
- World Jewish Congress
A. Definition: The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was an international organization founded in 1936 to represent Jewish communities and advocate for their rights worldwide.
B. Significance: The WJC played a crucial role in raising awareness about Nazi atrocities and lobbying for international intervention.
C. Example: The WJC helped bring attention to the Riegner Report, which provided early evidence of Nazi plans for mass extermination.
- The Final Solution
A. Definition: The Final Solution was the Nazi plan to systematically exterminate the Jewish population of Europe through mass shootings, gas chambers, and forced labor.
B. Significance: The Final Solution led to the genocide of approximately 6 million Jews, making it one of history’s worst crimes against humanity.
C. Example: The Wannsee Conference in 1942 formalized Nazi plans for the Final Solution, coordinating the use of extermination camps.
- Riegner Report
- Riegner Report
A. Definition: The Riegner Report was a 1942 message sent by Gerhart Riegner of the World Jewish Congress, warning the Allies of Nazi plans to exterminate European Jews.
B. Significance: The report was one of the earliest confirmations of the Holocaust, yet it was largely ignored by Allied governments.
C. Example: The U.S. State Department initially dismissed the Riegner Report as exaggerated, delaying efforts to save Jewish lives.
- Bermuda Conference
A. Definition: The Bermuda Conference was a 1943 meeting between the U.S. and Britain to discuss the Jewish refugee crisis, but it resulted in no meaningful action.
B. Significance: The conference reflected continued Allied reluctance to help Jewish refugees, even as the Holocaust escalated.
C. Example: Despite knowing about Nazi mass killings, the U.S. and Britain refused to alter immigration policies or consider rescue efforts.
- Raoul Wallenberg
A. Definition: Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust by issuing protective passports and sheltering them in safe houses.
B. Significance: Wallenberg’s efforts exemplified how individual actions could counter Nazi persecution and save lives.
C. Example: Wallenberg distributed “Schutz-Pass” documents, which protected Jews from deportation to Auschwitz.
- Auschwitz
A. Definition: Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, located in occupied Poland, where over 1.1 million people, primarily Jews, were murdered.
B. Significance: Auschwitz became the most infamous symbol of the Holocaust, representing the industrialized mass murder of Jews and other targeted groups.
C. Example: Prisoners at Auschwitz were subjected to forced labor, medical experiments by Josef Mengele, and mass executions in gas chambers.
- Dachau
A. Definition: Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp, established in 1933 in Germany, originally to imprison political opponents but later used for Jews, Romani people, and others.
B. Significance: Dachau served as a model for later concentration camps and demonstrated the Nazis’ early use of forced labor, medical experiments, and brutality.
C. Example: Upon liberation in 1945, U.S. troops found thousands of starving prisoners and evidence of medical experiments.
- Express Judio
A. Definition: Express Judio was a Spanish-language Jewish publication that provided news and information to Jewish communities, particularly regarding Nazi persecution.
B. Significance: This publication played a crucial role in spreading awareness of the Holocaust to Spanish-speaking audiences.
C. Example: Articles in Express Judio warned Jewish communities in Latin America about the growing dangers of Nazi policies in Europe.
- Adolf Eichmann
A. Definition: Adolf Eichmann was a high-ranking Nazi officer responsible for organizing the logistics of the Final Solution, including the transportation of Jews to concentration camps.
B. Significance: Eichmann played a key role in executing Nazi genocide, demonstrating how bureaucratic efficiency enabled mass murder.
C. Example: In 1961, Eichmann was tried and convicted in Israel for crimes against humanity and was executed in 1962.
- Josef Mengele
A. Definition: Josef Mengele was a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz, infamous for conducting inhumane medical experiments on prisoners, particularly on twins and children.
B. Significance: Mengele’s experiments exemplified the extreme medical abuse under Nazi rule, violating human rights and ethical medical practices.
C. Example: Mengele injected dyes into children’s eyes in an attempt to change their eye color, often leading to blindness and death.
- Treblinka
- Treblinka
A. Definition: Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in Poland, where approximately 900,000 Jews were murdered, primarily in gas chambers.
B. Significance: Treblinka was one of the most deadly extermination camps, designed purely for mass murder rather than forced labor.
C. Example: In August 1943, prisoners staged a revolt, setting parts of the camp on fire, though most were killed in the escape attempt.
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
A. Definition: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization dedicated to assisting victims of war, including those affected by World War II and the Holocaust.
B. Significance: The ICRC had a complex role during the Holocaust, providing some aid to prisoners but failing to strongly denounce Nazi crimes.
C. Example: The ICRC visited Theresienstadt, a Nazi transit camp, in 1944, but was deceived by Nazi propaganda into reporting that conditions were acceptable.
