World War II Flashcards
What does the term genocide mean?
Genocide is the mass killing of large groups of people who usually belong to the same culture.
What is exterminate?
Exterminate is to kill in a cruel way.
What was slave labour?
Slave labour when people worked long hours under difficult circumstances without any payment.
What is the definition of anesthetics?
Anesthetics are drugs that cause temporary loss of bodily sensations.
What is a quarrie?
An area where people mine or extract stone.
What happened during the industrialised mass slaughter?
This was the slaughter where large amounts of people were killed at one time.
What happened during the uprising?
The uprising was a rebellion or revolt against a rule or regime.
What is a ghetto?
A ghetto is a poor and undeveloped area that was set aside for the Jewish people, separate from the Germans.
Define underground resistance.
A secret resistance in opposition to the government.
How did the Nazi’s deal with their political opponents?
The Nazi’s used extermination camps, genocide and mass murder that included the final solution (Holocaust) to deal with their political opponents and other undesirables.
Who did not have a place in Germany according to Hitler?
Jews, gypsies, mentally and physically disabled people, black people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, slaves, political opponents and homosexuals.
How many people were murdered to purify the German race?
Over 20 million people, including 6 Jews.
When did the Nazi’s start building concentration camps?
In 1933.
Where was the first camp founded?
The camp in Germany, Dachau, was founded in March 1933.
What was the aim of the camps?
To silence people who were against Hitler.
For whom were the camps meant?
The camps were meant for political prisoners but it changed during Hitler’s rule.
What were the names of the different camps that were built?
Extermination camps were there to kill all the new arrivals.
Mixed-use camps (Auschwitz and Majdanek) were a combination between concentration and extermination camps.
Why were extermination sites chosen?
They were chosen because of how close they were to the railway lines and their location in the semi-rural areas.
Where were the Jews transported to?
They were transported from their homes concentration camps after 1941.
How was the Jews transported?
They were transported in trains and due to packed trains many of them died due to starvation or diseases.
What happened to the unhealthy people?
After the train ride, a doctor assessed the people and the unhealthy ones were either used as slave labour or they were sent to gas chambers.
Who was at risk of surviving the train rides?
Disabled, elderly, pregnant, babies, young children and sick people were at risk of surviving.
Where was the main killing place for Jews of Europe?
Auschwitz became the main killing place in 1944.
How many Jews was killed in the gas chambers?
About 1.5 million Jews was killed.
What happened to the corpses in the gas chambers?
After the killing the chambers were opened for ventilation and then members of the SS took out any gold teeth from the corpses.
What did the members do with the gold teeth?
The gold teeth were used to help the Germans with funds during the war.
How were the living ones treated in camps?
They were forced to do hard labour, had to work in guarries and carry heavy stones over long distances.
What happened when the people disobeyed?
They were beated up and this usually led to their death.
Where did the living ones stay?
They stayed in small crowded cells where they had to sleep next to each other on bunks and they had no privacy.
What were the prisoners used for?
Prisoners were used for scientific research and doctors performed medical experiments on them and never used anaesthetics.
What test did Dr Sigmund Rascher do?
He performed a test to see if German soldiers could stand the cold in Eastern Europe by freezing the soldiers in cold weather below 0 degrees.
What was the special killing squad called?
They were called the Einsatzgruppen and they carried out the executions.
How many Jews were killed by the Nazi’s?
About 6 million Jews were killed.
What was the process called where Jews were killed through genocide?
The process was called Holocaust and the result of the Final Solution.
What happened to women and children during the holocaust?
Women and children were taken to pits to be murdered and buried.
How many countries did Germany took over?
Germany took over 20 countries in Europe by 1941.
Where did the Nazi’s built massive extermination camps?
In Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania.
What was the Jewish Question?
The Jewish Question referred to the Nazi’s belief that Jews in Germany posed a problem for the state.
What was the Final Solution?
This was the action where Hitler and his senior officials, like Heinrich Himmler, planned the extermination of all Jewish People on Europe.
When and where was the decision made to implement the Final Solution?
The decision to implement the final solution was made by the Wannsee Conference in Berlin on 20 January 1942.
How did Hitler suppress any opposition?
Hitler used his Gestapo.
Who led the White Rosed Movement?
Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans Scholl.
What did Sophie and Hans experience while they were part of the Hitler Youth Group?
They had seen how Jewish people were killed and how their properties were destroyed.
What happened between 30 June 1934 and 2 July 1934?
This was the time of the “Night of the Long Knives” where most of Hitler’s political opponents were killed.
What did the White Rose Movement group want?
They wanted freedom of speech and personal freedom for the Germans. They also wanted to oppose Nazi Germany.
What did the people in the White Rose Movement do to achieve what they wanted?
They made pamphlets that criticized the Nazi’s. They also asked the Germans to boycott Nazi meetings and to stop work in factories that produced guns.
What happened to the leaders of the White Rose Movement?
The leaders were caught by the Gestapo and they were sentenced to death.
Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?
He was the leader of the Confessing Church, Protestant Christians who opposed Nazi involvement in the state church.
What did Dietrich Bonhoeffer do in May 1935?
He wrote Hitler a letter to complain that Christianity had been removed from Germany.
What happened to the church leaders?
Church leaders were removed from churches and some were sent to concentration camps.
What did Bonhoeffer do to help the Germans?
He worked underground to help the Jews escape and was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
When did Bonhoeffer die?
Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and was executed in April 1945 for his anti-Nazi activities.
How many Jews were sent to the Warsaw?
300 000 Jews were sent for the mass killing.
Where did the Jews have to live?
Jews had to live in ghettos where they were treated bad and had to live in poor living conditions.
What were the underground resistance called that the Jewish people established?
The Jewish Fighting Organisation.
When did the organization start their protest?
The protest started in April 1945.
What were the protest known for?
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
What happened during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising?
The Jews were able to fight against the Nazi’s for 4 weeks, but after that their Ghetto’s were set on fire and some of them were sent to camps to be killed.
Who pushed the United States into World War II?
Japan pushed the United States into the World War II on 7 December 1941 by attacking the American Naval Base.
What happened 4 days after the activities on 7 December 1941?
Hitler declared war in the United States.
When did the first US troops arrive?
The first US troops arrived in January 1942.
Who was fighting for the Nazi’s?
The Soviet Union that was led by Joseph Stalin entered the war and fought for the Nazi’s from the East.
How many German troops surrendered to the Soviets?
On 31 January 1943 over 90 000 German troops surrendered at Stalingrad.
What was the D-Day?
The D-Day was the day that the Allied Powers invaded Europe and Axis Powers started losing ground.
When did the Allied Powers take back France?
On 25 August 1944.
When did the Soviets enter Berlin?
They entered Berlin on 23 April 1945 with 20 000 troops and piece of artillery.
When did the Allied forces come into Berlin?
They pushed into Berlin from the West soon after the Soviets entered Berlin.
How did Hitler die?
He realized that he lost World War II and committed suicide on 30 April 1945.
What happened on the VE (Victory in Europe) Day?
Germany surrendered to the allied Powers and Russia on 8 May 1945.
