The Power of Hate

What do you know about

the Holocaust?
Holocaust Definition.

The Holocaust was the systematic persecution and murder of

Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies during World War II.
Background
Germany after WWI

● 1918, Germany is
defeated
● Blockades and
reparations.
● 1929
○ Great Depression.
Rise of Hitler, 1930-1933

● Nazis gain popularity,

● Hitler promises to
restore Germany to
being a great nation.
● Talks of aryan racial
superiority.
Jewish Community in Europe
● In 1933, the Jewish population of
Europe stood at over nine
million.
● Most European Jews lived in
countries that Nazi Germany
would occupy or influence during
World War II
● The Nazis considered Jews to be
the inferior race that posed the
deadliest menace to the German
people
Kristallnacht, 1938
● Kristallnacht or the Night of
Broken Glass, was a riot against
Jews carried out by paramilitary
forces and civilians throughout
Nazi Germany.
● Thousands of Jewish businesses
and synagogues were
vandalized, looted or destroyed.
● The German authorities looked
on without intervening.
WWII Begins, 1939
History
Relocation and Concentration Camps. 1939-1941
● Nazi’s begin rounding
up Jews and
relocating them to
ghettos or
concentration camps.
● The goal was to rid
the German Empire of
any Jewish or
“undesirable” people.
● World War II provided Nazi The Final Solution, 1941-44
officials the opportunity to
adopt more radical measures
against the Jews.
● Ultimately, they decided that
deportation was too slow of a
policy.
● Therefore, they decided to
begin killing as many Jewish
people as possible.
● This is known as the “Final
Solution”
Phase one: Death Squads, 1941
● During the invasion of
Russia, German soldiers
were assigned to kill
whatever Jews they
found.
● These shooting
operations are estimated
to have claimed the lives
of more than 1.5 million
Jews.
Phase Two: Mass extermination, 1942-1944
● As Germany began to lose the
war, the Nazi’s began to
expodite the genocide.
● Nearly three million Jews were
deported by train to “death
camps” in Poland.
● Upon arrival, they were sorted
by gender and age into groups.
● Finally, they were led to the gas
chambers were they were
executed.
Liquidation of
Krakow, 1943
Zyklon B
The end of the Holocaust, 1945
● With the Germany on the
verge of defeat, many death
camps were abandoned.
● The remaining inmates were
forced to March until they
died.
● In total, 6 million people
(mostly Jews) were killed in
the Holocaust.
Discussion Questions
● What conditions and ideas made the
Holocaust possible?
● Has there ever been other events like the
holocaust in history?