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Holocaust Research Paper Annie Green

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Annie Green Larry Neuburger English 102 1 December 2011 The Holocaust Humankind has been able to accomplish many great things. In the course of one hundred years we have progressed from the first prototypes of locomotion to electric cars. Humans have been to the moon, explored the very depths of the oceans, and have broken the sound barrier. The human race has been able to achieve many wonderful things, however; the human race is equally capable of doing terrible things. For example, in World War II the Nazi Regime took power in Germany and attempted to remove the entire Jewish race. Anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism refers to the hatred of Jews. It has been around since the beginning of Christianity. However, during the Holocaust it rose as the Nazi partys political backbone. The Jews were blamed for the Germans losing World War I, the financial hardship facing Germany at the time, and were said to be subhuman. The Nazi Socialist Party had to submerse their society in their Anti-Semitic beliefs in order to progress with their master plan. By 1937, 97% of the teachers in Germany belonged to the National Socialist Teachers Union (Lisciotto). This allowed the young to be educated in Anti-Semitic beliefs. Like media today, propaganda was a powerful persuasion tool utilized. Propaganda took form in books, posters, and movies. A popular book was called Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous Mushroom.) The book was about a mother and son mushroom hunting. The mother compared the good mushrooms to good people, and the bad mushrooms to the bad

Green 3 people the Jews (Lisciotto). The book was a very effective way to corrupt a young, malleable mind. The Nazi Partys use of propaganda to corrupt the German people was a very effective tool in increasing Anti-Semitic feelings. The propaganda was the conditioning step for what would come in the future. Nuremburg Laws The Nuremburg Race Laws were established in 1935. They

Cover of Der Giftpilz non-Jew (Reich).

revoked the citizenship of German Jews. Under these laws a Jew was no longer allowed to marry or have any sexual relationship with a

The Laws established a full Jew to have three Jewish grandparents. A person was also a full Jew if the had two Jewish grandparents and was a member of the Jewish religious community when the Laws were put into effect or was married to a Jew (Reich). These Laws were a precursor to many more laws that stripped Jews from any basic right a human should possess. Kristallnacht Kristallnacht is commonly known as The Night of the Broken Glass. On November 9, 1938, Nazi storm troopers performed a mass pogrom on Jewish business. By the end of the night more that 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed, 900 synagogues had been set ablaze, 91 Jews had been murdered and 30,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps ("American Experience; America and the Holocaust").

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An incident two days prior, on November 7th, was a trigger for the event. A 17 year old Polish-Jew had shot Ernst vorn Rath, whom was the Third Secretary of the German Embassy. The student, Hershel Grynszpan, said, when arrested, Being a Jew is not a crime. I am not a dog. I have a right to live and the Jewish people have a right to exist on earth. Wherever I have been I have been chased like an animal. On the 9th Rath was pronounced dead and the head of the Security Service gave the police permission to destroy, but not loot all the Jewish businesses and synagogues ("American Experience; America and the Holocaust"). Within a week after Kristallnacht a letter circulated stating that no business could be reopened unless by a non-Jew. On November 15 Jewish children were no longer permitted to attend public school. The Jews were given a one-billion mark fine to repair the damages caused by Kristallnacht ("American Experience; America and the Holocaust"). Kristallnacht was used to justify the future actions performed by the Nazi regime. It was the worst pogrom in history. The Ghettos The first Ghetto was established in 1939 in The Aftermath of Kristallnacht Piotorkow Trybulnawski, Poland. The Nazis then set up

over 1,000 Jewish Ghettos ("Ghettos"). They were city districts Jews were required to live in. Ghettos were often enclosed, but they always were unsanitary, overcrowded, and miserable places. The Nazi Party used the Ghettos to contain the Jews until they came up with their Final Solution. Sometimes the Ghettos were around for a few days, or they could last years. There

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were three types of Ghettos. They established open Ghettos, closed Ghettos, and destruction Ghettos. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest. It was located in Poland. There were over 400,000 Jews crammed into 1.3 square miles. In the Ghetto Jews were required to wear badges or armbands (Ghettos). Food was scarce and many residents starved to death. The bodies were thrown out onto the streets for a cart to pick up and carry off. Wannsee Conference The Final Solution On January 20, 1942 the Wannsee Conference was held. SS-Lietenent General Reinhard Heydrich met with fourteen men in regards to the Final Solution. Heydrich wanted to make sure everyone was clear on what the Final Solution would be. For a while it was unclear and vague. The Final Solution could have been emigration, confinement to ghettos, concentration camps, or extermination ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). During the meeting they discussed their plan to get rid of 11,000,000 Jews. They planned on forcing many Jews to build roads until their deaths. They also discussed the establishment for a camp-ghetto for elderly Jews and Jews that were decorated and served in WWI ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). Selection When the Jews stepped off the train at the Death Camp they were instantly to begin the selection process. They first separated into lines according to gender. This process was carried out by SS Doctors. The Jews that were over the age of 14 and seemed fit for work were sent to a line. The elderly and women with children were sent to a line for the gas chambers. The Jews that were fit for work were sent to registration. There they would undress, be tattooed with a registration number, shaved of all hair, and disinfected in a painfully hot or extremely cold

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shower. After the shower they were given striped pajamas and a pair of wooden clogs ("Holocaust Explained"). In the Auschwitz death camp twins were often spared and instead of being gassed they were the subject of many cruel and inhuman experiments. Extermination Methods Male Workers in Auschwitz In 1939 the Nazis began experimenting with poisonous gas as a method of mass murder. They tested it out with mental patients at first. They created six gassing centers: Bemburg, Brandeburg, Grafeneck, Hadamar, Hartheim, and Sonnestein. These killing centers used pure carbon monoxide ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). In 1941 the killing units would use mass shootings and mobile gas vans. The vans were sealed trucks where the engine exhaust fed into the back compartment where the prisoners were located. They had begun using the vans, because the killing units thought it was too exhausting to shoot so many women and children. Soon after they began using the gas vans they determined stationary gas chambers would be the most effective means of mass murder ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). At Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka they used carbon monoxide gas chambers. They would unload all the victims from the cattle cars and inform them they were going to be showered and disinfected. They were forced to enter a room with their arms up, so more could enter at once, and then carbon monoxide was released ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). The more people there were in the chamber the less time it took to suffocate.

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The Nazis continued to search for more effective means of mass murder. At Auschwitz they experimented with Zyklon-B. The Zyklon-B pellets convert to poisonous gas when exposed to air. This method proved to be the most efficient and became the means of mass murder and Auschwitz. Sometimes up to 6,000 Jews were murdered a day using this method ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). After the chamber was opened the dead bodies were removed by Jewish workers. Usually they were cremated in gigantic ovens. The Death Camps The Nazis established many death camps in order to perform their Final Solution. One camp was named Chelmno. Chelmno was located in Poland. This camp was used for the extermination of Jews located in the Western Polish Provinces. Chelmno used gas vans as their mean of extermination. Once a victim was inside the van it would take 10-15 minutes for their death to occur. They then were dropped off in pre-dug graves. An estimate of those murdered at this camp range from 170,000 to 360,000 men, women, and children. The camp was originally closed in 1943, but reopened in 1944 (Ben Austin). Auschwitz-Birkenau was the most famous and largest death camp. It served as a concentration camp and extermination center. Eventually there were three Auschwitz camps. Above the gates to Auschwitz I it read in German, Work Will Make You Free. These gave prisoners false hope. Auschwitz I contained the commandants office, kitchen, administration office, hospital, one gas chamber, a crematorium, double barbed wire fence, and nine watch towers. The camp also had a barrack for criminals and a courtroom, those tried were usually executed by shooting alone the fence. Many experiments were performed by Josef Mengele, whom preferred to work with twins and dwarfs (Ben Austin).

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Birkenau was built in 1941. It was 1.5 miles from Auschwitz I and was also an extermination center and concentration camp. Auschwitz III was primarily for holding prisoners. It is estimated that between these three 1,200,000 people were murdered (Ben Austin). Belzek was started in 1940. It is estimated that more than 600,000 people died there. The camp was only open for two years before Germans were allowed to use the land for agriculture instead (Ben Austin). Sobibor was built in 1942 in Eastern Poland. It operated for a little over a year and had five gas chambers. 250,000 Jews were murdered there. In 1943 three hundred Jewish workers planned a revolt. After the revolt the camp was destroyed and trees were planted over it. Only fifty Jews survived to tell their story (Ben Austin). Treblinka was located near Warsaw, Poland. The camp opened in July, 1942 and was the location for the inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto. By the time Soviet Troops entered the ghetto 700,000 Jews had been murdered in Treblinka already. Carbon monoxide was used in their gas chambers. The camp was open until 1943 (Ben Austin). Majdanek was originally a prisoner-of-war camp. The camp itself was constructed by prisoners and started as a concentration camp. Eventually gas chambers were added and by its closure in 1944 1,380,000 people died by methods of gas, exposure, beatings, epidemics, and starvation (Ben Austin). Liberation The Soviets were the first to find the concentration camps. The first one they discovered was Majdanek in 1944. The Nazis were caught off guard and attempted to burn the camp down, however; they did not manage to destroy the gas chambers. In 1944 the Soviets cleared Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka. Unfortunately, they had been cleared out in 1943 (Abzug).

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Auschwitz was fortunately liberated in January 1945. The Nazis had forced many prisoners on a death march away from the camp, but thousands of prisoners were rescued. The Nazis had managed to destroy many warehouses, but hundreds of thousands of mens suits, 800,000 womens dresses, and 14,000 pounds of hair were found (Abzug). Many concentration camps were liberated by the Soviets and the United States. Hundreds of thousands were rescued. Within the week after many ex-prisoners died due to irreversible malnutrition. The sites had to be burned down to prevent any epidemics (Abzug). After Liberation After WWII ended, between 1945 and 1952, more that 250,000 displaced Jews lived in camps in Germany, Austria, and Italy. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration looked after these camps. Soon after liberation survivors began to look for their families. In the camps there were also many marriages and births ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). In the camps schools were established. The United States and Israel sent many teachers over. The Jews were able to practice their religion and celebrate all their holidays. Zionism became in increasing topic among the leaders of the UNRRA ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). Between 1945 and 1948 more than 100,000 Jews were moved to Palestine illegally. In May of 1948 the Soviet Union and the United States recognized the state of Israel. Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act and allowed 200,000 emigrants to enter the United States. By 1952 the displace persons camps were closed the Jewish life began to rebuild in normalcy ("Holocaust Encyclopedia"). A Young Girl Looking for Lost Relatives

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Works Cited Lisciotto, C.. "Nazi Porpagand." Holocaust research project. Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team, 2009. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/nazprop.html>. Reich, the nuremberg laws on citizenship and race:. N.p., 1935. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/nurmlaw2.html> . "Kristallnacht." The American Experience; America and the Holocaust. WGBH, n.d. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX99.html>. Ghettos. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2011. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005059>. Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust museum, 1/6/. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477>. "Selection at the Concentration Camp." The Holocaust Explained. London Jewish Culture Center, 2011. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-finalsolution/auschwitz-birkenau/selection/>. "Gassing Operations." Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 06 J. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005220>. Ben Austin, . "THE CAMPS." The Holocaust Ring. N.p., 1996. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holocamp.html>.

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Abzug, R. H.. "Liberation of nazi camps." unites statesholocausst muesuem. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2011. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131>. . "Displaced Persons." Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Museum, 2011. Web. 1 Dec 2011. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005462>.