The “Final Solution”By: Zachary Nowak

Who did it involve? Germans vs. Jews

• Jews had faced anti-Semitism throughout history

• Since ancient times Philo of Alexandria

(38 AD) Anti-Semitism

drastically escalated• Kristallnacht

Development: “Endlosung der

Judenfrague”• Final solution to the

Jewish question The final stage for

Jewish elimination Previously described

Nuremburg Laws Eventually meant

the liquidation of Jews

Wannsee Villa

Implementation (in Steps)

Forced to wear Star of David Sent to overcrowded ghettos

• Warsaw ghetto = 30% pop., 2.4 % area From ghetto to concentration

camps• Slave labor or immediate gassing• Approx. 23 main camps, 900 sub-camps

Jews in a ghetto

HUGE Number of camps Well known camps

• Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka, Sobibor, etc.

Massive amounts of sub-camps• Not as well known

Dachau• Approx.

100sub-camps

Getting to the camps: Rounded up in

German occupied territory• Sometimes brutally,

sometimes tricked Forced onto cattle

cars Long trip to

concentration camp

Often many died on the way

Ex.: Black Sabbath• Freedom Square,

Thessaloniki Greece (1942)

Immediate Liquidation From train to

selection platform

Left = Death Sent to gas

chamber

From gas chambers to crematorium• Killed by guards• Sonderkommando

Slave Labor Sent to work all

day Men and women

separated Common latrine

From work to sleep

Multiple people to a bunk

Notice emaciation

Slave Labor (Contd.) Too weak = death Being sick = death Taking extra food = death Living too long = death Sometimes killed on a whim The ultimate Nazi goal = death

• Majority of prisoners died

Goal… Complete annihilation of the

Jewish population• Slave labor = byproduct of elimination• Hitler diverted trains to transport Jews

Lebensraum = living room Scapegoat the Jews

• They cause all problems for Germany• Used propaganda and lies against Jews

Distinctive Features Compliance of Germany’s

institutions Dominance of ideology Scale of genocide Medical experiments New methods of mass murder

• Zyklon-B 1942: 8,000 Jews gassed daily

(Auschwitz)

Death Marches Between autumn 1944 and April

1945 Sent Jews further into the Reich Get rid of witnesses Maintain prisoners to produce

armaments Use prisoners as bargaining

chips Continued until last days of war

Resistance Large-scale resistance was

difficult Government, economy, and

industry were involved There were some resistance

cases Many private Some public Even some inside the camps

themselves

Resistance Example of public

resistance Saved approx.

1,100 Jews Needed workers for

his factory Opportunistic or

moralistic? Only Nazi buried on

Mount Zion Movie: “Schindler’s

List”

Effectiveness Despite resistance, 6 million Jews

killed Approx. 64% in Nazi controlled

territories Nazi leaders claimed they “followed

orders” Anti-Semitism was rampant in

Germany Nuremburg Trials

• Held some Nazi leaders accountable

Picture Credits:(in order of appearance)

billium12, “hitler1” April 11,2010 via Flikr, Creative Commons Attribution. Jeff Barnes, “Burning of a synagogue” December 22, 2005 via Flikr, Creative

Commons Attribution onlinehero, “Inside the Wannassee Villa” August 12, 2008, Creative Commons

Attribution. Rhys Alton, “Temple Beth Hatfiloh – Star of David” August 1, 2010, Creative

Commons Attribution. dalbera, “Le Memorial aux juifs assassines d’Europe (Berlin)” July 26, 2008,

Creative Commons Attribution. garethmurran, “Map of Concentration Camps” June, 24, 2004, Creative Commons

Attribution. gichristof, “Black Sabbath” April 2, 2009, Creative Commons Attribution. Pablo Nicolas Taibi Cicare, “Auschwitz I (Oswiecim)” October 14, 2008, Creative

Commons Attribution. Joe Goldberg, “Crematorium Oven” March 22, 2010, Creative Commons Attribution. Joe Goldberg, “Barracks” March 22, 2010, Creative Commons Attribution. Blatant News, “Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust during World War 2” October

15, 2009, Creative Commons Attribution. Ian Rutherford, “Oskar Schindler’s Factory” May 19, 2007, Creative Commons

Attribution. _Nigel, “Schindler” January 19, 2009, Creative Commons Attribution. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Holocaust Encyclopedia.” Accessed

9/25/2010.