Post on 25-Dec-2015
The HolocaustThe Holocaust____________________________________________________
According to the USHMM, the Holocaust was the
systematic, bureaucratic, and state-sponsored
persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime
and its collaborators.
SystematSystematicic
BureaucratBureaucraticic
The HolocaustThe Holocaust______________________________________________________________
State-State-SponsoredSponsored
DDEPORTATIONSEPORTATIONS__________________________________________________________________________
Methods_____________________________________
“The Nazis used
deportation by train to
forcibly remove members
of ethnic groups from the
territory on which they
lived. They intended to
remove all Jews from
Europe, eventually
through systematic mass
murder.”
Quote and photograph courtesy of www.ushmm.org
European Rail System__________________________________________________________________________________
“The Germans used rail systems across the
continent to transport Jewsto eastern Europe…. [and] atthe Wannsee Conference onJanuary 20, 1942, held nearBerlin, German SS and stateofficials met to coordinate
the deportation of EuropeanJews to extermination
camps…”
Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the SD (Security Service)
Quote and photographs courtesy of www.ushmm.org
European Rail System___________________________________________________________________________________
Elie Wiesel &
family
Courtesy of www.ushmm.org
Connection to Night___________________________________________________________________________
“. . . But one glance at my
father’s face left no doubt.
‘The news is terrible,’ he
said at last. And then one
word: ‘Transports.’ The
ghetto was to be liquidated
entirely. Departures were
to take place street by
street, starting the next
day” (Wiesel 13).
Deportation of Jews.
Koszeg, Hungary —
July 1944.
Photograph courtesy of www.ushmm.org
Coordinating Deportations
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
“Deportations on this scalerequired the coordination
of numerous Germangovernment agenciesincluding the Reich
Security Main Office (RSHA), the Main Office of
the Order Police, theMinistry of Transportation,
and the Foreign Office.”
Quote and photograph courtesy of www.ushmm.org
Systematic Bureaucratic
State-Sponsored
Attempts to Disguise_______________________________________________________________________________
“The Germans attemptedto disguise their intentions.They sought to portray the
deportations as a ‘resettlement’ of the
Jewish population to laborcamps in the ‘East’…”
Quote and photograph courtesy of www.ushmm.org
What Does That Mean?_______________________________________________________________________________
“...[but] in reality, the‘resettlement’ to the East,
was a euphemism fortransportation to the
extermination camps andmass murder.”
Euphemisms Are Not Reality_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_
Connection to Night___________________________________________________________________________
“‘Where will they take
us?’ That was a
secret…. ‘There are
rumors,’ my father said,
his voice breaking, ‘that
we are being taken
somewhere in Hungary
to work in the brick
factories’” (Wiesel 13-14).
Photograph courtesy of www.ushmm.org
Brick factory in Ciglana, Croatia
What the Jews Took With Them_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_
Here, Jews assemble on the street
with their bundles. Notice the
bundles the people are carrying —
now notice the pack on the child’s
back (similar to Tzipora in Night).
Jews carrying suitcases and baskets
are rounded-up for deportation from
a city in Serbia. Here, these men
and women carry luggage, baskets,
and clothing.
Photographs courtesy of www.ushmm.org
Connection to Night___________________________________________________________________________
“‘Each of us will be
allowed to bring his
personal belongings.
A backpack, some
food, a few items of
clothing. Nothing
else’” (Wiesel 14).
Photograph courtesy of www.ushmm.org
Notice the bags on their backs
Railcars from USHMM____________________________________________________________________________________
Preserved railcar —
USHMM, Washington, D.C.
Railcar interior — notice the windows
USHMM, Washington, D.C.
Conditions on the Trains____________________________________________________________________________________________
“The Germans used both freight and passenger cars for thedeportations. The deportees were usually not given food orwater for the journey, even when they had to wait for dayson railroad spurs for other trains to pass. Those packed in
sealed freight cars suffered from overcrowding. Theyendured intense heat during the summer and freezing
temperatures during the winter. Aside from a bucket, therewas no sanitary facility. The stench of urine and excrement
added to the humiliation and suffering of the deportees.Lacking food and water, many of the deportees died beforethe trains reached their destinations. The transports wereaccompanied by armed police guards who had orders to
shoot anyone who tried to escape.”
Quote courtesy of www.ushmm.org
Conditions on the Trains____________________________________________________________________________________________
Jews board a passenger train during a deportation action in the Lodz ghetto
while under SS observation.
A member of the German SS supervises the boarding of Jews onto a freight train during a deportation action in the Krakow ghetto.
Connection to Night___________________________________________________________________________
“The Hungarian police
made us climb into
the cars, eighty
persons in each
one[, and] two Gestapo
officers strolled down
the length of the
platform. They were
all smiles [because] it
had gone very smoothly”
(Wiesel 22). Photograph courtesy of www.ushmm.org
More Connection to Night______________________________________________________________________________________________
“Lying down was not
an option, nor could we
all sit down…. There
was little air … [and]
after two days of
travel, thirst became
intolerable, as did the
heat” (Wiesel 23).
“We had fallen intothe trap, up to ournecks. The doors
were nailed, the wayback irrevocably cutoff. The world had
become a hermeticallysealed cattle car”
(Wiesel 24).
Next Lesson… _________________________________________________________________________________
View of the entrance to the main camp
of Auschwitz (Auschwitz I). The gate
bears the motto “Arbeit Macht Frei”
(“Work Makes You Free”).
Main entrance — Auschwitz-Birkenau
extermination camp.
Photographs courtesy of www.ushmm.org
(What does the opening remind you of?)
Auschwitz