The Final SolutionAuschwitz, Part 2

The Final SolutionAuschwitz, Part 2

There was no strength left for suffering.

1. What did Himmler expect from his troops? That is, what was the duty of his officers, according to Himmler?

To kill Jews. It was in the interests of the Reich for the next thousand years.

2. What were some of the benefits of being an SS officer in the concentration camps?

High pay, safety from the front, and extended home leave.

3. Why did Himmler eventually order that no more photographs be taken of the concentration camps?

There were too many of them. It was too dirty, too personal.

4. What was Zyklon-B used for in the concentration camps? What had it previously been used for?

It was effective. It gave off hydrogen cyanide.

It was an insecticide.

5. How many concentration camps did Himmler control at the height of his power? How many labor camps?

20 full

900 subsidiary

6. What was the name of the largest concentration camp? What country was it in?

Auschwitz.

Poland

It was chosen because it was on a main railroad line.

7. What was the motto that was posted above the gates of the camp?

Work sets you free.

8. What was Himmler most interested in when he visited Auschwitz?

The new killing plant.

9. What was the standard cover for why Jews were being taken from the homes?

Jews were being resettled for labor in the east.

10. How many Jews were to be exterminated in the Final Solution?

11 million

11. Who was Adolf Eichmann?

Administrator of the programthe Final Solution.

12. How did Eichmann suggest they deal with the problem of non-Jews helping their Jewish neighbors?

Propagandadepicting Jews as dirty rats infesting society.

13. What was the purpose of the yellow star on Jewish clothing?

To isolate and distinguish Jews. It would make non-Jews less likely to interfere.

14. What was the penalty for Jews who did not wear the yellow star?

In Holland it was six months in prison.

15. How did the Nazis use Jewish councils to help them in their work? What do you think the Jewish councils should have done? They convinced them that it would help save them from greater harm.

16. How much concerted opposition was there when Jews were made to enlist for deportation? Why?

Very little. They either didnt care enough, or were effectively intimidated.

17. Why did Jews take leadership roles to help process the deportation of their fellow Jews from labor camps to concentration camps? Do you think this was a good thing for them to have done?

They thought it would be better than leaving everything to the SS.

18. Why did so many Jews surrender themselves quietly?

The alternative was brutal violence. It was more honorable to report quietly.

19. Why did so many people starve to death (in the ghettos)? Why did people strip the dead of their clothes?

Rations were so small.

They needed it for survival.

20. One person said, There was no strength left for suffering. What does this mean?

It couldnt be worse

21. Why did people volunteer to be sent out of the ghetto? Where would they go?

They were lured by the promise of food. They went to the concentration camps.

22. What happened when the Jews from the ghetto were put into train cars?

They were like cattle, packed into the cars. There were terrible cries. The water ran out quickly. The car became a stench of urine and feces.

23. What was the sickening-sweet smell in Auschwitz?

The smell of burning bodies.

24. How did the SS cruelly deceive the passengers as they were getting out of the train? What was the purpose of this deception?

They tricked them into thinking the journey was a mistake, and that they were not going to be among the criminals already there. They told them their belongings would be well taken care of. It was to make the whole procedure smooth to keep people from resisting.

They did it so that the Jews would cooperate with them. They couldnt have done it without the cooperation. The people who arrived had to go to the gas chamber as soon as possible and without a hitch.

25. How did they divide up the people once they got out of the train? What was their purpose?

Two lines: men on one side, women on the other. The main point was to decide who would survive, who would go straight to the gas chambers.

26. What kinds of people were sent to the left?

The sick, the lame, the young or old, pregnant women, mothers and small children.

27. What was the normal survival time in Auschwitz?

Three months.

28. How many main camps were there at Auschwitz? How many subsidiary labor camps?

Three

Thirty

29. What was the unwritten law among the Jews for those caught stealing another prisoners bread?

Death.

30. Why was stealing bread considered murder?

Because without your daily bread you were as good as dead.

31. How were people used like laboratory animals?

They were used to test high altitude questions, etc.

32. Why were prisoners forced to stand for hours each day?

The SS was checking to make sure they were all there.

33. What kinds of forced labor did the prisoners do?

All sorts

34. Which prisoners survived the longest?

Those with indoor jobsespecially the kitchens.

35. Some concluded from the horrors of Auschwitz that there is no God. How would you respond to this conclusion?

The Holocaust proves the depravity of man, not the non-existence of God.

36. The vast majority of the people consumed in the crematoria were new arrivals.

37. Why didnt the prisoners who had been there for a while tell the newcomers who were headed for the crematoria that they were going to be gassed, so that they might start a revolt?

They concluded that these people were in no fit state to oppose their situation. They didnt have the heart to tell the women that their children are about the be gassedand if they did, they would have gone right to the guards, who would deny it.

38. Did people outside the concentration camps know what was going on? What evidence is there one way or the other?

Yes, people did know. There is no way the camps could be kept secret. Rumors were everywhere.

39. What could ordinary people who knew what was going on do to stop it, or to help?

The few could help individual Jews.

40. Why was it hard for some, in Britain for example, to believe reports of the death camps?

It was beyond belief. Who could believe that people would do this? The reports were too horrifying to believe. But by 1942, the evidence was so extensive that it could not be ignored.

41. What did the US, Britain, and Russia agree to do about the problem?

To make a joint statement in each capital and declare what the situation was, and what would happen to the perpetrators.

42. What could the Allies have done about the extermination camps?

Air raids on the railroads and gas chambers. Perhaps they could have bombed Auschwitz. But where would any survivors have gone?

43. What was the best thing the Allies could do to help the prisoners?

Win the war.

44. What was the possibility of Jewish resistance from within the camps?

Virtually none. Some resisted, some committed suicide, some continued to cooperate.

45. How did Hitler trick people into thinking that the Jewish resettlement in the east was going well for the Jews? What was the point of the deception?

Propaganda films. Hitler has given the Jews a city.

46. What was the most outstanding act of Jewish resistance?

It was in the Warsaw Ghetto. They opposed the Germans for five weeks.

47. What did the Germans do with the 700,000 Hungarian Jews when they saw that the war was going against them?

They sent them to Auschwitz.

48. What did the Germans at the death camps try to do when they realized the Russians were coming?

Kill everyone and destroy all traces. 49. When did the Russians reach Auschwitz? How many people did they find there? Where were the rest of the people?

a. January 26, 1945

b. Marched back into Germany

50. When the US and Britain came to the western camps, how many people did they save?

500,000 (of the millions that had been there)

51. How many innocent people in all did the Germans kill in their death camps?

14 million

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