The Holocaust 1939 - 1942• Hitler decided that the Nazis should dominate all of Europe – Germany took over neighboring

Austria and part of neighboring Czechoslovakia without a fight – the rest of Europe just watched

• Hitler wanted even more “living space” for his superior Aryans - on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany

invaded neighboring Poland- this time, the British, French & their allies responded by declaring

war on Germany, thus starting World War II

• Poland fell to the Nazis in a few weeks – approx. 22 million people (2.4 million of them being

Jews) were instantly added to the growing Nazi Empire

• After the Nazi takeover of Poland, they forced millions of Jews into portions of several Polish cities called ghettos - the Warsaw Ghetto was the largest in Poland - 400,000 Jews were forced in a 3.5 square mile area (2.4% of the city – 9 people per room per building)

• The Warsaw Ghetto was surrounded by 10 ft high walls and sealed off - no contact w/the outside was allowed and Jews were forbidden to leave

• Jews were required to form administrative councils called Judenrat that were responsible for the ghetto’s operations - some Jews saw them as traitors while other Jews saw them as making the best of the situation

• Jews in the ghettos made every effort to maintain their normal lives

• Food was drastically rationed in every ghetto & malnutrition was common

• Starvation of ghetto residents was a deliberate Nazi policy - weekly ration for Jews was 500 calories a day (adult needs 2000 calories to maintain weight, teen 3000 and baby 1200)

• Besides starvation, disease also killed 1000s of Jews in the ghettos

• As the Nazis continued their conquest of Eastern Europe, more and more Jews were put into ghettos – eventually, over 20 ghettos were created

“The daily ration consisted of very watery soup given out once daily, and the usual small bread ration. In addition to that, there was the so-called "extra allowance," consisting of three-fourths of an ounce of margarine, or of a little piece of cheese, or a bit of honey, or a spoonful of watery jam, varying daily. In calories, this diet was absolutely inadequate, especially taking into consideration our heavy manual work and our constant exposure to the cold in inadequate clothing. When the last layers of fat had vanished and we looked like skeletons disguised with skin and rags, we could watch our bodies beginning to devour themselves. The organism digested its own protein, and the muscles disappeared. Then the body had no powers of resistance left....”

• In 1940 & 1941, the Nazis conquered many other nations such as France, Belgium,

Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, Serbia, Albania & Greece

• Meanwhile, Italy, Hungary, Romania & Bulgaria all became Nazi Allies

• Policies towards Jews in all of the countries mentioned above were similar:

Jews were identified w/ the help of the local population

Jewish rights, privileges, jobs and businesses were taken away

Jews were forced to wear Jewish badges

Jews were eventually moved to newly built concentration camps in Nazi-occupied

territories (over 300 were built), where they were imprisoned, starved, tortured

and killed (please note that concentration camps are not the same as death

camps, which we will discuss later on)

• In June 1941, the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union- accompanying the regular Nazi

German Army (Wermacht) was the Einsatzgruppen – 4 special mobile units, each

w/500-1000 elite soldiers

• Their directive was to “carry out executive measures against the civilian population."

• Einsatzgruppen were to seek out and kill all Jews and other "enemies"

• Einsatzgruppen proceeded to carry out their tasks by using 2 METHODS:

1. Mobile Gas _vans_

– Each time, about 50 Jews were herded from villages, told they were being taken to do work and then forced into sealed vans. As a truck pulled the van, carbon monoxide from the exhaust was funneled into the van. W/rare exception, all were killed in the vehicle.

2. Mass _shootings

– Einsatzgruppen rounded up Jews, made them dig mass graves and shot them where they had dug

– Most notorious massacre of Jews in the USSR was at a place called Babi Yar_where 33,771 Jews were killed on 9/29 & 9/30/41

"It was dark already...They lined us up on a ledge which was so small that we

couldn't get much footing on it. They began shooting us. I shut my eyes, clenched

my fists, tensed my muscles and took a plunge down before the bullets hit me. It

seemed I was flying forever. But I landed safely on the bodies. After a while, when

the shooting stopped, I heard the Germans climbing into the ravine. They started

finishing off all those who were not dead yet, those who were moaning, hiccupping,

tossing, and writhing in agony. They ran their flashlights over the bodies and

finished off all who moved. I was lying so still without stirring, terrified of giving

myself away. I felt I was done for. I decided to keep quiet. They started covering the

corpses over with earth. They must have put quite a lot over me because I felt I was

beginning to suffocate. But I was afraid to move. I was gasping for breath. I knew I

would suffocate. Then I decided it was better to be shot than buried alive. I stirred

but I didn't know that it was quite dark already. Using my left arm I managed to

move a little way up. Then I took a deep breath, summoned up my waning strength

and crawled out from under the cover of earth. It was dark. But all the same it was

dangerous to crawl because of the searching beams of flashlight and they

continued shooting at those who moaned. They might hit me. So I had to be careful.

I was lucky enough to crawl up one of the high walls of the ravine, and straining

every nerve and muscle, got out of it."

• When the Einsatzgruppen stopped, 1.4 million Jews were murdered along w/ 1000s of Gypsies, Soviets & partisans (resistance fighters)

• In the Fall of 1941, Nazi leadership created the answer to the Final Solution to the Jewish Question – all European Jews were to be executed

• On 1/20/42, 15 Nazi leaders (minus Hitler himself) met in Wanssee, Germany, to discuss the logistics of going through w/the Final Solution

• The plan targeted all 11 million Jews in Europe as by Nazi statistics - the meeting lasted roughly 90 minutes

• Railroads__were the essential link to the killing process – from 1942 to

1945, trains from every corner of Nazi Europe rolled into the killing centers

situated along rail lines in Poland

• Jews across Europe were deported to killing centers from either ghettos or

special concentration camps called transit camps

• In ghettos, the _Judenrat__ were ordered to have large numbers of Jews

report at specific times to train stations - many Jews dragged themselves

there hoping to be “relocated_” somewhere new where they could save their

families from the conditions inside the ghetto

• Judenrat that refused_ to follow orders to help with deportation were

rounded up and shot or deported to the extermination camps themselves

• In one case, the entire Judenrat in one ghetto committed suicide rather than

comply_

• In other cases, Judenrats collaborated, thinking that cooperation might

save_some lives in the ghetto

• In 1942, the construction of six death camps began, all in Poland - their main purpose would be the killing of Europe's Jews - the camps were located at: (1)Chelmno, (2) Treblinka, (3) Majdanek, (4) Sobibor, (5) Belzec & (6) Auschwitz

“The daily ration consisted of very watery soup given out once daily, and the usual small bread ration. In addition to that, there was the so-called "extra allowance," consisting of three-fourths of an ounce of margarine, or of a little piece of cheese, or a bit of honey, or a spoonful of watery jam, varying daily. In calories, this diet was absolutely inadequate, especially taking into consideration our heavy manual work and our constant exposure to the cold in inadequate clothing. When the last layers of fat had vanished and we looked like skeletons disguised with skin and rags, we could watch our bodies beginning to devour themselves. The organism digested its own protein, and the muscles disappeared. Then the body had no powers of resistance left....”

"It was dark already...They lined us up on a ledge which was so small that we

couldn't get much footing on it. They began shooting us. I shut my eyes, clenched

my fists, tensed my muscles and took a plunge down before the bullets hit me. It

seemed I was flying forever. But I landed safely on the bodies. After a while, when

the shooting stopped, I heard the Germans climbing into the ravine. They started

finishing off all those who were not dead yet, those who were moaning, hiccupping,

tossing, and writhing in agony. They ran their flashlights over the bodies and

finished off all who moved. I was lying so still without stirring, terrified of giving

myself away. I felt I was done for. I decided to keep quiet. They started covering the

corpses over with earth. They must have put quite a lot over me because I felt I was

beginning to suffocate. But I was afraid to move. I was gasping for breath. I knew I

would suffocate. Then I decided it was better to be shot than buried alive. I stirred

but I didn't know that it was quite dark already. Using my left arm I managed to

move a little way up. Then I took a deep breath, summoned up my waning strength

and crawled out from under the cover of earth. It was dark. But all the same it was

dangerous to crawl because of the searching beams of flashlight and they

continued shooting at those who moaned. They might hit me. So I had to be careful.

I was lucky enough to crawl up one of the high walls of the ravine, and straining

every nerve and muscle, got out of it."