the holocaust
TRANSCRIPT
Before the war...
The Jewish population were already beginning to be
persecuted, when the Nazi party came to power in
1933. From then on, laws and regulations were
regularly issued that systematically limited Jews’ civil
rights.
By the end of 1941, almost all the Jews in occupied
Poland were in ghettos or forced labour camps
The German population especially hated the Jews and
Hitler believed they were to blame for everything that
was going wrong in Germany including mass
unemployment.
The Jewish population of Nazi Europe
were force into allocated ghettos and
then subsequently into the death camps
The Holocaust is mainly thought of as only
persecuting Jews , yet it also includes the Nazis'
genocide of millions of people in other groups,
including Romani (Gypsies), Soviet prisoners of
war, Polish and Soviet civilians, homosexuals,
people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses
and other political and religious opponents.
In the years 1942- 1944 Jews from all over
Europe were deported to Auschwitz, through
major rail lines.
These people were herded into cattle trains,
over 100 people in each cart. Crammed in with
only room to stand. Journeys which could last
up to two weeks, without food and little water.
Liquidation
As the ghettos got more and more crowded, the
Nazis needed to develop
a more sufficient plan.
So the ‘final solution’ was decided!
This solution was to exterminate the Jewish race.
This was achieved through concentration or extermination camps.
The ghettos were liquidated (emptied) and people were hoarded onto cattle trucks.
The people believed they were going to a new place where they would all have houses to start a fresh life.
From spring 1942 until the fall of 1944, transport trains delivered
Jews to the camp's gas chambers from all over Nazi-occupied Europe.
Cattle trains would pass through the
towns and cities of Europe, stopping in main
Train station where members of the public
would see these trains. The people inside the
cars would scream for help,
yet no one did.
After many days of
travelling in the cattle
cars the prisoners
arrived at the gates
into Auschwitz, where
they had reached the
end of the line. Once
of the trains they
would face the
‘selection’ and be
organised into groups
of those who were
useful and those who
weren’t.
EXTERMINATION CAMPS
Many victims were instantly terminated, these included
babies, old or weak, and disabled people because they could
not work in theconcentration
camps and therefore of no use to the Nazis.
These people were sent straight to gas chambers.
The biggest Extermination camps included Auschwitz Birkenau,
Treblinka and Sobibor
The living conditions in the camps were horrendous.
The prisoners could only go to the toilet twice a day.
Many had dysentery and had to share a toilet between hundreds of
people.
The gates to Auschwitz 1 , have a sign which reads ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ which
means works sets you free... Nazis did this to fool the people into thinking they
would survive
MURDER
The Nazi’s started by shooting the Jews. They would be lined up and shot but this was too
expensive and also took too long.
The Nazi’s then designed and created chambers which they filled with gas.
These was a much more economical solution to mass murder.
Jews were told to take off all their clothes because they were going for a shower.
Once they were in, poison was let into the chamber, killing every Jew within 20 minutes. The
gas was often so strong that the bodies melted together.
The hair was removed (if it hadn't been already) and the gold teeth and anything of any value
was removed.
Nazis also kept ‘souvenirs’ of disabled victims body parts e.g. legs.
Corpses were then burnt in pits often by the Sonderkomando (Jewish workers)
The ashes were then dumped in a pond or even scatted on the ground as fertiliser.
From the guards tower, as far as the eye can see the grounds
of Auschwitz Birkenau were completely covered in
accommodation blocks, each chimney of these blocks
represents 750 prisoners, each existing in appalling
conditions.
Members of the SS Helferinnen( female auxiliaries) and SS officer Karl Hoecker sit on a
fence railing in Solahutte eating bowls of blueberries accompanied by an accordionist
Whilst the prisoners lived in terrible conditions, just
existing...
The Members of the SS Helferinnen (female
auxiliaries) and SS officers who worked at
Auschwitz, enjoyed their days off and live generally
normal lives, regardless of the fact that they were part
of this mass genocide.
Children were often used as experiments. They were put in cold water to see how long they could surviveThey were put in boiling water to see how long they could surviveThey would experiment on their brainsWe have liver and heart transplants because of the experiments on JewsAll these were done without anaesthetics
Children
LiberationOn January 27, 1945 Auschwitz was liberated.
Thousands of prisoners died after liberation due to
ill health but also over eating.
These prisoners also had no where to return.
Their houses had been taken over by other families.
They were met with great prejudice and got little help
from the government or people to re establish their
lives. Many fled to other countries such as Britain
and Israel.
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